Education is not just about academic research, but life itself
- Source: Global Times
- [22:25 November 03 2009]
- Comments
By Xu Yan
"Education is a social progress. Education is growth. Education is not a preparation for life; education is life itself." This is a quote from John Dewey, an American philosopher and educational reformer.
Dewey's concepts of "experiential education" influenced a generation of Chinese educators, including reformers like Hu Shi, Tao Xingzhi and Cai Yuanpei (also known as Hu Shih, Tao Hengchih and Tsai Yuan-pei in the West).
But 88 years after Dewey's visit to China, China still has a long way to go before the real meaning of education is understood and fully implemented.
The heated debate about research papers is an excellent example of this. The recent controversy over prominent academic Zhang Xiaoyuan's remarks about a possible abolition of research papers as a prerequisite for bachelors' degrees in Sichuan University is yet to completely quell down, and the issue has drawn comments from other famous names in Chinese academia.
Yi Zhongtian, a wellknown professor at Xiamen University, lashed out on his blog on October 23 at the thesis or dissertation requirement for getting a master's or doctoral degree.
Yang Fujia, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), also suggested at a meeting on October 27 that CAS should take the lead in canceling the policy of linking awarding the doctoral degree to the number of published research papers.
But the real question is not whether to abolish the required research papers.
As enough evidence can be easily collected to make a strong argument "for" or "against" it, neither side can convince the other and end the debate.
Here, only Dewey's ideas hold the key to simplifying the complicated problem and fi nding an ultimate solution.
Education is life itself, as Dewey stated, and life, colorful as it is, certainly goes far beyond research.
Likewise, there are diversifi ed methods in education to cultivate and evaluate students' abilities of independent thinking, creation, and applying what they learned into practice, just as an ideal research paper does. Dewey's ideas of pragmatism or experimentalism have helped to reshape the American educational system.
Take master's programs in journalism as an example. Many of them in the US offer two paths toward getting a degree — thesis and non-thesis. If a student chooses not to write a research paper or complete a project, some additional semester-hour program of study is likely to be required before a degree is awarded.
