summary
Reading should have a sense of awe, a humble attitude, a de-utilitarian value pursuit, overcome impetuousness, flashiness, and exaggeration, and forge your own personality. To read a book, you should have a desk, a bookcase, a study, stand on the bookshelf from the front of the podium, and give yourself a place to settle your soul. In addition to reading works, it is also necessary to read newspapers and magazines every day, establish the concept of big reading, and strive to read massively. Conjecture reading allows oneself to think, to be creative, to lead to writing, and writing is deep reading. Teachers should start from their own interests and practices and pursue their own reading realm.
It is very ashamed to say that many people think that I have read a lot of books and read well, in fact, although I have read, it is not good to not have much; there are always people who ask me to provide a list of books, which books to suggest to read, I always can't mention, and I am not willing to provide a list of books at will. These are definitely not my modesty, just an objective expression of my sincerity. Reading is not to use one's mind as a racetrack for the author's thoughts, but to take oneself to the far side of one's thoughts.
01
Forging the quality of reading:
Reading should have a reverential heart, the virtue of humility, and the pursuit of de-utilitarian reading values
I have always believed that reading should forge one's own quality and taste, have a reverential heart, seek truth from facts, and be like Mr. Yang Dai, make a drop of water instead of a soap bubble.
This is a kind of self-vigilance, but also a criticism of some undesirable phenomena in the current reading, because I found that some teachers are more impetuous in reading, impetuous will definitely bring flashiness and exaggeration, this "three floats" is not the quality of reading. Reading is the process of self-awareness and self-improvement, what is important is the inner understanding and fullness, by no means for others to see, not to decorate the façade, put on a show or even show off. Therefore, the real quality of reading is the devotion to reading, and reading is regarded as a baptism of the soul.
At the Jiangsu Institute of Educational Sciences (the predecessor of the Jiangsu Academy of Educational Sciences, hereinafter referred to as the "Provincial Institute of Educational Sciences"), I especially admired two people, both of whom were younger than me, but I regarded them as my role models and teachers. One is Sun Kongyi, whom I call a true scholar. I remember that when he was first transferred to the Provincial Education Institute, he lived in the dormitory of the Jiangsu Provincial Preschool Normal School (which has been merged), and the small room was filled with a whole row of large bookshelves, and the shelves were covered with columns and layers of books. Kong Yi's reading is manifested in two characteristics: First, he reads the educational classics extensively, thinks deeply, drills deeply in academic theory, and combines it with his own insights to open up new horizons in education and form a new field of education research. He concentrated on writing, and successively wrote "Theory of Quality Education", "Theory of School Characteristics", "Education Time Science", "Theory of Educational Mistakes" and so on. The second is to focus on the study of educators and write "On Educators". Recently, he told me that the treatise was almost rewritten. He also projected the focus of educators' research on Sukhomlinsky's research, and wrote two brilliant works: "Sukhomlinsky's Commentary" and "Sukhomlinsky's Pedagogical Doctrine". Kong Yi has a quiet heart in research and writing, willing to sit on a cold bench, such as the lyrics of the Kunqu opera "Ban Zhao": "The most difficult thing is loneliness, and the most difficult thing to throw away is flashiness." Never learn to deceive the rich, the real article is under the lone lamp. "This is the realm of writing, but also the realm of reading, and the realm of reading brings the realm of writing.
The other was Peng Gang, a philosopher and theorist. He studied Chinese major in college, but he was very fond of philosophy. He combined reading with education and scientific research, so that education and scientific research became broad and profound. He told me a few years ago that he had read almost all of Heidegger's Chinese translations. He read very carefully Heidegger's lectures to philosophy students at heidelberg University in philosophy and concentrated on nibbling on the 1235 pages of Nietzsche. This Nietzsche is still known as "Nietzsche's Heidegger Interpretation" and has had a great influence in academia. Now he's reading the work of Edward Wilson at Harvard University. Wilson, a biologist and curator of the Ant House at Harvard University's Zoological Museum, wrote The Story of the Ants, which won the Pulitzer Prize, the only non-literary work in the Pulitzer Prize. I asked Peng Gang why he read Heidegger's book, and he said he could make himself a little deeper; why read a biologist's book, he said it was fun. "Deep" and "playful" are linked to a healthy reading psychology and purpose that I lack.
Finding a role model for reading around you without distraction is a kind of reading in itself. Reading people is more important than reading, reading people in reading, reading books in order to be human. From this point of view, people live longer than books, and they are greater than books, because there are people who have books, and the greatness of books is actually the greatness of people.
02
Desk, desk, bookcase and study:
Give yourself a place to settle your mind
There should be a place to read. In fact, everywhere is a place where you can read, that is to say, everywhere can be a reading desk. Ouyang Xiu said in the "Guitian Record": "Most of the articles written by Yu Pingsheng are on the three, but on the horse, on the pillow, and on the toilet. Cover this in particular can belong to Sihr. As a result, "three uppers" has become a topic of discussion among readers. "Three places, three kinds of time, can be described as quiet and free, no one disturbs, can read and think freely; places seem indecent, time is fragmentary, but if you can use this place, this time, over time, you can always gain one or two." 」 The above texts were sent to me by Mr. Ye Shuitao, because I said it well, and I copied it.
I think that the following places are places for reading, and they should also be the material conditions necessary for reading. One is the cabinet next to the bed. I like to put a few books or magazines on the cupboard, lie in bed, before going to bed, in sleep (wake up in the middle of the night, can't sleep) like to turn all the newspapers over, read a copy and throw it on the ground, have important articles stored on the bed, prepare to focus on the next day, and some have to cut it out and read it. Reading magazines in bed is very pleasant, casually flipping through, always feel that it is inappropriate to read at the desk next to the bed.
The second is the desk. I used to tell myself that I had a desk before I retired, and when I retired, I "moved" my office home and transformed it into a desk. The desk is temporary and will eventually be "retired", while the desk will never "retire". A desk that "doesn't retire" means reading for life and being a lifelong learner. Probably at present, many young people have makeup tables, card tables, wine cabinets, and pianos at home, but they lack a desk, which is a pity. I remember a male teacher from the countryside who once told a family morning song at a salon I organized. One day, when he got up, he saw his wife dressing up and said, "Women should have a dresser, I should also have a desk, we both have to wear makeup, you are doing facial beauty, I am doing spiritual and ideological makeup and beauty." There was a burst of laughter in the audience, which was an echo of appreciation and recognition.
The third is the bookcase. There should be several bookcases in the home, at least bookshelves. Teacher Hong Zongli, former vice principal of Taizhou Middle School in Jiangsu Province and language educator, has made great contributions to the field of language education and formed the teaching proposition and style of "Hong's Language". He said, "I'm going to stand in front of the pulpit and go up to the bookshelf." Standing on the bookshelf, there are at least three meanings: "I have to read every day; I want to write books and say that the books I write also appear on the shelves; I myself become a book." "It is conceivable that from the bookshelf back to the podium, the teacher seems to have changed the person, and the blood in the vasculature has been changed again. Bookcases and bookshelves are good!
The fourth is the study. Families with the capacity must arrange a study. The study is a family library, the study is a place to study, write, and do research, and the study is your spiritual home. I am the master of the study, the director of the library, and the creator of the spiritual home. The study can be very chaotic, but the chaos is orderly and organized; the study can have a sofa, and when you are tired, you can lie flat; the study can have snacks, and you can eat one or two pieces of boiling water at any time... In short, the study should be comfortable and warm. "Hiding in the study and becoming one" is the excellent feeling of reading and writing. I was at home and spent most of my time in the study. Every morning, noon, and evening Madame shouted, "Cheng Shangrong, eat!" I can answer softly, or I can not make a sound, and in a few minutes, open the study door and walk to the dining table, which is the "score" of the reader, and there is an indescribable pride and happiness.
With the desk, desk, bookcase, and study next to the bed, reading has a sense of solidity, fulfillment, ritual and belonging. In fact, all this is to settle one's own mind.
03
Reading, but also reading newspapers and magazines:
Construct the concept of big reading and strive to do massive reading
Reading, or reading, is a big concept, not only reading books, but also reading newspapers and magazines. The so-called learning is to read massively; the so-called thoughts mostly come from reading.
In terms of reading, in the last year or two I have had a reading topic: first reading aesthetics. Including Zhu Liyuan's "Selected Classic Treatises on Western Aesthetic Education", Li Zehou's "The Course of Beauty", Danner's "Philosophy of Art" (translated by Fu Lei), Wang Changjun and Wang Zhenzhong's "Aesthetic Foundations", Zhou Qingyi's "Common Sense of Beauty", Schiller and Plekhanov's "Masters Talk about Beauty" (translated by Li Guangrong) and a series of other aesthetic works. This is not only because the central government has issued a document to strengthen aesthetic education, but I originally had a plan to study children's aesthetics. Without the reading of a large number of aesthetic works, it is impossible to understand children's aesthetics. Second reading of a treatise on practical education. Practicing and educating people is a principle of the new curriculum reform. To figure out what practice educates people, we must first understand what practice is. There were some books piled up on the table: Mao Zedong's "Theory of Practice", Jin Yuelin's three books of philosophy " "Theory of Knowledge", "Logic" and "On the Tao", Yuan Guiren's "Marx's Humanistic Thought", Werner Yegel's "Indoctrination: Ancient Greek Cultural Ideals" (translated by Chen Wenqing), Zhao Tingyang's "Four Forks", Liu Xiaodong's "Discovering Great Children : From Childhood Philosophy to Childhood Philosophy to Childism", "Emotional Learning: How Children's Literature Teaches Us to Feel Emotions" (translated by Huang Huaiqing), Wang Miansan's "Unity of Knowledge and Action" Wang Yangming, There is also the Dictionary of Marxist Knowledge... Ancient and modern Chinese and foreign should read a little. The third reading of the "Su Jiao Famous Scholars" (Jiangsu Provincial Educator Training Project) is required to read the bibliography: Robert M. R. Lasker and James Scottland's The Doctrine of the Great Educators (translated by Zhu Jingren and Shan Zhonghui), Yuval Harari's A Brief History of Mankind (translated by Lin Junhong), and several reports on the development of international education published by UNESCO. The above books are more difficult to nibble, and they have to be nibbled when they are difficult to nibble! It's hard to chew to have a taste and a chewy head.
I have a deep experience, not only to read books, but also to read publications. I subscribe to several publications every year. The first is the Xinhua Digest. This excerpt is like an encyclopedia, politics, society, philosophy, economics, history, education, social sciences, Xinhua Observation, literary and artistic works, literary and art criticism, science and technology... Choosing the essence of current academic research has greatly opened my horizons, magnified my pattern, enriched my education, and looked at the world and the future. In addition, I have subscribed to authoritative publications for educational research and curriculum research: Educational Research, Curriculum, Textbooks, And Teaching Methods, and People's Education. Some people have dismissed The Reader as chicken soup for the soul, but I don't think so much of this criticism. I think "Reader" gives us another perspective and expression, giving people a sense of closeness, freshness, and special beauty, reading it is like walking in the spring breeze, even if it is chicken soup for the soul, what is so bad? Reading should not only fly upwards, but also sink downwards; it should have both profound philosophy and the nourishment of spiritual beauty; it should have both a grand background and a return to people themselves and to the present life. The Reader tends to be at the bedside and can be read at any time, and it's more like a member of my family who can listen and talk.
Reading the newspaper is a daily routine. For nearly 20 years, I have subscribed to the following newspaper: Guangming Daily, which is a newspaper aimed at intellectuals, which allows me to look at knowledge and education from a higher perspective, build my own knowledge map, and listen to the call of intellectual conscience. Wen Wei Po is full of open spirit, it is rooted in the land of China, looking at the world, touching the future, and there is another feeling and another inspiration in the colorful expression. The characteristics of "Newspaper Digest" are short and concise, flexible and diverse, especially the third edition, which is a short article with great philosophy and penetration, which often makes me lament the deep meaning of "small is beautiful" and "small is big".
Reading the whole book helps me to construct a system; reading publications helps me go deeper on a certain topic and an argument; reading newspapers helps me understand current events and grasp trends. This is the map I read, which I call "big reading," but it's not up to the standard of massive reading.
04
Conjecture Reading:
Reading leads to my writing, and writing is ultimately deep reading
I remember that shortly after the reform and opening up, I read the reportage writer Xu Chi's masterpiece "Goldbach Conjecture", which was written by the mathematician Chen Jingrun. After reading it, my heart was rising. At that time, I had an idea: since Goldbach had conjectures, Chen Jingrun had conjectures and proved half of them, why can't we have our own conjectures? Reading is the process of reading, and reading should also be the process of thinking, thinking while reading, guessing while reading. I thought it was possible, so I gave a name to such reading: conjecture reading.
Conjecture reading is based on the idea that instead of letting your mind be someone else's racetrack, let other people's thoughts stimulate your own thinking, and let your thoughts stir and fly. Speculative reading has another important mission: to cultivate one's own innovative spirit and creative ability. I deeply believe that cultivating the spirit of innovation and creative ability should be the theme of the times and the passport to the future. Not to mention, at the opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, the innovative design of the general director Zhang Yimou surprised the world, and he sent a strong signal: China has its own cultural self-confidence. Not to mention, every year in Shanghai, the world's top scientist summit, the design of each table covered with white tablecloth, so that all participants in the discussion, at any time on the white cloth to write their own questions, ideas, inspiration, perhaps a question mark, perhaps a pattern, perhaps a piece of words ... Those fleeting conjectures remained on the tablecloth. For now, I just want to say conjecture itself. Conjecture is imagination, imagination is the precursor to creation, imagination is the most brilliant first flower on earth. Students' imagination needs to be cared for and stimulated by the imagination of teachers, and speculative reading can stimulate teachers' imagination.
Some time ago I read the book Dear Library, written by Susan Orrin, one of the most well-known documentary writers in the United States. At one point, Ollen announced that she would no longer write books, but when she learned of the Los Angeles Public Library fire incident, she regained her memories and feelings for the library, which focused on the word "dear". On the title page of the book, she quotes a quote from another writer, William Faulkner, "The Light of August": "Memory is first believing, and then remembering." "We believe in books, we believe in libraries, we believe they are 'dear.' From this, I imagine library classes. The library should be a curriculum, and the library curriculum should build a curriculum system, so I wrote an article and the editor added a main title to it - "Why libraries are dear". Similarly, when I read the book "Anthropology of Education" by the German anthropologist of education, Bornov, which mentions the idea of discontinuous development of students, I think of the continuous development of teachers and discontinuous development, and the truth is the same: students are malleable, teachers are also malleable. After some associations and conjectures, I wrote "Discontinuous Development: Another Field of Teacher Professional Development Theory". I read a set of children's philosophical picture books, the Philosophical Bird Flying Luo Series, the protagonist of which is a six-and-a-half-year-old boy, who happens to be at the age of social confusion, always asking questions endlessly, and the whole family is arguing about the answers. Back in the room at night, his good friend, a bird named Fei Luo, would come to the windowsill and talk to him. Zhou Guoping believes that this FeiLuo is actually Filu, his rational self. I kept guessing and synthesizing, and wrote an article on children's philosophical education- "When Philosophical Birds Fly in the Classroom"...
Oh, conjecture reading took me to the far side of my mind. When reading advice becomes a reading creed, we are not far from the distance of thought.
— END —
Source | This article is from China Teacher Magazine, No. 4, 2022
Author | Cheng Shangrong, national supervisor and former director of the Jiangsu Provincial Institute of Educational Sciences
Call for | "The Growth Story of a Mentor in a Big Country"
The second "Looking for Good Teachers in Big Countries" public welfare activity launched by "Educator" was recently launched. The event is divided into a trilogy:
1. Solicitation of "Growth Stories of Great Power Mentors"
2. Published the series of books "The Appearance of a Good Teacher in a Big Country"
3. Selection of "Great Power Mentors"
The campaign ends at the end of 2022. According to the selection criteria and participation requirements, 10 "2022 Great Power Mentors" will be selected and awarded the title of "Great Power Mentors", and each "Great Power Mentor" will receive a growth incentive fund of 100,000 yuan (before tax) provided by the organizer.
From November 2021 to June 2022, the collection of "Growth Stories of Great Power Mentors" will be launched.
Solicitation requirements: Participating teachers write articles to tell the most profound growth stories in the process of education and teaching. Written in the first person, the genre is narrative prose, with a word count of about 1000 words. Ask the story to be real and moving. Articles are published on the basis of merit on platforms such as Educator Magazine, Educator Magazine New Media, and Learning Powerhouse.
Participation method: Submit the declaration form on the "Looking for a Good Teacher of a Big Country" special page of the "Bright Educator" App and the "Growth Story of a Good Teacher of a Big Country" narrated by the teacher (the declaration form and the "Growth Story of a Good Teacher of a Big Country" must be submitted at the same time). If you only participate in the "Growth Stories of Great Power Mentors" collection activity (do not participate in the "Looking for Great Power Mentors" activity), send the article to the mailbox [email protected], and the article indicates the school, name, and contact information.