From “Extensive” to “Connotative” Development: Modernization of Chinese-Style Education

Oct 15, 2026

The article examines how China’s education modernization shifts from an “extensive” mode to a “connotative” one, moving from exogenous, late development toward endogenous, spontaneous development. It analyzes the mechanism linking rationalism to universalism and the resulting tension between extension and intension during modernization. It also assesses scale effects from higher education expansion, the risks that accompany them, and the practical requirement to solve large-class teaching while promoting small-class teaching.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages11

Reading Time28 min

AccessFree to download

Highlights

Key conceptual shift and mechanisms

Scale effects of higher education expansion

Large-class to small-class teaching transition

From “Extensive” to “Connotative” Development: Modernization of Chinese-Style Education Jiuquan Yang (杨九诠) Institute of Curriculum & Instruction, East China Normal University ECNU Review of Education 2024, Vol. 7(1) 144–154 © The Author(s) 2023 Article reuse guidelines: [sagepub.com/journals-permissions](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[ ](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[DOI: 10.1177/20965311231206134](DOI: 10.1177/20965311231206134)[ ](DOI: 10.1177/20965311231206134)[journals.sagepub.com/home/roe](journals.sagepub.com/home/roe) Highlights • The transformation of China’s education reform from extensive to connotative development involved a shift from characteristically exogenous and late development to endogenous and spontaneous development. • The mechanism behind the shift from rationalism to universalism has resulted in tension between extension and intension in the process of modernization. • Reﬂexive modernity has always existed in historical experience and situations, strengthening the appeal of intension to the right of deﬁning. • In terms of the scale effect, the expansion of higher education enrollment made historically signiﬁcant contributions to the modernization of education in China; however, it also had several disadvantages. • China’s educational modernization invariably requires solving the problem of large-class teaching and promoting small-class teaching in the process of shifting from extensive to connotative development. Keywords Connotative development, extensive development, globalization, higher education enrollment expansion, intension, small-class teaching, universalism Date received: 8 February 2023; accepted: 15 March 2023 Corresponding author: Jiuquan Yang, Institute of Curriculum & Instruction, East China Normal University, 3663 North Zhongshan Road, Shanghai 200062, China. Email: [jiuquan@vip.163.com](jiuquan@vip.163.com) Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License ([https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as speciﬁed on the SAGE and Open Access page ([https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage](https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage)). How to identify, describe, and analyze the modernization of Chinese-style education, as well as its extensive and connotative development, may be a more appropriate option for building a research framework. However, most researchers agree that the shift from extensive to connotative development reﬂects the inherent laws and realistic requirements of China’s educational reform and development. Indeed, in the pragmatics of scientiﬁc knowledge, the shift from extensive to connotative development has become a common and familiar expression, indicating its value as a framework. By clarifying and recontextualizing this framework, this study explores the basic characteristics and development process of the modernization of Chinese-style education. From exogenous to endogenous: Facts as the logic In China, modernization—the strategic theme guiding the country’s advancement—is characteristically exogenous and late-developing. In other words, China is still in the general and long-term process of transformation (i.e., exogenous) and still catching up with and seeking to surpass others (i.e., late-developing) . As endogenous development cannot occur through internal resources alone, the exogenous nature of China’s modernization necessitated the strategy of reform and opening-up. Meanwhile, the late-developing nature of China’s modernization required accelerated development. Consequently, education reform and development was periodically characterized by supernormal growth, while many decisions and matters

FAQs

What does the article mean by the shift from “extensive” to “connotative” development?

It describes a transformation from an exogenous, late-developing mode to an endogenous, spontaneous one within China’s education reform and modernization process.

How does rationalism connect to universalism in the modernization mechanism?

The article states that this mechanism produces tension between extension and intension as modernization proceeds.

What challenges and solutions does the article discuss regarding class teaching?

It argues that education modernization requires addressing large-class teaching and promoting small-class teaching during the transition from extensive to connotative development.

Oct 15, 2026

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