At the beginning of last century, faced with a rapidly changing era, she realized that China had entered a world full of competition, from the war of war, the war of commerce to the war of learning. She analyzed that if we think that the war of war can be relied on, who can compete with Alexander and Napoleon in their heyday? However, once defeated, the military strategy that shocked the world for a while will be completely annihilated. If you think that commercial warfare can be relied on, the handicraft business in ancient Egypt, Persia and other countries is not prosperous, and now it has already been exiled. What really has lasting competitiveness in the world is academics. In her limited understanding at that time, she thought of bacon, Descartes, Montesquieu, Rousseau and others, and thought that they held the power to transfer the world. This is not the power seen in the world, but the driving force of civilization in the19th century. "The motive force of civilization"-this statement is wonderful, which is a rare cognition of China scholars of her generation. If a nation wants to come up with its own Bacon, Descartes, Montesquieu and Rousseau, it needs to "promote schools and education", which she thinks is "an urgent task".
At this time, new education began to flourish. Compared with the old-style education that has been immersed for thousands of years, it is undoubtedly a seedling and is not understood by Chinese people. China people still remember the reputation of scholar, juren and Jinshi. Therefore, she wants to speak out for the new education and explain the truth that "education is the foundation of the country." She said: "Educators are the foundation of the country and the hub of society. They should first understand education, then understand domestic affairs and diplomacy, and then cultivate skills; All ends of the process business can operate freely and satisfactorily. As long as education is not taught, people's wisdom will not open for a day; People's wisdom can't be opened, so they are stubborn and stupid, and they don't distinguish right from wrong. Everything you know is selfish. "
Lv Bicheng, who walked out of the old-style education and made outstanding achievements in the old-style poetry, was keen on the new-style education. When the world focused on Qiang Bing, a rich country, he turned his attention to the slow-developing education and thought that the foundation of prosperity was "it is necessary to promote schools as general compulsory education". After 110 years, our external environment has already changed, education has become popular, and the problems have also changed. Today, what we want to ask is not whether education is the foundation of the country, but what kind of education can be the foundation of the country? What kind of education can produce "the motive force of civilization"? What kind of education can really open people's wisdom, instead of cultivating people who only know selfishness? These question marks that Lv Bicheng doesn't need to think about or have time to face are in front of us. To put it bluntly, we should recognize the goal of education. If prosperity is the goal, education is only the means, and teachers and students are only part of the machine at best, but not the subject after all. If the goal of education is to enlighten people's wisdom, that is, to cultivate people with sound minds and the ability to distinguish right from wrong, then the cultivation of teachers and students' independent thinking ability is the first. Without independent thinking, everything is just spinning around, doing exercises, memorizing standard answers, practicing exam-taking skills and teaching answering skills. I believe the answer is self-evident. At best, this kind of education can only bring up generations of smart and selfish people, and will not produce the motive force of civilization.
Education, as the foundation of the country, needs an idealistic background, instead of always indulging in the quagmire of realism day after day. Regardless of the tradition of Confucius or the tradition of ancient Greece, in essence, the essence of education is contained in independence and freedom. Teachers gallop in the world of knowledge and spirit with the spirit of independence and freedom, and students seek in the world of knowledge and spirit with the spirit of independence and freedom. Teachers and students, teachers and teachers, students and students, their lives collide, contact, enlighten and build each other inside and outside the classroom. Through education, everyone's ideological sky is further broadened and everyone's spiritual wings are further expanded. This kind of education is desirable and also lacking in educational reality. Once the spirit of independence and freedom is lost, education can never be the foundation of a country. In an era of universal education, what kind of education we want is particularly worth pondering. When many people think about these problems, they often start from realistic conditions. There is nothing wrong with this, but at any time, we must not lose the bottom line. At any time, we must distinguish between "what is" and "what we want", and we must not constantly lower the standards and admit the fait accompli. In the end, I can't even find the direction and goal. In order to find the direction and goal again, we need to review the true meaning of education, which is a problem that Lv Bicheng does not need to face directly.