Teachers are the engineers of the human soul, the disseminators of knowledge and civilization, and teachers bear the dual responsibility of imparting knowledge and shaping the soul. The special nature of the teaching profession determines that teachers play a very important role in national development and national prosperity. The cultural and scientific level of the country and the nation depends to a large extent on the level of school teachers, so the establishment of teacher education is the top priority in higher education.
The five universities we are concerned about today are key normal universities directly under the Ministry of Education, outstanding representatives of China's normal colleges and universities, and can be called the "five golden flowers" of China's normal colleges and universities. The five universities are Beijing Normal University, East China Normal University, Central China Normal University, Northeast Normal University and Shaanxi Normal University. Let's introduce them one by one:
Beijing Normal University
Beijing Normal University is located in the capital Beijing. The predecessor of the school was the Normal Hall of Kyoshi University, which was founded in 1902; in 1908, it was renamed the Kyoshi Excellent Normal School and set up an independent school. In 1923, the school was renamed National Peking Normal University, becoming the first normal university in Chinese history. In 1931 and 1952, Peking Women's Normal University and Fu Jen University were merged into Beijing Normal University. After several relocations, in the spring of 1946, the teachers and students of the school moved back to Beiping. In February 1949, the school was changed to Beijing Normal University accordingly. In 1950, Chairman Mao personally inscribed the name of the school. In 1952, it was merged with Fu Jen University, and the School of Science of China University, the Department of Education of Yenching University, the Educational Research Office of Chinese Min University, and the Education Seminar were successively merged. On the occasion of the centennial celebration in 2002, the Ministry of Education and the Beijing Municipal Government decided to focus on the joint construction of Beijing Normal University.
Gate of Beijing Normal University
At present, Beijing Normal University is a key university directly under the Ministry of Education, and the central government directly manages the deputy ministerial level, and has been selected as one of the first ten universities to be listed as "double first-class", 985 project, 211 project, and one of the first ten universities to be built in the 7th and 8th Five-Year Plan of the country. After years of development, Beijing Normal University has developed into a famous institution with the main characteristics of teacher education, educational science and basic disciplines of arts and sciences.
Campus of Beijing Normal University
East China Normal University
East China Normal University, referred to as "East China Normal University", is located in Shanghai. Founded on October 16, 1951, East China Normal University was founded on the original site of Daxia University (1924) and Guanghua University (1925), and was transferred to some departments of St. John's University, Fudan University, Tongji University and Zhejiang University. In 1972, it merged with Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai University of Sport and other colleges and universities, and was renamed Shanghai Normal University. In 1980, the name of East China Normal University was restored. From 1997 to 1998, Shanghai Early Childhood Teachers College, Shanghai Institute of Education and Shanghai Second Institute of Education were successively merged.
East China Normal University
East China Normal University is a key university directly under the Ministry of Education, directly managed by the central government, and has been selected as a national "double first-class university class A", 985 project, 211 project, is a comprehensive research national key university jointly established by the Ministry of Education, the Shanghai Municipal People's Government and the State Oceanic Administration.
Campus of East China Normal University
Central China Normal University
Central China Normal University, abbreviated as "Central China Normal University" or "Huada University", is located in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province. The predecessor of Central China Normal University was the University Department of Wenhua College founded in 1903 (starting from the Wenhua College founded by the American Anglican Church in 1871 and renamed Huazhong University in 1924), the Chung Hua University founded in 1912, and the School of Education of Zhongyuan University founded in 1949. In 1952, in the national departmental adjustment movement, with the former public Huazhong University as the main body, the teacher training majors of the private Zhonghua University, Guangxi University, South China Normal University, Hainan Normal College and other schools were concentrated to form the Central China Higher Normal School. In 1953, it was named Huazhong Normal University, and since then the school has been adjusted several times. In 1985, it was renamed Central China Normal University, and Comrade Deng Xiaoping personally inscribed the name of the school.
Central China Normal University
Central China Normal University is a key comprehensive normal university directly under the Ministry of Education, and has been selected as a key construction institution of the National 211 Project and the "985 Project Advantageous Discipline Innovation Platform", a national "double-first-class" world-class discipline construction university, and an important base for the state to cultivate teachers and other senior professionals in middle and high schools.
Campus of Central China Normal University
Northeast Normal University
Northeast Normal University, referred to as Northeast Normal University, is located in Changchun, the capital of Jilin Province. Founded in 1946 as Northeastern Normal University, Northeast Normal University was the first comprehensive university created by the Communist Party of China in northeast China. In 1950, according to the needs of the development of national education, it was renamed Northeast Normal University. In 1953, the school began to recruit and train graduate students. In 1958, it was transferred to the management of Jilin Province and renamed Jilin Normal University. In 1980, it was re-assigned to the Ministry of Education and renamed Northeast Normal University.
Entrance to Northeast Normal University
Northeast Normal University is a key university directly under the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Education and the Jilin Provincial Government, and has been selected as a national "211 Project" and "985 Project Advantageous Discipline Innovation Platform" project, and has been selected as a national double-first-class university construction university. The school takes education and teaching as the foundation of the school. Over the past 70 years since its establishment, the school has formed a distinctive school-running characteristic of "basic education services" and is known as the "cradle of the people's teachers"
Campus of Northeast Normal University
Shaanxi Normal University
Shaanxi Normal University, referred to as Shaanxi Normal University and Shaanxi Normal University, is located in Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi Province, and has two campuses, Chang'an and Yanta. Founded in 1944, the school was formerly known as Shaanxi Provincial Normal College and the Department of Education of the College of Literature of National Northwest University, and was renamed Xi'an Normal College in 1954. In 1960, it merged with Shaanxi Normal University and was named Shaanxi Normal University. In 1978, it was transferred to the ministry of education.
The gate of Shaanxi Normal University
Shaanxi Normal University is a university directly under the Ministry of Education, which has been selected into the National 211 Project and the "985 Project Advantageous Discipline Innovation Platform" project, and has been selected as a national double-first-class university construction university. Shaanxi Normal University is an important base for the state to train teachers and education management cadres of colleges and universities, secondary schools and other senior professionals, and is known as the "cradle of teachers". Over the past 70 years since its establishment, the school has been based in the western region and serves the whole country, and has developed into a comprehensive first-class normal university with important influences, training more than 417,000 graduates of all kinds for the country.
Library of Shaanxi Normal University
After years of development, the development status of the five normal colleges is not the same. We conduct comparative analysis through tables from three aspects: national positioning, discipline construction and university rankings, as follows:
National positioning and types of schools
Discipline construction
School Rankings
In summary, we conduct comparative analysis from three dimensions: national positioning, discipline construction and university rankings. Referring to the data of the major rankings of Chinese universities, it can be seen that the comprehensive strength of the five normal universities as representatives of China's key universities is not the same. Beijing Normal University ranks first in all four rankings, showing the school's leading position in normal colleges; East China Normal University and Central China Normal University ranked 30th and 38th respectively, followed by Northeast Normal University and Shaanxi Normal University at 70th and 83rd respectively. Overall, the relative backwardness of Shaanxi Normal University and Northeast Normal University may be related to the lack of economic development and relatively insufficient financial support in the northeast and northwest regions.
With the passage of time and the change of times, the development of Chinese universities is closely related to the changes of the times. As the vanguard of cultivating educational talents in our country, normal universities will certainly make great achievements in today's increasingly strong demand for talents. Only by adapting to the requirements of the times, advancing with the times, and cultivating more educational talents that adapt to the times can the five normal universities be in a leading position in the field of higher education in China.