[Moderator: Zhang Lixiao]
Recently, 15 graduate students of Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications jointly reported that tutor Zheng had problems with teacher ethics and teaching style, pointing out that the tutor was emotionally violent, often scolded, asked students to pick up a large number of couriers, went to his home to clean, forced students to work overtime, lack of academic guidance and other problems. As a result of this matter, Zheng was disqualified as a graduate tutor and stopped teaching. Two months ago, a professor at Huazhong Agricultural University also stepped down from the podium amid a report from students. Why are students forced to jointly report their supervisors? Why do they become "cheap labor" for their supervisors? Where is the boundary between tutors and students? What should the ideal mentor-student relationship look like? In recent years, the relationship between graduate students and their supervisors has been criticized.
Tutor misconduct cannot be reported by students alone
I don't know when it became popular among graduate students to call their supervisors "bosses". This name seems ridiculous, but it also shows part of the reality - the tutor controls the student's participation in scientific research projects, determines the student's income allowance, and has the power to "kill and kill" the "graduation" related to the student's future and fate. Under such absolute power, some tutors distort the mentor-student relationship into a simple employment relationship, and even do not hesitate to compromise the rights and interests of students to satisfy their own selfish desires. Students who are in a weak position can only maintain a good relationship with their tutors in fear, and when they encounter injustice, they can only swallow their anger, dare not speak out, and even fall into a situation of depression and despair.
To build a good teacher-student relationship and maintain a normal teacher-student boundary, we must hope for the teacher's ethics and style, but we can't only hope for the teacher's ethics and style. The supervision of students is very important to the norms of tutors' behavior, however, although reporting tutors has been dubbed by many self-media as a gimmick of "post-90s and post-00s rectification of universities", it is not an easy thing. For students, even if the report is successful, the change of supervisor may affect the progress of subsequent learning and research. We appreciate the courage of students to report their mentors, but we should correct deviations by building a standardized system with strong operability and clear rights and obligations of teachers and students, rather than asking students to gamble on their "future and fate" to protect their own rights and interests.
- Toyomitsu
Confidence to say "no" to graduate students
A long time ago, Academician Lu Yongxiang, then president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, publicly refuted the phenomenon of "scientific research bosses", and more and more cases show that in order to change this imbalance between strength and weakness, it is necessary to tilt the system towards students. Under the "mentor system" in Europe, students are similar to apprentices, and the school stipulates the rights and responsibilities of tutors through strict agreements, such as the "tutoring agreement" of universities in Germany, which will be detailed to stipulate the tutor's tutoring content and the number of meetings and discussions with students, etc., while under the "boss system" in the United States, students are similar to employees, with contract salaries and labor unions, such as graduate students at the University of California, who have repeatedly asked for "salary increases" through relevant channels.
In 2020, China issued the Code of Conduct for the Guidance of Graduate Supervisors, which prohibits supervisors from requiring graduate students to engage in affairs unrelated to their studies, scientific research, and social services, and prohibits them from delaying graduate graduation in violation of laws and regulations.
However, in reality, how to make the regulations not just on paper, so that they can be implemented, still need to be strengthened in details, such as giving students the right to choose tutors, introducing a student evaluation tutor system, and allowing students to have channels for appeals, etc., to give students the confidence to say "no". Only by equalizing the status of teachers and students can the strange phenomenon of the relationship between teachers and students be improved. It is hoped that the scene of mutual respect and love between teachers and students will become the most beautiful scenery on every campus.
- Qin Jianjun
Establish a good teacher's ethics and style of teaching, and build a harmonious mentoring relationship
In the mainland education system, postgraduate education is the highest level of academic education, and students must not only learn professional knowledge in depth, but also participate in academic research. This is one of the features that distinguishes it from undergraduate education. However, no matter what stage we are in, the fundamental purpose of educational activities to cultivate people has not changed, and the important role played by the teacher-student relationship in educational activities has not changed.
The teacher-student relationship is the "primary productive force" of education, and a good teacher-student relationship can bring good education. I watched such a video two days ago, a professor at a university in Zhengzhou used his water card to fetch water for students during recess, just because students had to scan the code to spend money to receive water. On the other hand, those tutors who use their status as teachers to arbitrarily instruct students to do "chores" can be seen in the gap.
Degao is a teacher, and he is a model. The prestige of teachers should not be based on power and oppression, but should be the emotional experience of students under the influence of teachers' academic standards, teaching ability, personality charm, etc. No matter what stage of the teacher is, the fundamental task of teaching and educating people must not be forgotten. Conflicts between teachers and students are inevitable, and teachers, as the "guides" of students, should continue to learn and reflect on how to return graduate education to its true nature.
- Zhang Lingmin
Presenter :
The ideal mentoring relationship is a collaborative relationship of mutual achievement. For supervisors, how to collaborate academically with students may be a matter of individual differences, but the bottom line is the same, one of which is that they cannot use their position advantages to force students to do some trivial things that have nothing to do with scientific research, or even oppress and exploit students. For colleges and universities, it is necessary to strengthen the construction of teachers' ethics and teaching style, improve the evaluation mechanism of tutors, and at the same time unblock the complaint channels of students, deal with the misconduct of tutors in a timely manner, and avoid the occurrence of similar "collective reporting" incidents.
If this public incident about teachers' ethics and style can really make the universities involved and even more colleges and universities think about and improve in these aspects, then the "lonely courage" of these 15 students will not be in vain.