It will inject a strong spiritual impetus into accelerating the construction of a strong country in education

On the eve of Teacher's Day in 2023, General Secretary Xi Jinping sent a letter to the representatives of outstanding teachers across the country, emphasizing that a group of educators and outstanding teachers have emerged in the teacher group, who have the ideals and beliefs of having a big self and serving the country with sincerity, the moral sentiment of being a man of words and acting as a model of the world, the wisdom of educating people to enlighten their minds and teach them according to their aptitude, the attitude of diligence and dedication, the benevolent heart of loving students and dedication, and the pursuit of promoting the Tao with the world in mind and cultural people, showing the unique spirit of educators in China. As the leader in building a strong country in education, colleges and universities should deeply understand the value of the spirit of educators, vigorously promote the spirit of educators, take the construction of teacher ethics and style as the soul, build a team of high-quality teachers, and inject new momentum into the construction of a strong country in education and create a new situation.

Deeply understand the value of the educator spirit of the times, and gather the spiritual power to promote high-quality development

The spirit of educators is an important ideological resource and spiritual driving force for the construction of a strong country. Building a strong country in education is the strategic precursor to building a modern socialist country in an all-round way, and strengthening the construction of the teaching team is the most important basic work for building a strong country in education. The spirit of educators is closely related to the theme of building a strong country in education, responding to the call of the development of the times, and is a declaration of action to build a team of high-quality teachers in the new era, which can effectively boost the spirit of the teaching team, inject strong spiritual power into accelerating the construction of a strong country in education, and lead the majority of teachers to contribute to the realization of the grand goal of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

The spirit of educator is the proper meaning of following the law of educational development. Teachers are the number one resource for educational development. The spirit of educator is not only rooted in the historical heritage and practical exploration of education in mainland China, but also focuses on the outstanding characteristics and practical needs of education in the new era, and is the culmination of the essence of ancient and modern educational thought, which will effectively promote teachers to deeply understand the essence of socialist education with Chinese characteristics, fulfill the educational mission, and respond to educational reform.

The spirit of educators is the soul and guide for the construction and quality of teachers. The new era needs a team of high-quality professional teachers with noble morals, exquisite professional skills, reasonable structure and vitality. The connotation of the six aspects of the spirit of educators complements each other, which is a scientific guide for educators to perform their duties in the new era, sets a benchmark for the majority of teachers, clarifies the direction of struggle, and polishes the spiritual background. Integrating the connotation of the educator spirit into the whole process of teacher selection, training, management and evaluation will help teachers improve their realm, practice their skills and stimulate their potential.

Accurately grasp the scientific connotation of the spirit of educators, and pay attention to the ideological context of "three combinations".

To accurately grasp the spirit of educators, it is necessary to pay attention to integrating it with the latest achievements of the Sinicization and modernization of Marxism. The spirit of educator is the latest theoretical achievement of combining Marxist educational theory with contemporary Chinese educational practice. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping has comprehensively summarized the historical experience of China's education reform and development, responded to the new tasks and new requirements faced by China's education development in the new era, and formed a series of important expositions on education work. From the "four haves" good teacher to the "four guides" to the "four unifications", from being the unifier of "economic teachers" and "human teachers" to being "great gentlemen" for students to learn, to do things, and to being people, and then to the formal proposition of the spirit of educators, it is precisely the full embodiment of the continuous enrichment and development of Marxist educational theory. We must adhere to the system concept, deeply understand General Secretary Xi Jinping's important exposition on education, and take it as the fundamental principle for building a high-quality teacher team.

To accurately grasp the spirit of educators, we should pay attention to combining it with the inheritance and innovation of China's excellent traditional culture. Since ancient times, the Chinese nation has had a fine tradition of respecting teachers and attaching importance to the study and refinement of the spirit of teachers. Most of the thinkers of the past generations have personally devoted themselves to educational practice and have rich experience in education, integrating the basic moral principles and educational concepts advocated by themselves, constantly enriching the content of excellent traditional Chinese educational thoughts, and constituting the cultural roots of the spirit of educators. The spirit of educator is the creative transformation and innovative development of the excellent traditional Chinese educational thought and the spirit of the teacher. The connotation of the six aspects of the educator's spirit is in line with the moral principles and education concepts advocated by the excellent traditional Chinese culture, such as "benevolence and love", "sincerity and righteousness", "unity of knowledge and action", "morality as a teacher, and being a model", and gives it the characteristics of a new era. We must adhere to integrity and innovation, profoundly grasp the historical origin of the spirit of educators, and firmly establish the historical and cultural self-confidence of cultivating educators in the new era.

To accurately grasp the spirit of educators, it is necessary to pay attention to integrating it with the reality of higher education on the mainland and the characteristics of colleges and universities themselves. World-class universities have grown up in the service of their own country's development. Over the past 100 years, a number of educators have emerged in mainland colleges and universities, who have played a key role in the history of education and made important contributions to national liberation, national construction, and social progress. Since its founding, Peking University has been closely linked to the destiny of the country and the nation, and has been the center of the New Culture Movement, the birthplace of the May Fourth Movement, and the initial important activity base of the Communist Party of China. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, a large number of Peking University teachers made important contributions to the mainland's science, technology, culture, and education. The glorious deeds of our predecessors have always guided and inspired contemporary Peking University teachers to care for their family and country, and to work hard and dedicate themselves. Colleges and universities should persist in taking root in the land of China, basing themselves on the reality of running schools, profoundly excavate the advanced deeds of teacher models and the characteristic practices of building the teaching force, and form a vivid situation of learning and carrying forward the spirit of educators.

Vigorously carry forward the spirit of educators and build a team of high-quality teachers

In 2018, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized at the symposium of teachers and students of Peking University that colleges and universities should "build a team of high-quality teachers with excellent political quality, superb professional ability and superb education level", pointing out the direction for doing a good job in the work of university teachers in the new era. On the new journey, colleges and universities should thoroughly study and implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important expositions, accelerate the construction of a talent highland with a gathering of elites and vitality, and consolidate a key part of the construction of an educational power.

Temper the political quality of teachers, and lead teachers to strengthen their ideals and beliefs and cultivate moral sentiments. Political quality is the core content of the quality of college teachers, and it is also the primary criterion for evaluating educators in the new era. To build a team of high-quality teachers, we should first establish and improve the policy system, institutional system, and supervision system for teachers' ideological and political work and the construction of teachers' ethics and style, so as to help teachers strengthen their political direction and guard the bottom line of teachers' ethics. Colleges and universities should vigorously strengthen teachers' ideological and political work, and cultivate teachers' ideals and beliefs of having a big heart and serving the country with sincerity. Thoroughly implement Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, lead teachers to practice the original mission of "educating people for the party and the country", and answer the fundamental question of "what to cultivate, how to cultivate people, and for whom". Peking University has established the Teacher Work Department of the Party Committee and the Teacher Work Committee of the Party Committee, forming a good atmosphere for joint management of the ideological and political work of teachers. Continue to improve the ideological and political quality of teachers, hold training courses and other activities, and integrate rich party history and school history resources into teachers' vocational education and daily training, and guide teachers to better shoulder the responsibility of guiding and guiding the healthy growth of students. Colleges and universities should vigorously strengthen the building of teachers' ethics and style of teaching, and cultivate teachers' moral sentiments of being a model of words and behavior. Teacher ethics and style of teaching are the first criteria for evaluating the quality of teachers, and there must be strict system regulations and daily education supervision. Peking University integrates the investigation of teacher ethics and teacher style into the whole process and all links of teacher team management and service, strictly implements the "one-vote veto" system for teachers to be introduced and promoted, and carries out teacher ethics education and warning education on a regular basis. We have cultivated a good practice of respecting teachers and valuing education, launched the policy of strengthening teachers, benefiting teachers, and continuing to strengthen care for teachers. Pay attention to the exemplary and leading role of advanced models, tell the stories of educators around them, and establish a spiritual benchmark for teachers to stand by virtue, learn by virtue, and teach by virtue.

Strengthen the professional ability of teachers, support teachers to inherit the wisdom of educating people, and practice the attitude of ploughing. Teaching and nurturing people is the vocation of teachers and the key to measuring the quality of higher education. To build a team of high-quality teachers, we must focus on the key link of improving the ability to educate people, support teachers to innovate education and teaching methods, and deepen the integration of science and education, industry and education. Colleges and universities should continue to promote the reform of education and teaching, and cultivate the wisdom of educating teachers to enlighten their minds and teach them according to their aptitude. Actively respond to the revolutionary changes in the current way of knowledge acquisition and teaching relationship, encourage and guide teachers to deepen teaching reform, improve teaching methods, optimize teaching content, and improve the quality of talent training. Promote the deep integration of information technology and educational concepts, take the application of new technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data as an important part of teacher teaching and training, promote the construction of a smart teaching environment and the open sharing of resources, and bring students a new learning experience through digital classrooms, AI teaching assistants, VR real-life teaching, etc., and cultivate students' awareness of active knowledge and lifelong learning ability. Colleges and universities should continue to promote the integration of science and education, industry and education, and cultivate teachers' diligent and diligent practice, truth-seeking and innovative attitude. Actively promote the integration of science and education, industry and education, and strive to cultivate more top-notch innovative talents. Teachers are encouraged to carry out education work in combination with the characteristics of their respective disciplines: in the field of basic disciplines, top teachers are selected as tutors to guide students to focus on academic frontier issues and major basic theories to explore; In the field of interdisciplinarity, an interdisciplinary degree evaluation sub-committee has been established to independently set up a number of interdisciplinary and interdisciplinary undergraduate majors, open a number of interdisciplinary courses, organize teachers from different disciplines to teach and guide students to carry out interdisciplinary research.

Improve the education level of teachers, guide teachers to uphold the heart of benevolence, and establish the pursuit of propagation. The "bigness" of "Mr. Big" should always bear in mind the "big things" of students for learning, doing things and being people. To build a team of high-quality teachers, on the one hand, it is necessary to guide teachers to care for students and promote the construction of a harmonious and close teacher-student relationship, and on the other hand, teachers should be encouraged to look at the world and strive to enhance their international vision of the world. Colleges and universities should ensure that teachers are invested in educating people, and cultivate teachers' benevolence and dedication to teaching. Teachers play an important role in the ideological guidance and knowledge transfer to students. Colleges and universities should focus on guiding teachers to establish a "student-centered" education concept and be a good guide for students to grow and become talents. Peking University has further promoted the ideological and political curriculum and the construction of ideological and political courses, organized a team of high-level teachers to carefully prepare courses, and created a "golden course" of ideological and political courses. Fully mobilize the enthusiasm of teachers to participate in the practice of educating people, and the party and government leaders of various faculties, subject leaders, and young teachers lead teams to participate in teaching on the front line of ideological and political practice. Continue to improve the teacher performance evaluation index system, and encourage teachers to devote more energy to teaching. Colleges and universities should broaden the international vision of teachers, and cultivate teachers to be mindful of the world and pursue the promotion of culture and people. Open education is an important path to build a strong country in education, a common feature of world-class universities, and a key measure to build a high-quality teaching team. Adhering to the principle of "introducing and nurturing at the same time", we strive to cultivate educators in the new era who consciously practice the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind by introducing overseas high-level talents and supporting local teachers to participate in international academic exchanges and cooperation.

Plough the altar of religion, and the country has me. Colleges and universities should always keep in mind General Secretary Xi Jinping's earnest entrustment, vigorously carry forward the spirit of educators, continue to strengthen the construction of the teaching team, guide teachers to embark on a new journey of building a strong country in education, create more new momentum and new advantages for high-quality development, and contribute to the promotion of Chinese-style modernization.

(The author is president of Peking University and academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences)