Not Kneeling While Teaching (Dàshà Book Series · Educational Musings)

Author: Wu Fei
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-10-01
Features: To want students to stand tall, teachers cannot teach on their knees. If teachers lack independent thinking, what kind of people will their students become? In the face of immense numbness and indifference, I have indeed had thoughts of giving up. However, when I think of the centuries of kneeling in Chinese history, the humiliation brought to the Chinese people by the Cultural Revolution, and the possibility that future generations may kneel in various forms, I realize that China must first have strong-willed teachers. Only then can the dictionary of education include the term "forging."
This book is a collection of educational essays by Wu Fei, a renowned expert in Chinese language education and a prose writer. The articles delve into educational and teaching issues, analyze phenomena, and provide insights, fully showcasing the profound understanding of Chinese education, particularly that of primary and secondary education, by a seasoned teacher and educational expert. The writing is polished and thought-provoking.
I once thought the world had lost its conscience and hope, that everywhere was a decline in morality and a fall into spiritual degradation. I believed Chinese education had gone down a dead end, into a bottleneck, into a abyss, into darkness, because the selfishness, vulgarity, mediocrity, and materialism of society haded into this so-called of schools. But after reading Wu Fei’s Teaching Without Kneeling, my empty, helpless, and even somewhat despairing heart seemed to find a glimmer of hope and light. Looking around again at the society before me, I felt a bit more confidence and hope. Yes, confidence and hope! Teaching Without Kneeling is a heart-wrenching cry from a conscientious intellectual, flowing from the depths of his soul—or perhaps from his very bones. It is the call of a warrior who raises the banner of idealism, with fearless courage, confronting and bravely holding back the turbid stream of reality. It is the of an thinker who holds life and humanity in and, both gentle and resolute yet sharp and incisive—a declaration of life itself! From this, I seem to see the author declaring to the world: "This world has Prometheus who stole fire, and it will always have martyrs who pursue fire-like ideals!" "My belief in my heart will not fade." I will "strive to accomplish a few things!" How concise and resolute is that declaration! A conscientious intellectual straddling the gap between ideal and reality, an thinker wandering between the painful history and the indifferent present—I would say so.
Teaching Without Kneeling conveys an ideal, an ideal of the intellectual’s character, and an ideal of education. When this character and ideal clash with reality, it becomes a weapon defending human dignity and the banner of ideals. What is the essence of a person? What is the essence of education? In Teaching Without Kneeling, we see the author’s comprehensive concern for the essence of humanity and life. Towards those inhuman, cruel, and ignorant educational practices, or those tyrannical and backward ones that stifle life, the author either sighs in despair or expresses indignant frustration, or even delivers merciless satire. If the essence of a person is shaped by the spirit, then the author’s advocacy of humanistic education, life education, and the cultivation of kindness, love, gratitude, independence, and the like undoubtedly touches on the essence of life, which is also an interpretation of the essence of education.
Write "the education of humanity" on our banner, let students become people with humanistic spirit (including those with lofty spirit and ideals, becoming upright and resolute individuals), and also become people with scientific spirit. Perhaps, this is the author’s educational ideal, or the ideal education he upholds and practices. Indeed, the author laments with deep sorrow over the and utilitarianism of the current educational circles and society, over the widespread loss of humanistic spirit and the decline of morality.
If Lu Xun abandoned medicine for literature to save the souls of the Chinese people, can we say that Teaching Without Kneeling is the author’s ideal call, raising the banner of humanistic spirit, urging education to return to the right path, and helping students become truly human—a warning bell for the times? It is undeniable that many chapters in the book expose the current state of primary and secondary education, which is familiar to everyone, and reveal the social roots of this state. It can be said that anyone connected to primary and secondary education—parents, students, teachers, school leaders, and people from all walks of life—can deeply feel this, or even be a practitioner. But who can face reality as directly, as profoundly, as Wu Fei does, uncovering the various wounds and analyzing their causes? For this alone, I can say with certainty that only those who stand tall can write such a book that stands tall.
As an intellectual who grew up with the People’s Republic, the book’s words are filled with the author’s deep and passionate love for his country, his people, and his nation. His yearning for the spirit of Chinese culture is fervent and even moving, though his expression may seem calm or even harsh, yet the heart of a child can be felt throughout the book. Although both the author and the People’s Republic have experienced that painful period of reflection, history is the choice of facts, and history means interpretation—it is the search for causes. Throughout the book, we see the author reflect on history while critiquing the present, reflecting on the wounds and lessons of our nation during that period.
Truly, I can say that the author is a thinker wandering between the painful history and the indifferent present. Such a thinker, I believe, is qualified to judge history and face reality. To recall is to remember, the past pushes the present forward, and the present shows the direction of the future. If every young teacher, if every Chinese language teacher, could read this book seriously and reflect on their educational philosophy and actions, I believe they would benefit greatly. Of course, I dare not boldly advise some principals to read it (though I very much hope they do), because my voice is too weak, and I dare not overstep my bounds.
Yes, reality is far from satisfactory, and even the powerful inertia of reality and the decline of human hearts are far more serious than people estimate. But despite this, we are gratified to see the publication of Teaching Without Kneeling. I truly admire Wu Fei’s courage and determination, a backbone that stands apart from the world’s confusion, clear and pure amidst universal pursuit of profit—a series of thoughts that ring out resolutely, shining with the light of truth. Whether through calm narration, sorrowful lament, or even angry condemnation, we feel the passionate love of a child for his mother and his nation, the rational reflection of a conscientious intellectual!
Education is the foundation of a nation. I believe that if every educator can think in this way in the midst of their busy and exhausting work: "China must first have strong-willed teachers, and only then can the dictionary of education include the term 'forging'," then our nation truly has hope. Of course, we remain hopeful, because Teaching Without Kneeling itself tells people: this society still has hope, Chinese education still has hope, because there are still people like Wu Fei who stand tall and write with unyielding integrity! I am certain, and not just one!