First, a declaration of nonsense#
When parents do not have educational certificates for their children, only marriage certificates.
There are no strict KPI assessments.
Education is based on conscience and awareness, as well as personal experiences of failure and success, or those of relatives, friends, classmates, or social role models, or a mix of various experiences from books, etc.
The same goal is to get into 211 or 985 universities, study well to pass the college entrance examination, and excel in sports to qualify as a special talent. Those with money can find various ways to get into 211, such as studying abroad first and then taking the entrance exam for domestic 211 or 985 universities, which is much easier, though money complicates things. This can be considered an international version of college entrance examination immigration, as well as a domestic version, where going to places like Xinjiang makes it easier to get into 211 due to fewer candidates and less competition. Some even plan when to have children based on birth rates, missing peak periods to reduce the difficulty of the narrow bridge. These various methods are quite similar to buying a house after a divorce; they don't provide direct benefits, but isn't that the true purpose of education? Those without money tend to be lofty, and those not in power can criticize the issues more effectively (because their position determines their perspective, forgetting about the brain).
Teaching according to individual aptitude#
Teaching according to individual aptitude seems to be a paradox.
The story of Mencius's mother moving three times tells us about the importance of school district housing. At most, it can be considered adapting to local conditions.
Many programmers do not have ancestors who could program, nor did they have the opportunity to learn programming. Yet, they can program.
Some who are not born into programming, like Liu Qiangdong and Li Guoqing, can also succeed in internet business.
Good horses are common, but good trainers are rare, which is also a criticism of teaching according to individual aptitude.
Good teachers, no good trainers#
Without good teachers in childhood, without good friends in youth, without practical matters in adulthood, and without a good reputation in old age, this is somewhat accurate. A good teacher is sufficient.
I understand a good teacher as someone who cultivates habits and character.
Direction and interests, to be honest, many people I know have neither direction nor interests.
They seem to have broad interests, knowing everything, but never actually playing basketball or soccer, and when discussing sports stars, they appear like giants, fully capable of replacing Huang Jianxiang as a commentator. Giants in language, but dwarfs in action.
To summarize in a classmate's words, it's about saying a few more words when chatting with others.
I am also confused; apart from making more money as a direction, doing nothing is just daily life, like a bird in a cage, wasting freedom for a bit of birdseed. Complete freedom is good, but it can't be eaten.
Most people's activities are about making money, and their interests may have nothing to do with their work.
Most people do whatever makes money. Zhang Xuesong encountered a parent who hoped their child would apply for finance or computer science because they were doing well in school. Zhang Xuesong asked if the child was interested, only to find out that the child had no interest in making money and wanted to study physics at Harbin Institute of Technology.
Wei Shen comes from an educational family, but he has no interest in education, only in mathematics. The best teachers are those who help students find their interests or develop an interest in the subjects they teach, right? But I believe most of Wei Shen's students probably don't think that way; they are likely more concerned about stable, high-paying jobs.
My understanding of the essence of education#
What is the essence of education, especially compulsory education?
It is to produce talents suitable for the stable development of society and enterprises. It filters out those who appear smart and honest or those who have already mastered the ways to benefit directly.
Many children have numerous patents, which upon investigation turn out to be gifts from their grandparents. This is one of the ways.
Obeying discipline and suppressing one's personality. Doesn't the book 1984 say something along those lines? I haven't read it.
If you are too smart, too individualistic, or too opinionated, challenging teachers and superiors, unless you are a genius in an advertising company or run your own company, not many companies would dare to hire you.
The works of Cao Xueqin and Shi Nai'an are considered banned books, yet they are books of freedom. Now, politics also requires free labor and the needs of the revolution at that time. The regime they lived under indeed suppressed them.
Making money is making money, education is education?#
Academic corruption is also a failure of education, or rather, a deviation in education.
In politics, people believe Hai Rui is a good official, but he cannot survive in the officialdom; this is true in any dynasty.
Officials are appointed, not elected. How many times have you voted? The Soviet Union is a joke; you can look into it more.
The unity of knowledge and action is very difficult; education does not teach it. You praise Hai Rui's deeds and behaviors while simultaneously wining and dining to get things done; what will the child learn?
Accountants do not falsify accounts; whether it is professional ethics or legal regulations, is there a company that exists with only one set of accounts?
There have been, but perhaps they quickly went bankrupt.
Durability is a good design and educational outcome, right? However, in business, many designs are for non-durable components, unable to increase external storage, unable to replace batteries, low-temperature solder designs in laptops, and designs in rice cookers that affect lifespan, Intel's CPU pin design. Why? Good education and design lead to too low a repurchase rate, causing companies to fail faster.
Constantly upgrading software systems, is it really helping you have a better experience?
Thinking of cloud storage throttling, broadly speaking, it hinders the efficient transmission of information, slowing down national development.
But why does the country turn a blind eye? Just creating a youth version or something to gloss over it? Because there are taxes; if companies do not make profits, where does the tax revenue come from? So this is also where the contradiction lies.
While companies make money, they also educate you that normal download speeds are abnormal; only by paying can you obtain normal speeds.
The meaning of "明明德在亲民在止于至善" (to clarify virtue, to benefit the people, and to strive for the ultimate good) lies in understanding the meaning, then committing crimes without any scruples, not forced at all.
Some educators' viewpoints#
The model of Confucius's school has developed quite well to this day. Yi Zhongtian or someone else once said that Confucius's funeral school applies what is learned. The current problem may be whether vocational and technical schools can cultivate talents that enterprises will directly use. Should enterprises directly cultivate talents, which then involves interests, power, policies, and various issues?
The case of Confucius also indirectly illustrates that ordinary education is meant to cultivate cogs for enterprises and society.
In terms of education, I am not a teacher, and my child is still young, not yet attending Tsinghua or Peking University.
Therefore, the viewpoints listed above are things I have read and remembered, all related to money, which is rather vulgar.
Educators Cai Yuanpei and Tao Xingzhi, after historical scrutiny, their viewpoints, from the perspective of state machinery, are still quite good, especially Cai Yuanpei's.
Note
Cai Yuanpei's educational philosophy is mainly reflected in the following aspects:
Five educations should be promoted together: Cai Yuanpei proposed the educational policy of "military national education, pragmatic education, civic moral education, worldview education, and aesthetic education should not be neglected," which is known as "five educations promoted together." This idea advocates for the harmonious development of moral, intellectual, physical, and aesthetic education, centering on civic moral education, and is a pioneering concept in modern Chinese educational history.
Subject selection system and professor-led school management: In terms of teaching systems, Cai Yuanpei advocated for a subject selection system, believing that this system helps students broaden their knowledge and promotes the free development of individuality. At the same time, he advocated for professor-led school management, aiming to establish a democratic management system relying on experts who truly understand education and academia to manage schools.
Aesthetic education concept: Cai Yuanpei proposed the idea of "using aesthetic education instead of religion," believing that aesthetic education is free, progressive, and universal, while religion is coercive and conservative. He emphasized that aesthetic education is important not only for children and adolescents but for people of all ages.
Education to save the nation and serve society: Cai Yuanpei's educational thought was deeply influenced by his dual identity as a revolutionary and educator. He firmly believed that education could save the nation and proposed the view that education aims to cultivate individuals, and when individuals are established, the nation becomes strong. He hoped to cultivate young people with sound personalities through education, thereby remedying social issues and endowing university education with the function of "serving society."
Cai Yuanpei's educational philosophy is a product of the combination of the essence of traditional Chinese culture and Western modern civilization, having a profound impact on China's educational and ideological circles. His educational thoughts were not only pioneering at the time but still hold significant guiding significance for today's educational reform and development.
I quite agree with Tao Xingzhi's educational thoughts, although at first glance, his views seem to be about labor reform, which the last emperor also learned from, with good results.
Note
Tao Xingzhi's educational philosophy centers on the theory of life education, which includes three basic principles: life is education, society is school, and teaching and doing are one.
The theory of life education is the core of Tao Xingzhi's educational thought, emphasizing that education should rely on life and transform life. He believed that education comes from life and advocated that education should depend on the power of life to meet social needs. The idea that society is a school posits that society itself is a university, and education should rely on the power of society. Teaching and doing as one is the methodology of the life education theory, advocating that teaching methods, learning methods, and doing methods are inseparable; students should learn how to do things as they are done, and teachers should teach according to how students learn.
Tao Xingzhi's educational thought also includes four major spirits and five major propositions. The four major spirits are the spirit of great love that "fills the world," the spirit of dedication that "comes with a heart and leaves without a blade of grass," the spirit of creativity that "dares to explore uncharted territories," and the spirit of truth-seeking that "teaches people to seek truth and learn to be real." The five major propositions include action is the beginning of knowledge, laboring with the mind while laboring with the body, teaching oneself while teaching others, transmitting knowledge as soon as it is known, and the six liberations. The six liberations refer to liberating children's minds, hands, mouths, eyes, time, and space, thereby liberating children's creativity.
Tao Xingzhi's educational thought has not only influenced educational practice in China but also provided valuable references for global education. His theory of life education emphasizes the close connection between education and life, asserting that education must be integrated with life to be effective. This combination of theory and practice has significant implications for modern educational reform and development.
Researching materials, it seems Wang Yangming also had educational methods that can be referenced, compared to Cai Yuanpei and Tao Xingzhi.
In fact, Wang Yangming discovered long ago that much of education suppresses children's personality development, viewing children as prisoners and schools as prisons.
[!NOTE]
- Wang Yangming's thoughts on children's education
The Ming Dynasty educator Wang Shouren placed great emphasis on children's education and offered many insightful views on it.
(1) He exposed and criticized the traditional children's education for ignoring children's physical and mental characteristics, viewing children as "little adults," which is a fatal flaw. Traditional children's education suppresses children's personality development, treating them as prisoners and schools as prisons.
(2) He advocated that children's education should conform to children's nature. Education should adapt to children's age characteristics, respect children's interests, and treat them like young saplings, providing them with gentle care like spring breezes and light rain, encouraging students.
(3) Educational methods: He advocated for using "induction," "guidance," and "irony" as "cultivation and nurturing methods," replacing traditional methods of "supervision," "responsibility," and "punishment."
(4) Educational content: Utilize the multifaceted roles of various subjects. Poetry, reading, etiquette, etc., all have their unique functions and should be comprehensively applied.
(5) Procedures: He advocated for a combination of movement and stillness, using both body and mind, carefully arranging courses so that students can receive moral education while also learning knowledge and exercising.
(6) Teaching principles: He proposed "teaching according to the limits of individuals," meaning teaching should be done according to one's abilities, progressing step by step, and teaching according to individual aptitude.
Although Wang Shouren's fundamental purpose in children's education was to instill feudal ethics and morals, he began to advocate that education should conform to children's nature and be based on children's actual capacity for acceptance, allowing children to develop in moral, intellectual, physical, and aesthetic aspects, reflecting his naturalistic tendencies in educational thought.
How to exert effort in education?#
Education cannot be like a secretary in Pingdu, mobilizing the entire city's resources. Regardless of military, material, human, financial, or energy resources, the secretary's efforts in educating adults were substantial, yet the result was exposed and became a trending topic at the time.
This also indicates that education is not about how powerful or large the resources are.
Note
In a leaked recording, Wang Li, the Party Secretary of Yunshan Town in Pingdu City, Shandong Province, stated, "We can mobilize the entire city of Pingdu; we can afford to exhaust all our military, material, human, financial, and energy resources for him. I am all in; I have a hundred ways to punish his son, but I just don't want to use those methods right now."
Education that serves interests is not like shouting slogans: "To establish a heart for heaven and earth, to establish a destiny for the people, to inherit the teachings of the sages, to open peace for all generations."
Of course, there are also those who speak without intention, but listeners take it to heart, acting according to the slogans. Indeed impressive; I am in complete admiration.
Oscar Wilde's original quote about "looking up at the stars while being in the gutter" is: "We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars."
Human nature is inclined towards goodness; at the beginning, human nature is inherently good.
Educating with heart, nurturing with love, being a ferry for students on their growth journey is generally a title for excellent teachers.
Only parents have a greater opportunity to use this phrase and action, right?
Let me tell another heartfelt story. I won't write it down.
Note
Liu Gongquan also has the famous saying, "Using the pen with the heart; when the heart is right, the pen is right." Once, while watching Liu Gongquan write, Emperor Muzong of Tang repeatedly praised him and solemnly asked, "How do you write so well?" Liu Gongquan immediately replied, "Using the pen with the heart; when the heart is right, the pen is right." This is his principle for writing. However, at that moment, he spoke these words to the emperor, clearly carrying a deeper meaning. Liu Gongquan was telling the emperor that only by doing things with heart can one have a right heart, and thus there will be no deviation in actions. After this statement, the emperor, who was usually indulged in wine and pleasure, "silently changed his expression," because he knew Liu Gongquan was offering a "pen admonition." This "pen admonition" was sincere and bold; the sincerity lay in Liu Gongquan's hope that the emperor could be self-disciplined and upright, touching the emperor with his calligraphy insights; the boldness lay in his straightforwardness and honesty in answering, making such a "pen admonition" an effective impact on Emperor Muzong of Tang.