Guardian Education -- Education Essays in the series of Daxia Books

Author: Liu Tiefang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-04-01
Features: It is precisely because of our yearning for the free and comprehensive development of human beings that we develop a deep attachment to the current state of education and the fate of individuals in reality. We hold a profound humanistic reflection on subtle educational incidents and maintain a warm and compassionate attitude toward our own small thoughts. At the same time, we engage in rational criticism and necessary reflection on various educational issues in reality, guarding over education with an ordinary, loving, and rational heart, and guarding over our educational dreams in our hearts. As our educational reforms gradually deepen today, I often cannot help but turn back and reflect on what the purpose of educational reform is? Or, how can we truly achieve the goals expected from educational reform? In my opinion, the purpose we hold dear should at least include this: gradually handing over more of the initiative in education to its practitioners themselves, allowing them to truly become the practical subjects of educational life, rather than merely serving as executors or tools of educational authority—whether theoretical or based on power—above them. This will fully stimulate, liberate, and unleash the educational potential, creativity, and practical wisdom of every educational practitioner. This means we cannot simply set a standard answer for "what is education," "how education should be," or "how education must be," and adopt mechanical action models. Instead, we should return the right to question the meaning of educational life to the practitioners, allowing every educational individual to continuously ask in their daily educational lives: What is education? What is good education? It is precisely through the continuous questioning and challenging of existing educational practices that the educational wisdom of frontline educators is nurtured, and the quality of life for every educator in education is improved and enhanced. When we reject the simplistic authority of theory or power imposing itself over educational practice, it does not mean that everything in practice is acceptable or good. I simply hope to genuinely enhance the autonomy of frontline educators in their respective educational lives, empowering each educator to explore, question, create, and discover within their own educational lives, and to cultivate the awareness and ability to gain a sense of fulfillment and happiness from their educational journey. At the same time, we should show more tolerance for educational thought and research, less dogmatism, and create a space for free exchange and positive dialogue in educational discourse, making practical efforts to enhance the rational character of our educational lives. As we continuously strive to improve the quality of educational life and enhance the quality of educational living, and as we occasionally introduce trendy slogans like "postmodern," we must still hold fast to certain principles and protections for our educational lives, especially for modern education embedded in the long history of human civilization. "All roads lead to Rome"—before us, among us, and after us, countless passionate and wise individuals have pursued the dream of education, the "Rome" on the path of education—the educational ideal that humans tirelessly strive for in the history of educational development—is it not the free and comprehensive development of every individual as Marx, or the "human being as an end in itself" as Kant? Although current education is far from perfect, the goal of the free and comprehensive development of humanity is an infinite process of approximation, yet it remains the guiding lighthouse in the hearts of every educator and a mirror reflecting the reality of education. It is precisely because of our yearning for the free and comprehensive development of humanity and our concern for human perfection that we develop a deep attachment to the current state of education and the fate of individuals in reality, maintain a calm heart toward the complex educational phenomena, hold a profound humanistic reflection on subtle educational incidents, and maintain a warm and compassionate attitude toward our small thoughts. At the same time, we engage in rational criticism and necessary reflection on various educational issues in reality, guarding over education with an ordinary, loving, and rational heart, and guarding over our educational dreams in our hearts. Perhaps, each individual's strength is small and insignificant, but perhaps the development and progress of education require the accumulation of countless ordinary and persistent efforts. Regardless, our ordinary and persistent efforts will support and illuminate our own modest educational journey. Thanks to the kindness of Mr. Fa Yuan of East China Normal University Press, who asked me to compile an anthology of educational essays, I have pieced together fragments of my thoughts and feelings from my daily work or leisure in education. Although the essays vary in length, they all reflect my serious reflections on educational issues. Many of them have been published in journals such as Dushu (Reading), Shuwu (Book House), Jiaoyu Cankao (Educational Reference), Jiaoshi Zhi You (Teacher's Friend), Mingri Jiaoyu Luntan (Tomorrow Education Forum), Zhong Xiao Jiao Li (Primary and Secondary School Management), and Jiaoyu Kexue Yanjiu (Educational Science Research).