This issue of Titanium Sky Character Chronicle
■ "Success is not measured by the status of a person, but by how many difficulties and obstacles he has overcome in the process of success."
"Youth is like early spring, like the rising sun, like the budding of a hundred flowers, like the new hair of a sharp blade, and the most precious period of life. Young people have fresh and lively cells in society."
——This is the speech written by Mr. Chen Duxiu on the publication of "New Youth" a hundred years ago, and he is always vigilant to the young people in the era of rampant materialism and pluralistic ideas.
Nowadays, when we mention the word youth, the words that often come to mind are: energetic, energetic, and new. That's right, "youth" seems to have become the backbone of cultural inheritance, the pioneer and founder of the times. Therefore, youth education is particularly important.
Approaching the May Fourth Youth Day, the "Titanium Sky Portrait" is specially planned, listen to the stories of the three "educators", and feel the wisdom and heart of the educators. Let's continue to challenge ourselves and surpass ourselves, and have infinite possibilities.
In this issue of "Titanium Sky Portraits", we would like to introduce you to Booker Washington, a famous black educator in American history.
"Titanium Sky Portrait"
Outside of Greenwich Mean Time, should everyone have their own "titanium time"? And during this time, unyielding stubbornness, ordinary ingenuity, smart wisdom, and thorough peace and ...... There's always one that is the one who is trapped in time.
"We can't have a hundred lives, but we can know a hundred souls. ”
Establish a new way of thinking, open up a new horizon, open a new life, and meet another possible life for yourself!
Thousands of miles to learn and comprehend the "true meaning of learning"
"Black people can't come to our schools. Booker was rejected again, and he stood outside the school gate disappointed. This is the last school in the village......
Booker returned home dejected, and his mother was distressed to see it. Wiping his tears and saying to him, "Booker, why don't we go to school and do some business to make some money?"
"I don't want to be a rich man, I want to be a great teacher......"
The next day, Booker arrived early at a very small school in his neighboring village.
"Mr. Principal, I will definitely study hard. Please take me. ”
"I'd love to take you, but the school has a rule that you can't accept blacks. ”
Booker got up from his seat with tears in his eyes.
"I know there's a school that accepts black students, but it's a little bit far away, are you going to check it out there?" said the principal.
"Well, I'm going to check it out. I don't mind no matter how far away it is. Booker was so happy that he fastened his shoelaces, and the sun was blazing on his head, and Booker's forehead was sweating like rain. But I ran almost all the way to the school.
"Ah, I'm really tired. But what is this compared to the joy of learning?" "I was tired, but I didn't give up!" until Booker was drenched in sweat and finally found the school.
"What if it doesn't work this time?" Booker's heart pounded as he waited for the principal, and his lips grew dryer.
After a while, Booker met with the principal. He looked at the principal pleadingly and told him about his school experience.
"Your home is too far from the school, can you still come to school?" asked the headmaster, slightly worried.
"I can come no matter what, as long as you are willing to accept me. ”
"Your spirit is really amazing, so you can come to school from tomorrow. ”
"Thank you, thank you so much. Booker nodded vigorously to the principal. I ran home excitedly, and as soon as I entered the door, I couldn't wait to tell my mother.
Mom stopped her hand and smiled for the first time in a long time: "It's so good." Where's the school?"
Booker was afraid that his mother would be sad, so he didn't tell the truth: "It's not far away, just a little more in the neighboring village." ”
The next day, Booker got up early to go to school from home, because it was too far to get Blisters on Booker's feet. By the time they got to school, Booker was covered in gray from head to toe.
When the other friends saw Booker's appearance, they laughed at him: "Booker is a beggar." His clothes were covered with mud every day, and his face was dirty. ”
But Booker didn't take it to heart: "Even if I laugh at me, what if I can learn this ridicule? ”
Since then, Booker has not been lazy for a day, getting up early every day and going to school at night, and seizing the time to study his homework seriously. Years later, Booker finally became one of the most prominent black scholars and educators in American history.
This is the story of Booker Washington, a famous black educator in American history, who often overlooks the true meaning of learning at a time when everyone feels unfair about the resources of the educational environment.
Build applied education on a realistic basis
Establish "application-based project" schools
According to Booker, education should be based on personal life experience. In order to connect abstract theories and academic ideas to the social and economic environment in which students live, he bases education on the real world.
In 1881, Booker Washington founded Tuskegee Normal School, a black pedagogical university, which was the first school to be based on project-based learning. When students encounter practical problems such as repairing buildings and cultivating fields, they can find solutions from the knowledge they have learned in theoretical courses such as mathematics, grammar, and history.
In fact, there are some people around us who feel that reading is a very difficult thing because of poor family conditions or poor health. In fact, the more students think like this, the more they should set a clear goal for themselves. This goal doesn't have to be ambitious, even if it's small but clear. But once this goal is set, we must work hard for it unremittingly. We must not just say to ourselves in our hearts that we must work hard! We must have a concrete plan of action, and only in this way can we achieve it at an early date. Of course, remember: "The process of working hard for your dream is the most important thing than the final result!"
Advocate for "personalized" learning
Booker Washington's mother was a black slave cook and his father was a white plantation owner, while he became the leading spokesman for former slaves and their descendants, and the first African-American whose face was printed on a U.S. postage stamp.
He worked with whites to help raise funds to create hundreds of community schools and institutions of higher education to improve the education of Black Americans in the South.
When Booker became president of Tuskegee College, he replanned the college to involve students in building the school, from classrooms to dormitories. They have a large farm that involves students in the work of the farm.
The animals raised on the farm and the produce cultivated on the farm can sustain the school's self-sufficiency. All of this work, combined with the theoretical study of the students, became the foundation of the school's education.
As a disciple of the famous educational reformer Johann Heinrich Pestalozi, Booker believed early on that education is best in the process of learning from the familiar to the abstract; They should actively explore content and come up with ideas using a variety of formats; Their learning experience should be individualized.
As a result, the Tuskegee research design he proposed places equal importance on academic theory and practical experience.
Innovative educational concepts for the 21st century
Tuskegee College proposes three ideas that can serve as models for schools today.
First, it is valuable to teach students some concepts and ideas that are directly related to their life experiences – agriculture, architecture, engineering, etc. Today's teachers can take a more humanistic perspective, giving students the opportunity to learn in areas ranging from computer science to e-commerce to marketing.
Second, Washington strongly believes that students need to experiment and create opportunities to learn. They should have the opportunity to tackle complex problems and collaborate on solutions – whether in architecture or in presentations.
Finally, students at Tuskegee College develop a shared language, values, and norms through community collaboration and apprenticeships.
Booker believes that all experiences can ultimately serve as the foundation of a student's education. However, in order to do so, the curriculum must meet the immediate intellectual needs of students, as well as the broader needs of society. In addition to academics, he believes that industrial education should prepare students to be diligent and equip them with the perseverance to succeed in work and life in an increasingly urbanized and technological world.
Success is not defined by narrow monetary terms
How do you measure a person's success? Before reading Booker Washington's quotes, I believe many people will think that it is money and status. Because in our time, many people look at money, and money has naturally become the standard to measure a person's success. Even if you don't succeed, as long as you have money, some people will think you are successful.
In Booker's view, success cannot be measured by what status a person has reached, but by how many difficulties and obstacles he has overcome in the process of success.
The process of success is inevitably hard, it is very hard, you can succeed without hardship, everyone can, such success, there is no value at all. Fromm once said, "What you have is not rich, but what you give is rich." ”
From this point of view, Booker is undoubtedly successful, and through his studies, he has become a famous black educator in American history, as a super model of learning the fate of reform, and also set a model of black self-esteem and self-reliance. He worked with whites to help fundraise the creation of hundreds of community schools and institutions of higher education to improve the education of Black Americans in the South.
His story has inspired generations to break through barriers of origin, background, culture, and economy, and to help others change their own destiny through learning. Now his book "If You Give Me a Chance to Learn" is a classic inspirational book on a par with Helen Keller's autobiography "If You Give Me Three Days of Light".
Dr. Kuan's exclusive reading of "If I Was Given the Opportunity to Learn" takes you from the experience of a slave who became a famous educator and became the most influential black leader in the United States, learn the truth of never complaining in life, be virtuous, strive for self-improvement, and shape yourself into a person who can contribute to society.
Click to join the "Dr. Kuan Book Club" and watch "If I Have the Opportunity to Learn", the full version of the intensive reading video, to understand the true meaning of learning!