Accelerated Education

After the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, in order to solve the shortage of talent as soon as possible, promote the transformation of academic tradition from the European and American model to the Soviet model, and quickly popularize new knowledge and new theories, universities, ministries, and local scientific research institutions launched various forms of accelerated education. Since the large-scale rise of rapid education in the late Qing Dynasty, it's progress was intermittent, and academic circles had different opinions on it. Some scholars believed that “fast speed can also be achieved”, while others believed that “more haste, less speed” was preferable. Based on the analysis of the Williams Workshop on Soil Science jointly held by the Ministry of Higher Education and the Central Ministry of Agriculture in 1954, this paper reviews the background, teaching purpose, composition of participants, organizational process and influence of the workshop, and probes into the role of accelerated education in popularizing new theories and knowledge in the 1950s. Through this analysis of its formation background and historical influence, the paper discusses the historical influence of accelerated education.