Education for the gifted, also known as elite education, refers to the special selection and training of outstanding personnel education.Early higher education is essentially gifted education.Even with the calls for "democratic education" and "equal educational opportunities" in modern times, this model of education has not been weakened, after all, gifted education has played a certain role in promoting the development of society.The United States had policies and laws for gifted education.The Defense Education Act of 1958 states that "a large number of talented children must be selected and educated for national security."In 1973, passed the "Genius Education Act", through a variety of wins, strict screening, good selection, careful training.[1]Influenced by cultural traditions, there has always been a "talent education complex" in Eastern countries.Japan's competition for talent tests is so severe that it is called "test hell."No country has made it as clear as Singapore that "the best people are in the most important jobs."China's education before the 1990s could not meet the public demand for higher education, only a few outstanding talents can be selected through the examination to train.In the Cultural Revolution, even this kind of gifted education was affected. In 1978, the college entrance examination system was restored and the quality of school education was improved.Comrade Deng Xiaoping pointed out at that time that "it is necessary to walk on two legs in order to grasp education, paying attention to both popularization and improvement.Key primary schools, key middle schools and key universities should be set up.Strict examinations are required to concentrate the best people in key high schools and universities.Choose thousands of top talent from the technology system…”[2]。
Gifted education and mass education are relatively guaranteed to provide the country with high-quality talent.But too much attention to gifted education and too little attention to mass education can upset the tension between the two, as stated in the 1983 report of the American Commission on Quality Education, "a growing gap between a few tech geniuses and ignorant citizens."This phenomenon is not conducive to the improvement of national quality and the application of technology in productionMoreover, "people go high, water flows low", people have the desire to become talented, occupy important posts.In the eyes of ordinary people, entering key elementary school, key middle school, and then receiving higher education is an important way to achieve success.In China, the original purpose of promoting the reform of education and teaching through the restoration of the college entrance examination system is not only to select some outstanding talents, but also to improve the scientific and cultural quality of the whole people.Even if the selected few, there are still "high scores and low abilities", the knowledge structure is incomplete, or moral, physical and psychological defects, can not be said to have the quality that really good talent should have.The tendency of "examination-oriented education" in basic education caused by gifted education is a huge waste of national educational resources, which seriously affects the improvement of national quality.
The negative effects of gifted education are obvious, especially after it has been improperly expanded.In order to eliminate this negative impact, the process of mass education must be accelerated.In the United States, for example, it has been advocating the combination of gifted education and mass education, and at one time expanded higher education (such as "land grant colleges") and took the lead in popularizing higher education.Martin Trow uses a 15% enrolment rate as the dividing line between elite higher education and mass higher education.Since the 1990s, China has gradually promoted popularized higher education. After many years of development, it has achieved this goal, with a gross enrollment rate of 40%.One of China's strategic goals in the future is to achieve a higher level of universal education.Basic universalization of pre-school education; consolidation of the level of nine-year compulsory education; universalization of upper secondary education with a gross enrolment rate of 90 per cent; and further enhancement of the popularization of higher education.[4]
The development of popularized higher education not only improves the overall quality of the people, but also relieves the growing demand of the people for higher education and relieves the pressure of entering school.
Just as some countries have used the terms "quality" and "quality assurance" in education, China has emphasized quality education for more than a decade, and in 1999 the State Council issued the Decision on Deepening Education Reform and Promoting Quality Education.From the word meaning analysis, "quality" refers not only to a person's innate anatomical and physiological characteristics, but also to the basic qualities formed under the influence of environmental education.Advocating quality education is to make every student's innate genetic quality fully developed, and at the same time make them acquire all kinds of qualities that society needs.From the point of overcoming the disadvantages of "examination-oriented education", quality-oriented education is aimed at improving the overall quality of the trainees and realizing the all-round development of individuals.Whether to attach importance to the concept of quality education, the development of students' personality, or both, different understanding leads to different practice.
We acknowledge that there are differences in the quality of human beings, and we have to select talents through educational examinations.However, the differentiation of talents should be carried out at the appropriate level.This is because the development of society needs to improve the quality of all members of society. Early selection will make most people lose the opportunity of development.Therefore, the basic education stage should not be differentiated and eliminated. First of all, nine-year compulsory education should be mass education, fair education and quality education.To this end, some localities have begun to abolish the examination for entry to secondary schools, the middle of key secondary schools, and primary school students attending nearby schools, in order to eliminate the causes of examination-oriented education.Some schools carry out quality education practices such as situational education, pleasant education and successful education to promote the development of students' personality.From the beginning of the primary and secondary schools to the later elimination of the focus, from the emphasis on promotion to quality, reflects the social demand for mass education and quality education.
Not only that, different levels, different forms of education should pay attention to quality education.So people have expanded quality-oriented education to higher education.In order to enhance students' adaptability to society and solve the problem of employment difficulties, we should also pay attention to the cultivation of students' comprehensive quality.In the late 1990s, many people criticized the existence of "too strong utilitarianism, too narrow professional setting and too weak cultural background" in higher education.This is because humanistic quality is the foundation of human comprehensive quality, which restricts the cultivation of other qualities.Humanities can cultivate people's sentiment, sublimate people's realm, and shape people with sound character.As far as technological creation is concerned, humanities such as aesthetics and art can broaden the vision of engineers, activate their thinking, inspire their inspiration, and so on.It seems that if quality education is put into practice, it can also improve the quality of the cultivated talents.
Of course, gifted education also promotes the improvement of human quality from the other hand, which not only drives individuals to advance, but also makes universities to rise automatically.Just as there is a big difference between two-year community colleges and prestigious universities in the United States, it is also an important way for China to develop talents quickly and successfully by running a number of key universities.Under specific conditions, it is essential to enhance a country's scientific and technological competitiveness.The Times Higher Education Supplement reported that six elite universities received 以8m to emulate Chinese universities after a visit to China that had a strong impact on China's investment in 10 institutions.[5]
Although it is expected that the realization of mass higher education will help promote the transition from "examination-oriented education" to quality-oriented education, the transition is not achieved overnight.