"Don't let your child lose at the starting line." This famous slogan of Chinese-style education has been often quoted and controversial.
After many years, Wei Yu, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering who said this when he was vice minister of education, reiterated his original intention through many misunderstandings: This does not mean that children can recognize words, memorize poems, and read English earlier, but parents should provide a stable, warm, healthy and interactive environment for their children.
According to a survey by a professor in the United States, Chinese children laugh 50% less than foreign children, and many teachers feel that there is nothing to do with this. Actually, this is a big problem. The child has a good mood when learning, the brain consumes less energy, he can concentrate on learning. When there is no good emotion, it is often impossible to learn.
Child development research is a continuation of my scientific work. I have been working in the field of biomedical engineering for a long time, and in 1989 I established the first international molecular and biomolecular electronics laboratories at Southeast University, when there was a group to conduct brain research. Later the study was interrupted for a while. After leaving my post as deputy minister of education in 2002, I returned to Southeast University, restarted research on the brain, and focused my research on education. The research I'm working on now is a branch of neural information engineering.
What makes me so keen to promote the study of children's brains is my interest in research, but also out of a sense of responsibility, out of a sense of crisis. At present, many children in our country do not have a happy childhood, they bear the pressure they should not have, less laughter, less dreams. In fact, everyone has only one childhood, a childhood that has a decisive influence on his life. Children have no choice, but we have a responsibility to protect them.
Education must focus on empirical research
I believe that education in our country must be based on empirical research. Lack of empirical research, this expert says so, that expert says so, so who listens to it? It seems that every expert seems to know a lot about education, but in fact, there will inevitably be misunderstandings, and some practices are taken for granted, just by feeling.
Some experiences seem to be more effective than others, and the "traditional" methods of education that are more recognized by everyone have been formed. For example, our traditional education model is more like Chinese medicine, and now we have to learn Western medicine. It's not that Western medicine is necessarily better than Chinese medicine, but now Chinese medicine doesn't also have to measure indicators? Do you also want to analyze the pharmacological components in detail? In the same way, we should also put the traditional wisdom of education on the framework of science, just like the combination of traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine, patients will benefit more.
At present, the international education research results are far ahead of us, and the gap between the two is very large. Because many of our education over the years has been "Traditional Chinese medicine", it is not enough to participate in international exchanges and understand the most cutting-edge scientific education results.
The enthusiasm for innovation is consumed by indoctrinated education
The ability to innovate and the enthusiasm for innovation are easily consumed in indoctrination education. This situation does not change, and cultivating innovative talents can only be empty words.
At present, Chinese education must be student-centered and implement inquiry-based education. Books teach students solutions, and problems seem to be solved. But it's clear that it's an indoctrination model in which students don't really learn science.
Today, the knowledge that a middle school student learns in a week has exceeded the knowledge that an ordinary person learned in the 18th century. Our students will use our knowledge in the future to solve problems that we cannot anticipate. Therefore, we need students to learn some of the major scientific concepts and master the process of understanding these core concepts. This is also the most cutting-edge scientific research in the world.
The process and content of learning must be integrated. Specifically, let students start from the facts around them, under the effective guidance of teachers, experience the process of concept formation, and students have to find their own answers. Teachers should respect the different answers of students, and then further guide students to grasp the correct scientific concepts.
This is a completely different educational model from our traditional education, which is an inquiry-based learning method. It can not only be used to learn scientific concepts, but also an advanced educational concept. Only when students learn to inquire, only when they learn to research on their own, will they have innovation.
Some people think that the level of mathematics and science education in our country is already very high, in terms of mastering knowledge and skills, perhaps so. However, our current education is not conducive to the cultivation of innovative talents, which is also the unanimous evaluation of the education community at home and abroad. The ability to innovate and the enthusiasm for innovation are easily consumed in indoctrination education, and by the university level, many students have lost their enthusiasm for learning and research. This situation does not change, and cultivating innovative talents can only be empty words.
Only parents can give your own children the best childhood possible
"Can't let the child lose on the starting line" by no means means that the child can recognize words, memorize poems, read English earlier, and it is not to teach the primary school curriculum to young children in advance, which is definitely a misunderstanding.
In the 1970s, Romania's rulers, in order to increase the population, adopted various policies requiring each family to have five children. But later, many families, unable to support themselves, had to send their children to childcare facilities. These childcare facilities are in poor condition, usually 20 or so children have only one caregiver and cannot be taken care of at all.
At that time, a number of scientists, with funding from the Foundation, formed a joint research echelon to carry out projects to intervene and conduct scientific research on some children, and Professor Fox was one of the leaders of the research echelon. They send some children to eligible families for upbringing, and for some children improve the conditions of parenting in childcare institutions, such as increasing the number of caregivers, but for some children have to maintain the status quo.
The scientists followed the children until they were 12 years old, from which they obtained a wealth of valuable information and data. The results of the study were that children who grew up in childcare early on were significantly smaller in their entire brain size than children under normal care due to fewer opportunities for interaction. If it is improved before the age of 2, the brain development can be restored; after the age of 2, it is difficult to recover the brain development. This shows that the quality of early education conditions does affect the development of children's brains.
Parents should not be busy making money and say that when I make money, I will accompany you again, and then it will be too late. You'd rather make less money and spend more time with your children. I once knew an American woman who, after the couple adopted a child, immediately decided that the couple would quit half of their jobs and take turns to take care of their children at home, which shows the importance that foreign countries attach to their parents' own parenting. Therefore, 0 to 3 years old is a critical period, and during this time, no one can replace the parents, only parents can give your own children the best childhood.
Be sure to make your child passionate about life and learning
Be sure to make the child full of enthusiasm for life and learning, if there is no enthusiasm, then it is difficult for him to live happily in his life, and it is difficult to achieve success. "Emotional education" is important for children's future.
Emotional intelligence is an outdated concept that is no longer used internationally in favor of "social-emotional capacity". It is also a frontier topic and hotspot in international brain research.
The level of IQ will affect your quality of life at most, not destroy your life. But social-emotional capacity is the key to determining a person's happiness throughout life. Social-emotional ability includes five aspects: correctly evaluating yourself, regulating your emotions, motivating yourself, being able to understand the emotions of others, and being good at handling interpersonal relationships.
Unfortunately, emotional education has not been taken seriously in our current education, and teachers and parents are still concerned about children's academic performance. According to a survey by a professor in the United States, Chinese children laugh 50% less than foreign children, and many teachers feel that there is nothing to do with this. Actually, this is a big problem. The child has a good mood when learning, the brain consumes less energy, he can concentrate on learning. When there is no good emotion, it is often impossible to learn.
For so many years, I have been pinning my hopes on parents to enlighten them. If you are a parent who is concerned about the future of your child, and you are a parent who is not in a hurry, then you should learn these latest scientific education knowledge to protect your child.
Parents must have the right educational philosophy. What is the most important thing for the development of children? It's not about how many 100 points he can get, it's about training him to be a complete person. Among them, emotional education is the most critical. We must make the child full of enthusiasm for life and learning, if there is no enthusiasm, then it is difficult for him to live happily in his life, and it is difficult to achieve success. Children are slightly bored with school, and heavy are rebellious and confrontational, and even trigger conflict events.
There are now some college students who have little enthusiasm for self-motivation and are not willing to study hard. They are eager to make a quick profit, hope to become famous overnight, or marry a big money, do not want to succeed through their own struggle. Tracing back to the roots, we found that these college students did not have a happy childhood, have been forced by their parents to study, and after the age of 18, they are bent on relaxing. Isn't that worthy of our wake-up call?
Let the child do what he loves to do
If there's one thing he likes to do the most, and you create the conditions for him to do it, then he's going to be happy.
There are many kinds of intelligence, and there are only two countries in the world that have been misinterpreted, one is China, and the other is Australia. Australians believe that Aboriginal people can only be in music and sports. And what is popular in China now is that everyone has multiple intelligences, can learn anything well, and sing and dance to develop. But in fact, a person can't be good at everything.
In fact, there must be one thing in a person's life that he does the most effortlessly and learns the fastest. If there's one thing he loves to do the most, and he's the best at it, and you create the conditions for him to do it, then he's going to be very accomplished and happy.
How do you help your child find the least effort and the fastest thing he can learn? The child will look for it himself. When he was 12 to 18 years old, it was a crucial period for setting up his ideals. You create the conditions for him to choose freely, and he will make his own decisions. You need to provide an environment that guides him and respects his decisions and helps him to make them happen.
Wen | Wei Yu, former vice minister of education
The source of the article | Liberation Daily, and this article is transferred from the public account of "China Education News" and "China Education Research"