Previously, the development history of university and education and their own experience were discussed intermittently from different aspects.After rearranging the logic, I gathered it into a whole essay.
At first glance, education seems simple, involving the educator (teacher) and the educated (student), the content (knowledge and thought), and the medium of instruction (environment and method).On reflection, education is a very complex nonlinear evolutionary system.For thousands of years, models and methods of education have emerged.In modern society, various educational systems coexist, and some people worry that the status of pedagogy itself has been challenged.
The complexity of education boils down to the following.
First, even considering the simplest static education model (teacher à student), the most basic element involved is a complex system in itself.Man is alone because he does not know his ultimate purpose in the universe.Early educators did not experience the great scientific explosion of the 21st century, and human dignity has not yet been ruthlessly crushed by scientific facts.So they can talk about human nature and freedom with pleasurefully.They can assume that people are born free, that the spirit has a need and a viable way to be promoted.
I admire and admire this new era of science, in which educators and philosophers have a humanistic spirit.They all have a strong belief that man is the greatest species in the world.Even if animal nature is acknowledged, it is only a small part of it. By civilization, man can become an independent and free man, and man's nature can be purified by education and become a moral man.
After "education", people have succeeded in discovering that man is not free.Whether it's the genetic system that our bodies carry or the planetary system that's in such a corner of the earth, we have little freedom of choice.The average animal needs relatively little information to survive, and it's enough to write it down in its genes.Some complex animals also need to pass on from one generation to the next, such as tiger-prey techniques.Genetic transmission and species survival are the first principles of life.All the "cultural" phenomena that contradict it will eventually be ruthlessly abandoned by nature.For example, long antlers.
Second, we need to see that the knowledge system needed for early education is not complete.This is especially true when the theory of early education took shape.At that time, much scientific knowledge of modern significance had not yet emerged, and knowledge accumulated through experience might not be entirely correct.Early education models developed under imperfect knowledge systems are inherently deficient.
At the same time, we must note that the content and connotation of education evolve with history.History has proved that early attempts to use an educational concept as a universal extension have been unsuccessful, whether it be practical, critical, spiritual or scientific.This shows that educational theory should have only stage stability and we should learn and absorb all kinds of educational theories critically.
Finally, we need to consider that the educational system is part of the whole social system of knowledge, and that there is a variety of energy docking and exchange of ideas with society.The resources needed to train people for use by society must come from society.The interface between schools and the community will become ever closer.This is the general trend, and this is a new form that early universities did not face.
What are the new challenges facing the education system in the 21st century compared with earlier education?Only when we know these things can we know each other when we study in university and arrange our own study rhythm and strategy.
The first challenge is the explosion of knowledge explosion.This can cause indigestion of knowledge and become a burden of knowledge.The current knowledge system and total amount were unimaginable to scholars centuries ago.How to pass on this knowledge has become a whole new question.It took me decades, for example, to build up into a small system in one direction or another in my field of expertise.The direction and points of knowledge needed are extremely complex.Education is very important in personal growth, but personal selection and digestion are almost the so-called self-choice of the talented.Carelessly, students will be trained as useless people with a pile of knowledge piled up in their heads.
The second challenge is the time limit.As knowledge increases, students' time needs to be greatly improved.The most important resource in life is time.Education requires time investment and disciplines need to compete for this most valuable resource.In a limited time, how to achieve education optimization, is a brand-new subject.
The third challenge is a significant increase in the demand for socialization.Traditional universities have always maintained some independence, the school can pursue freedom, to train the "pure" talent that universities want to cultivate.In today's society, the need for socialization is so great that its influence penetrates the walls of universities and opens the door to university independence.Social needs are not always reconciled with the needs of universities.
The fourth challenge is cultural inclusion.Culture reinforces its characteristics and mixes them with economic behavior.It leads to the mode of self-improvement gradually, and the educated are held hostage and unable to extricate themselves.In the great tide of dehumanized education, we can't do our best.
If there is to be an analogy with an educational system, in nature, I think we can use the Earth and Moon system.Earth and the moon interact by gravity, the earth is dominant, the moon is auxiliary, but the moon also exerts tidal force on the earth, partially affecting the development of the law of the law.The Earth-moon system is not static. The moon is moving away from the Earth every day.At the same time, the earth and moon move around the sun, evolving from 4 billion years ago to the present.Similarly, the historical environment, civilization and knowledge system of educators and educated people are constantly evolving.Education has become an inseparable part of the social system.
The question is, do we need to have a very integrated system of education?
The more complicated the system is, the more sensitive it is to the outside world, and the whole body is pulled together and eventually developed into an inefficient system.Normal stable systems require redundancy and fault tolerance.It is particularly important in the information age to adapt to the rapid changes in the external environment.
In the future, knowledge screening and customized education may be more precise and efficient.Through iterative feedback, individuals can also participate in this knowledge localization process, realizing their knowledge freedom and education mode freedom.This is a distinctive feature of the future developed society, where everyone is matched by an exclusive educational model.Of course, this process requires strong resource background support.This vision is not yet fully realized in the current university education system.However, we can first use the small class system, elite system and so on to simulate the customized education, which will be reflected in different universities.
The Debate between General Education and Professional Education
Large tissues are characterized by evolution.such as civilization, cities, universities, and so on.Based on this evolutionary model, we can analyze the evolutionary context of these large-scale organizations and judge the intention and development direction of some new things and phenomena.
The university's initial model is very simple.In the early independent urban development environment, the original university constructed by teachers and students has certain autonomy characteristics.The goal of early universities was also relatively simple: to preserve and pass on knowledge, and to educate others at the same time.Studying classics has become the main way of learning.The subjects included arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music (natural subjects), logic, grammar and rhetoric (humanities) in the more urban areas of the time.These constitute the content foundation of western general education.
General education, called Literal Arts in English.In Greek, Liberal, or freedom, is highly targeted and unambiguous, referring primarily to free men who exclude slaves, labourers, or craftsmen.Thus, the goal of early general education was clear: to develop free men who could be used by the state, a process that focused more on thinking than on knowledge.General education has been enriched from the beginning of university to the modern university, but its importance has been fluctuating.Over time, slaves disappeared, the status of workers and craftsmen rose sharply, and the meaning of Library changed dramatically, causing much trouble for the subsequent definition of Library Arts, which is still under discussion.
The connotation and content of Library can be changed, but its existence is indestructible. After all, education is the foundation of universities, which is very different from research institutes and other forms of institutions.
According to the principle of increasing biological complexity, the model of university education will evolve with the development of society.This inefficient teaching and knowledge transmission model has been criticized by the society.Scientific subjects have also been separated from universities and development, professional masters are not university teachers, and many do not want to join universities.
With the establishment of Berlin University by Humboldt in 1810, scientific research became the theme model of the university, and modern universities emerged.Research-oriented universities advocate the freedom of scientific research, teaching and learning, enrich the connotation of Library Arts, and impact the traditional simultaneous educational content.American research universities emulate the University of Berlin, but their tradition of British university models is stronger than in Germany.Even so, the battle between liberal arts and science education never ceases, and scientific research-led secretaries are bound to undermine simultaneous education.