Tao Xingzhi was still watching us

Lee Town West

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I don't know how many times I have read Tao Xingzhi since I taught him for decades, but every time I open his book, I feel that his thoughts still have a distinct realistic purpose. Every word he says seems to be talking about contemporary education, even about my education, as if he has not left us and is still alive in our time.

Of course, this does not mean that Chinese education has not made progress since Tao Xingzhi, and contemporary Chinese education has undergone earth-shaking changes. For example, his desire to make every child able to read has long become a reality; he was determined to raise 1 million yuan, recruit 1 million teachers, build 1 million schools, and renovate 1 million villages, this ideal has long been realized, even exceeding the 4 "1 million" he expected.

However, education still has many eternal problems, which exist in different times, but may be presented in different ways. For example, the problem of educational equity, the problem of comprehensive development, the problem of teacher quality, the problem of teacher-student relationship, the problem of children's burden... Because of these common problems, it became possible for us and Tao Xingzhi to have a dialogue over the air. Zhu Yongxin's "Reading Life and Education - Zhu Yongxin's Dialogue with Tao Xingzhi" is such a "dialogue record".

There have been many books on Tao Xingzhi — either monographs, or studies of him by others, or compilations of Tao Xingzhi's famous sayings edited by later generations, and so on. Zhu Yongxin's thin pamphlet is of course also presenting Mr. Tao Xingzhi's educational ideas, but the way it is presented is very special.

Teacher Zhu selected the quotations of Tao Xingzhi that he had the deepest understanding when reading, and then wrote down the feelings after this passage. In this way, a unique and special dialogue is formed. This "dialogue" is flexible, but not scattered; there is a certain system of arrangement according to the content, but the structure is not rigid. The book is divided into eight chapters, with the titles as follows: "We are convinced that education is the fundamental plan of the country for ten thousand years", talking about the importance of education; "holding a heart, not taking half a blade of grass", talking about teachers' morality and dedication; "Education must have the spirit of experimentation", talking about educational reform; "Thousands of teachings teach people to seek truth, thousands of learning to learn to be real people", talking about the relationship between education and being a person; "what kind of life, is what kind of education", talking about life education; "the principal is the soul of a school", talking about the quality of education managers; "Action is Lao Tzu." Knowledge is the son, creation is the grandson", talking about creating education; "early childhood education is the most important education", talking about children's education.

In each chapter, there is a one-on-one "dialogue" between Zhu Yongxin and Tao Xingzhi. In these dialogues, Zhu Yongxin does not talk about his impressions or make explanatory notes in the general sense, but on the premise of accurately and profoundly understanding Tao Xingzhi's thoughts, he talks about the reality of education in China, and guides the reader to think of the educational topics that Tao Xingzhi needs to solve today.

Tao Xingzhi said: "Students are learning to take the exam, teachers are to teach people to take the exam, and the school has become the preparatory office for the exam. What the examination requires must be taught, and what the examination does not want must not be taught, or even not taught. So singing is no longer taught, drawing is not taught, gymnastics is not taught, household affairs are not taught, agronomy is not taught, crafts are not taught, scientific experiments are not done, and the so-called extracurricular activities are not taught. All that is taught is a book, just a book for the exam, just a guide to the exam. Education is equal to reading; reading is equal to catching up with examinations. Fun, traditional Chinese education! ”

Zhu Yongxin said: "Exam-oriented education has already begun to appear in the era of Tao Xingzhi. In fact, the education of the whole feudal society existed for the sake of examinations, for the sake of the eight shares, and for the sake of being an official. In order to take the exam, sacrificing the all-round development of students, sacrificing students' interests and hobbies, and abolishing the practice of music, art, and sports are not the inventions of today's schools, but already existed in the era of Tao Xingzhi. Read only exam books, study only exam lessons. Schools have become 'examination preparation offices', students have become examination machines, 'education is equal to reading; reading is equal to catching up with examinations', such education is really incredible. Mr. Tao Xingzhi criticized it with a spicy satire of 'Fun, Traditional Chinese Education', and there was a bit of helplessness in his pathos. The terrible thing is that many of our parents have consciously or unconsciously become 'accomplices' in this test team, and have become the promoters of test-taking education. It is precisely what we abandon that is often the most needed and useful thing in children's lives. ”

Indeed, test-oriented education is not a product of New China, but accompanies the whole process of China's imperial examinations, using today's reality to confirm the profundity of Tao Xingzhi's thought, and using Tao Xingzhi's viewpoint to criticize the shortcomings of today's education. As a teacher, it may be easy to think of your own students; as a parent, you may naturally think of your own children.

In 2000, Zhu Yongxin launched a new educational experiment in the whole country aimed at allowing teachers and students to live a happy and complete educational life. The search for the ideological origins of China's new education can be traced back to Tao Xingzhi, who was one of the main representatives of China's new education movement in the 1920s. It can be said that Zhu Yongxin's reading of Tao Xingzhi is a dialogue between two generations of new educators spanning a hundred years.

I used to think that as long as the educational shortcomings existed, Tao Xingzhi's sharp and sharp criticism would not become obsolete, but now I realize that this idea is somewhat one-sided, because Tao Xingzhi is not just a destroyer of the old world. His thoughts and practices have a strong criticism of the old education that hinders China's development and kills children's lives, and his educational theory and exploration of running schools are advanced and constructive, he is a thorough educational reformer, and educational reform is an eternal theme, any era needs the continuous development of education, as long as education exists for one day, Tao Xingzhi will always live around us, his spiritual vitality will not be exhausted, and his thoughts will always shine on us.

(The author is the dean of the New Education Research Institute and a special teacher of Chinese)

Source: China Youth Daily ( November 16, 2021, 11th edition)

Source: China Youth Daily