Brief introduction of general education
"General education" is relative to professional education. It refers to the non-professional education on basic knowledge, basic ideas, basic skills and basic literacy that all college students should receive. General education aims to guide students to broaden their horizons, lay a world outlook, outlook on life and values, cultivate students' independent thinking ability, effective communication ability, critical thinking ability and value judgment ability, enhance their sense of social responsibility, and make them grow into sound citizens. Compared with professional education that emphasizes professional knowledge and skills, "general education" emphasizes that students master basic knowledge, basic concepts, basic skills and basic literacy in a wider range of disciplines, so as to grow into sound people.
The Origin of General Education and Its Development in China
"General education" originated from liberal education in ancient Greece and Rome, reached its peak in Britain during the Renaissance, and eventually developed into general education in the United States and spread all over the world. Although the expression of "general education" originated from the west, this concept is deeply contained in the traditional education in China. The "teaching of six arts" advocated by ancient Confucianism lies in cultivating students into "generalists"
In modern times, influenced by western democratic and scientific ideas, China's higher education gradually deviated from the classical tradition of generalist education and began to turn to practical professional education. However, educators such as Cai Yuanpei and Mei Yiqi have always emphasized the importance of general education or holistic education based on professional education. For example, the early education of Peking University was greatly influenced by Germany. President Cai Yuanpei particularly emphasized that universities should learn advanced knowledge, but at the same time he also advocated the communication of arts and sciences and "five educations". In 1950s, the adjustment of colleges and departments in China further strengthened professional education. In the 1990s, with the demand for comprehensive talents from the merger of universities and social development, China's higher education circles realized the negative impact of professional education on interdisciplinary talents training and students' comprehensive quality training, and began to vigorously advocate humanistic quality education. The western concept of general education has been reintroduced and developed in China.
The Construction of Elective Courses for Quality Education in Domestic Colleges and Universities
Since September, 2000, Peking University has established a general course system for undergraduate quality education. At present, there are 322 general elective courses, which are divided into six fields: mathematics and natural science, social science, philosophy and psychology, history, linguistics, literature and art and aesthetic education, and social sustainable development. Students are required to complete at least 2 credits in each field, totaling at least 65,438+. The core courses of general education in Fudan University include six modules: literary and historical classics and cultural inheritance, philosophical wisdom and critical thinking, civilized dialogue and world vision, scientific spirit and scientific exploration, ecological environment and life care, artistic creation and aesthetic experience. Ideological and political courses are also included in the core curriculum system of general education. In addition, due to the limited curriculum resources, there are a large number of quality education elective courses in domestic universities, which are generally in large classes and mainly taught by lecturers. The course content is mostly introduction or introduction courses.
With the comprehensive promotion of the general elective course model, a group of scholars began to reflect on the teaching effect of elective courses in quality education. The academic circles generally believe that the current elective course of quality education focuses on expanding knowledge, and the cultivation of values and abilities is insufficient; The content is extensive, but the connotation and depth of the course need to be strengthened.
Introduction of "Core Curriculum of General Education"
At the beginning of the 20th century, in order to further improve the quality of elective courses in quality education, experts and scholars in related fields reflected and discussed the general education in domestic universities, and put forward the idea of building a "core course of general education" featuring classic reading and small class discussion.
20 10 according to its own reality, Peking University began to promote the pilot work of "core courses of general education" characterized by "classic reading and discussion teaching". By the end of 20 15, Peking University has organized and built 30 "core courses of general education", encouraging the teaching methods of "classic reading" and "teaching in large classes and discussing in small classes", cultivating students' habit of reading classic texts and thinking deeply about problems, and cultivating students' abilities of autonomous learning, critical thinking, analyzing and solving problems and communication and coordination. At the same time, a number of domestic universities, such as Tsinghua University, Fudan University, Zhejiang University, Sun Yat-sen University, Chongqing University, etc., have also begun to build "core courses of general education" on the basis of the original quality education elective courses. From the above, it can be seen that the implementation of the "core curriculum of general education" in China is targeted, with the aim of perfecting the original general course selection system and better realizing the goal of general education. On the overall design level, the "core course of general education" is to give students an interdisciplinary vision and learning experience, so that students can learn in a broader field of knowledge, critically examine the original knowledge on the basis of professional knowledge, realize the infinity of human knowledge and cultivate the ability to explore the unknown curiosity. Therefore, the design goal of "the core course of general education" is to cultivate students' sound personality, so that students can deeply understand the thinking method and knowledge inheritance system of a certain major through the course, so as to understand the essence of this subject, rather than a popular course or introductory course popularized to non-professional/disciplinary students. This determines that the "core course of general education" must design teaching modes and teaching methods that match its construction goals. Looking at the design of "core courses of general education" in China, we pay special attention to the teaching methods of "classic reading and small class discussion" and emphasize the cultivation of corresponding teaching assistant teams.
Construction Characteristics of "Core Curriculum of General Education"
In the process of constructing the "core curriculum of general education", Peking University has adopted a series of characteristic practices, strictly controlled the quality of the curriculum, and really carried out the curriculum construction centered on cultivating students' sound personality. From the elective course of general education to the construction of core courses of general education, it is not only a change in name, but also a rethinking and comprehensive consideration of teachers, teaching AIDS, teaching contents and teaching methods in the reform of general education in colleges and universities. In this process, excellent teachers and their investment in teaching are the guarantee and core. In the process of reform, the school insists on strengthening the top-level design of courses, comprehensively carrying out the reform of teaching methods, paying attention to the construction of teachers and teaching assistants, and carrying out quality control throughout the whole process, so as to truly realize the goal of taking students as the center, cultivating core values, improving comprehensive quality and ability, and paying attention to cultivating students' sound personality while attaching importance to students' professional basic education.
1, strengthen the top-level design of the course
Peking University's "Core Curriculum of General Education" focuses on the top-level design as a whole, and is constructed door by door according to four modules: Chinese civilization and its tradition, Western civilization and its tradition, modern society and its problems, and humanities, art and nature. The design reasons and principles of these four modules are as follows: First, through the education of Chinese and Western traditional civilizations, students can deepen their understanding of traditions and respect the values and cultural traditions of Chinese and Western human civilizations. In the construction of such courses, we should always pay attention to the fact that the purpose of letting students know history and tradition is not to simply restore history and inherit civilization, but to let students know the tradition behind every modern problem and draw nutrition from the treasure house of human civilization when facing the present and thinking about the future.
Second, let students understand the complexity of modern society by showing the perspectives and ways of thinking of various disciplines on modern society. In the construction of such courses, dabbling in knowledge fields other than majors is not simply to expand students' knowledge, nor is it possible to turn general education into encyclopedia education. Instead, let students pay attention to the methods of understanding modern society in other disciplines through learning, so as to get rid of the shackles of knowledge paradigm on their cognitive ability to the greatest extent.
Third, the study of natural science is of special significance to students who are not natural science subjects. This kind of course aims to make students have a brand-new view of the world from the perspective of natural science, change their way of thinking and have a deeper understanding of today's rapidly developing world of science and technology.
Fourth, through the study and experience of humanities and arts, students can feel the influence of humanistic spirit, enhance their aesthetic taste, get rid of the instrumental perspective of modernity, and always keep the pursuit of truth, goodness and beauty in their hearts.
2. Teaching methods, means and reform.
In order to ensure the quality of "core courses of general education", the school also advocates the reform of teaching methods when building such courses.
First, it emphasizes the intensive reading of texts, especially the reading of Chinese and western civilization classics. Through classic reading, students can not only learn and understand relevant knowledge more deeply, but more importantly, through dialogue with classics, guide students to learn to communicate with classics and enter into thinking about fundamental issues in ideology and culture, so as to arrange their own study, reading, thinking and life at a higher level, thus improving the deficiency of instrumental reading in traditional knowledge-centered teaching.
Second, pay attention to the communication between teachers and students. Through discussion-based teaching methods such as small class discussion, students are encouraged to study problems more actively, forming a benign interaction between teachers and students, thus assisting teachers' teaching and students' reading, presenting ideological problems in the text in more detail, and promoting students' learning not only at the level of knowledge acquisition, but also further training students' expression ability and critical thinking through small class discussion. The school has set up a "general education salon" hosted by core course lecturers, and through this platform, it has carried out personalized exchanges with students in a wider range and created a campus atmosphere for general education.
Thirdly, students are evaluated in a process. The traditional final examination mode can better test students' mastery of knowledge, but it does not pay enough attention to students' learning process and experience and cannot guide students to explore and think deeply. In the process of core curriculum construction, Peking University requires all courses to incorporate process assessment into the examination system, and suggests that the proportion of final examination should not exceed 60%. Appropriate assignments or discussion topics should be designed according to the main points of this chapter.
3. Pay attention to the team building of teachers and teaching assistants.
Teachers are the core to ensure the quality of courses. The construction of "the core curriculum of general education" in Peking University benefits from the comprehensive advantages of many disciplines and the abundant teachers. At the same time, teaching assistants are important assistants of teachers, and building an excellent teaching assistant team plays an important role in organizing small class discussions and guiding students to think deeply about problems. Therefore, the construction of the core curriculum of general education in schools has attached great importance to the construction of teachers and teaching assistants from the beginning.
First, relying on the excellent teachers in the school to build a team of core course lecturers. If general education wants to play a lasting role for all college students, it must rely on excellent teachers in the school, stimulate their enthusiasm and potential through various institutional mechanisms, guide them to join in teaching, and ensure the quality of courses. At present, many teachers have made outstanding academic achievements in their respective fields, and have many years of in-depth research and unique opinions on their own subjects, enjoying high prestige and deep respect among teachers and students.
Second, while building the curriculum, we should pay attention to the communication between teachers and organize various exchange activities on a regular basis. Teachers should not only exchange their views on general education, but also exchange specific teaching methods and teaching cases, inspire and promote each other in the discussion, and create an atmosphere of general education among teachers.
Third, build a high-level teaching assistant team, and clarify the responsibilities of the teaching assistant team of the core courses of general education in Peking University in the form of the Employment Contract for Lecturers of the Core Courses of General Education, and explain and train them through several teaching assistant meetings. This teaching assistant system has become one of the basic training for graduate students and also plays an important role in improving the quality of core courses.
4, to carry out the whole process of quality monitoring.
First, strict application and review of new courses. Teachers are required to provide a detailed curriculum outline when reporting, refine the contents of each chapter and read the literature, clarify the assessment methods and homework topics, and ensure that the curriculum design conforms to the construction concept of the core curriculum. According to the overall design concept, organize general education experts to discuss and review the submitted applications and curriculum outlines one by one.
Second, the responsibilities of teachers and teaching assistants should be fulfilled through the contract appointment system for lecturers. After the course is approved, sign the Employment Contract for Lecturers of the Core Courses of General Education in Peking University with the lecturers, and specify the responsibilities of the teaching assistants as an annex to the contract. The lecturer responsibility system is implemented by contractual relationship to ensure the quality and stability of the course. The contract clearly stipulates that Party A (school) has the right to terminate the contract if the evaluation score of core courses is lower than the average level of general elective courses in the whole school at the beginning of the semester, and a major teaching accident occurs and the major opinions reflected by the students are true.
Third, pay attention to the quality evaluation of students' experience. The construction goal of "the core course of general education" determines that its quality evaluation must focus on students' learning experience and ability improvement. Relying on the old professor's research group, the school set up a special research group to conduct a comprehensive investigation and evaluation of students' learning experience, and feedback the evaluation results to teachers and students, which really helps teachers improve their teaching.