This paper focuses on the introduction of progressive educational ideas, as championed by John Dewey, as well as scientific psychology led by Edward Lee Thorndike, by Shu Xincheng (1893-1960), a middle-level local Chinese educationalist. It focuses on Shu’s understanding and possible downplay of the tension between progressive educational ideas and scientific psychology as well as his wavering about church schools. It is promising to shed light upon entanglements of “(de)colonizing processes in educational history,” revealing the complicated mindset of Chinese educationalists behind the hasty indigenization and appropriation of Western ideas and practices around the 1920s. As per our understanding today, Thorndike represented the trend of behavioral psychology and its application in education. Using a positivistic approach, he believed teaching and educational evaluation could and should be generally standardized to improve their quality. Whereas, Dewey maintained that education should aim at the formation of democratic citizens to improve the society in a pragmatic manner. These two educational thoughts are believed to be in sharp contrast to each other (Tomlinson, 1997). In Shu’s autobiography, he hailed the first time he read Edward Thorndike's "Educational Psychology" as well as John Dewey's "Democracy and Education" as an intellectual epiphany. However, it seems that Shu either never noticed or has deliberately downplayed the significant contrasts between Herman Harrell Horne's theories and those of John Dewey (Britannica, 2023), just as he never emphasized the tension between Thorndike's empiricism in psychology and the progressive educational methods of educationalists, such as those of Helen Parkhurst. To some extent, Shu's somewhat indiscriminate introduction and “gulping” of these educational and psychological theories to China might have been driven by his urgent need to earn a living through publishing and, on the other hand, by the eagerness of the Chinese educational modernization movement to chase "new" (Western) theories. This context may have influenced his approach to presenting these theories without delving deeply into their underlying conflicts and distinctions, reflecting the broader Zeitgeist of rapidly adopting and adapting new ideas in the field of education. Both enthusiasm and disillusionment marked Shu Xincheng's journey in the field of education. In 1918, he became a lecturer in education and psychology at a church school. During the turbulent political changes of the time, Shu viewed church schools as rare havens of stable funding and relative freedom from heavy-handed governmental intervention. He even joined the Presbyterian Church of Christ that year. However, he was forced to resign from the church school in 1919 after publishing an article (Shu, 1919) that openly criticized it. In sum, this study's emphasis on Shu's interpretation and potential understatement of the discord between progressive educational ideologies and scientific psychology, coupled with his ambivalence towards church schools, is anticipated to illuminate the complexities of "(de)colonizing processes in educational history." It aims to unveil the intricate thought processes of Chinese educators during the rapid indigenization and assimilation of Western concepts and methodologies in the 1920s.

The paper examined the nature of the adult education policies during the British Colonial Government in Nigeria, with the aim of discovering the challenges faced in the formulation and implementation of such policies in the years before Nigeria Independence and the effect of these challenges on the immediate post-independence period. Historical research method was adopted for the paper, using both primary sources as structured and unstructured interviews and secondary sources of information as textbooks, journals, internet materials and essays, to collect and analyze data. The paper focuses on historical background of Adult Education policies in Nigeria; Adult Education Policies during the Colonial Era, 1922 – 1960; challenges of policies on Adult Education during the Colonial Era, 1922 – 1960 and effect of the challenges of Adult Education Policies on Post-Independence practices in Nigeria. It finally offered recommendations for the improvement of the field. The result of the findings revealed that: Adult education started in Nigeria through the traditional system, in a crude way, without an organized policy, but the modern adult education which was more organized started in the 19th century, specifically with the advent of Arab scholars in the northern Nigeria and Christian Missionaries like CMS, Baptist Convention, among others. The adult education policy in the Colonial Era started partially in 1925, this was improved in the 1930s, between 1947 and 1950s mass Adult Education policies were put in place by the British Government, in places like Lagos, Kano and the Eastern part of Nigeria. The policy encouraged Christian Associations, Community leaders and government departments to float adult education centres. This led to emergence of functional literacy, remedial education liberal education in the middle of the Second World War (1939-1945). Sir Winston Churchill, from 1953, put down certain policies to promote adult education in Nigeria as well as Britain. The policies of adult education within the period of study were generally interwoven with that of formal School systems. However, by 1945, the agitation of the nationalist leaders to have independence further diverted the attention of the colonial masters to other selfish interests. The activities of the nationalists and emergence of World War II, posed spectacular problems of instability to the political, economic and educational affairs. Challenges like lack of strong political will, paying lip service to adult education, because of selfish interest of the Colonial government, inadequate instructional materials, facilitators and training institutions, infrastructure, funding, among others were evident during the period of study. Some of these problems were still evident in the post-independence period in Nigeria. The recommendation of Phelps- Stokes Commission Report of 1960 favoured Nigerians by providing solutions to few of the challenges. It is therefore recommended that the present Government in Nigeria should put an end to challenges of lack of strong political will, funding, selfish motives in policy formulation, inadequate personnel, infrastructure and personnel among others. Individuals and Non-Governmental Organizations and International Development Partners should also come to assist, to make good policy decisions and encourage effective implementation of such policies in the field.

During the War of Resistance Against Japan (1937-1945), the Japanese government had implemented comprehensive colonial education in the occupied areas of China. On the basis of the colonial education, the Japanese government strove to weaken the Chinese people’s resistance will and cultivate “submissive people”, who were close to and identified with Japanese rule. The Chinese National Government, the Communist Party of China and Chinese people strongly opposed such enslavement education implemented by the Japanese government. Scholars from both China and Japan have conducted in-depth research on enslavement education and published a series of representative research results. However, most of the existing research are focused on the enslavement education in Northeast China, North China, and Taiwan, while the research on the enslavement education in the occupied areas of East China are relatively inadequate. Furthermore, existing research has covered various topics such as educational objectives, content, methods, teachers, textbooks, and public education, but there is a shortage of specific research on the role of educational professional organizations, especially local educational associations, in Japanese enslavement education and Chinese anti-enslavement education. The Wuxi County Educators’ Association was an established-earlier and long-lasting local educational organization in China. It was first established in Japan in 1903 by Wuxi students studying in Japan as the Wuxi branch of the Jiangsu Educators’ Association, and later was officially established in Wuxi in 1906. After the fall of Wuxi in November 1937, members of the Wuxi County Educators’ Association dispersed and association affairs were suspended. During the period of the Japanese occupation of Wuxi, the Japanese government had reorganized the Wuxi County Educators’ Association three times, and even had detained Shen Xianzhi, who was in charge of the Wuxi County Educators’ Association. This fully reflects the dual nature of the Japanese authorities' coercion and inducement towards local Chinese educators. Based on various existing newspaper, historical materials, and archival documents and taken the Wuxi County Education Association in Jiangsu Province in 1938-1945 as a case study, this article this article intends to analyze the three reshuffles of the association by Japan and the Wang Jingwei Government supported by Japan and reveal the Japanese authorities’ attempt to achieve their enslavement education by the purpose adjustment of Wuxi educational association, appointment and removal of personnel, and membership expansion. And the organized promotion of education and the different selection of individual teachers helps to understand the complexity of the will, choice, behavior, and fate of individual teachers in colonial education.

The concept of indigeneity is a subject of ongoing research and legal dispute globally, with one of its recognized characteristics being a collective connection to the land inhabited by those identified as indigenous, either currently or historically. The discourse on this concept typically unfolds within the broader context of cultural and political hierarchies between populations classified as local versus immigrant, settlers versus conquerors. Within the Zionist movement, considerable debate has centred on the nature of Jewish indigeneity in the Land of Israel. The Jewish national perspective perceives the Land of Israel as the ancestral homeland and its people as native to the land, irrespective of whether they were born there. However, the cultural dimensions of this birthright have been and continue to be subjects of discussion. European immigrants grappled with adopting cultural traits associated with the Levant, albeit from an Oriental standpoint, while simultaneously viewing Zionism as part of the broader European modernity project. This internal debate also touched upon the integration of the national Jewish society into the local space. The utilization of the concept of 'nativeness' revealed power struggles and conflicts within the Jewish population, involving different ideological currents, waves of immigration, and self-identification as 'people of the land,' referring to members of the pre-Zionist, primarily Arabic-speaking communities. This proposed lecture addresses the disjunction between the inherent perception of nativeness among those born in the Land of Israel and the envisioned sense of nativeness that Hebrew education aimed to instil, representing a national 'desired' nativeness. This disparity is evident in the educational initiatives introduced by the Zionist movement within the veteran, Arabic-speaking communities, who distinguished themselves religiously but shared commonalities in culture and daily life with their surroundings. As a catalyst for change, Hebrew education sought to leverage economic and organizational advantages that gradually solidified. Among the agents of change were individuals from local communities and those with roots in Ottoman-era societies, some perceiving Hebrew education as a means to fortify modernization processes and others aiming to integrate into the Zionist national movement. The outcomes of these educational endeavours were intricately entwined with political dynamics. Against a backdrop of deteriorating national relations between Jews and Arabs, the imperative to differentiate between the two populations intensified, leading to the dissolution of most Jewish communities in Arab cities by the mid-1930s.