中国的民办大学与高等教育国际化
Private Universities in the Trend of Internationalization of Higher Education in China
徐真华
Xu Zhenhua
必赢线路检测3003 校长
President of Zhejiang Yuexiu University of Foreign Languages
2016年10月29日 绍兴
October 29, 2016, Shaoxing
高等教育的国际化是一个受到广泛关注的问题。
The topic of internationalization of higher education has drawn widespread concern.
今天为什么大学的校长们都在研究高等教育在国际范围内的合作与交流。
Nowadays, university presidents are thinking seriously about the cooperation and exchange programs on an international basis.
我想,首先因为我们所处的世界发生了巨大的变化,美国学者托夫勒在1980年出了一本书,叫作《第三次浪潮》,农耕文明为第一次浪潮,农业史学家告诉我们,至少在三千年以前,人类在中国的黄河流域播下了第一颗种子,然后以每年2公里的速度向西延伸,于是人类史上的农业革命蓬蓬勃勃地发展起来;工业革命大约是在三百年前开始的,通常认为它发源于英格兰中部地区;蒸汽机开创了以机器代替手工的革命性创举。
I think the most important reason for this trend is that our world has undergone tremendous changes. In 1980, Alvin Toffler, an American scholar, published a book titled The Third Wave, in which agricultural civilization is regarded as the first wave. According to historians, mankind sowed the first grain seeds in China’s Yellow River basin at least 3,000 years ago. Gradually, agriculture spread westwards at the speed of two kilometers per year. In this way, agricultural revolution in human history witnessed its better days of flourishing. And then came the Industrial Revolution, which is commonly thought to originate in Central England approximately 300 years ago. As a result, the steam engine and machinery replaced human hands in many areas, which marked another era of revolutionizing productivity.
1945年第一台电子计算机问世,标志着技术和信息革命时代的来临,再往后,到了上世纪八十年代,世界被万维网连接在一起,人类进入了所谓以网络、大数据、云计算、智能生产为代表的数字化时代。
The advent of the first computer in 1945 signifies the dawn of the era of technology and information revolution. In 1980s, the world was connected by World Wide Web and human society entered the digital era represented by network, big data, cloud computing and intelligent production.
我们看到人类的历史就这样在变革中往前走,网络时代带给我们的变革是巨大的,整个人类的生活方式、工作方式、交际方式乃至思维方式都发生了巨大的变化,经济界、商业界、乃至从第一产业至第三产业所有的游戏规则已经面目全非了,那么高等教育界呢?当今大学的领导应该研究与这一巨大变化相适应的教育规律、教育理念、方法及手段。于是,高等教育的国际化成为不可回避的从封闭走向开放的必由之路。
In these changes, we can tangibly perceive the marching forward of human history. The changes brought about by the internet are tremendous, and have greatly influenced the way we live, work, communicate and even affected the way we think. The rules of operation in economic sector, business sector, and moreover, even in the primary, secondary and tertiary industries have witnessed such changes. How about higher education? The leaders of today’s universities should probe into the rules, philosophies, methods and means of education which are compatible with these fundamental changes. Thus the internationalization of higher education has become an inevitable process from theory to practice.
那么在高等教育国际化的进程中,我们该做什么?怎么做?
Then, what should we do in accordance with this trend? And how should we turn our plan to reality?
当下中国的民办高校正处在一个关键时期,一是正处在发展方式的转型期,作为应用型本科大学,她的战略规划和发展路径还不清晰;二是正处在办学结构的调整期,她的应用型教学内容和课程体系还不够完善,办学特色还没有充分彰显;三是正处在开放水平的提升期,以国际合作办学为纽带,亟需引进外智,开展合作、互补性的本科生、研究生教学交流。
Currently, private universities in China is facing a critical period. Firstly, their development modes, as it were, are still in a transitional stage. The strategic planning and development path for such applied universities remain unclear. Secondly, the structures of administration are to be adjusted, and the application-oriented teaching contents and curriculum system have left much to be desired. Thus, their distinctive features have not been fully demonstrated. Thirdly, there still remains a long way to go for their opening to the world, which requires international cooperation. For instance, we have an urgent need to bring in foreign talents and carry out cooperative and complementary exchanges in undergraduate and postgraduate education and so on, and so forth.
我认为高等教育的国际化,最重要的还不是招聘一批外教,引进几套教材,对高等教育的管理者而言,首先要转变的是思维方式及观念,要把中国大学的改革放到世界高等教育大变格的格局中去考量,从一个更宽广的多元文化的视角去认识发达国家高等教育的发展趋势及其运作模式,从而卓有成效地改善自己。比如,美国不少大学的校长们对大学的人才培养目标定位是:培养具有领导素养的全球化公民,大学毕业生应该具备在不同国家、不同种族、不同文化、不同宗教环境下与人沟通、合作与竞争的能力。那么中国大学的本科人才培养目标应该如何界定?或者说中国的高等教育应该怎样制定差异化的人才培养目标,以主动适应经济全球化、生产智能化、社会信息化的发展大势。
From my point of view, the most important aspect in internationalization of higher education is neither recruiting a group of foreign teachers nor introducing a couple of systematic teaching materials. Rather, for leaders in higher education, the top priority is changing the way of thinking and mindset. We need to put the revolution of Chinese universities into the larger context of global education reform. Only by understanding the development trend and operation pattern of higher education in developed countries, and from a broader multi-cultural perspective, can we improve ourselves in an effective way. For example, many universities in the United States focus their talent training program on cultivating global citizens with leadership qualities. They attach great importance to their graduates' possessing the abilities to communicate, cooperate and compete with people from different countries, races, cultures and religious backgrounds. Then how should we set the training target for undergraduate talents in Chinese universities? Or what kind of differentiated talent training target should we set for higher education in China so as to actively adapt to this development tread of economic globalization, intelligent production and social information technology?
有什么样的目标,就会有什么样的质量标准,就会有什么样的评价体系,设计相应的知识结构,确立适合的教学内容与课程体系,设置互为支撑的理论课与实践课模块,采用先进的教学方法与手段,从而打通知识向人的素质与能力迁移的有效渠道。
Practical targets decide quality standards and thus the corresponding evaluation system. Relevant knowledge structure should be designed and appropriate teaching contents and curriculum system should be established. Modules of interdependent theoretical and practical courses need to be set up and advanced teaching methods and means must be adopted so as to build channels for converting knowledge to human qualities and abilities.
最近,阿里巴巴创始人马云在网上有一篇讲话,他谈到了现代社会经历的三次革命。他说,以工业革命为标志的第一次革命释放了人的体力,以信息高速公路为标志的第二次革命释放了人的距离,正在发生的以大数据、云计算智能化生产为标志的第三次革命将会释放人的大脑,很多我们习以为常的,很多我们昨天做得非常好的事情,都可能遭遇颠覆和改变。可以预测,未来三十年是人类社会翻天覆地的三十年,大学的校长们应该做点什么,帮助我们的孩子,帮助他们清晰地认识自己,认识未来社会的变化,把未来的路走好。
In a recent speech posted online delivered by Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba Group, he talked about the three revolutions modern society has undergone: The first revolution, marked by that of industry, unshackled human labor; the second, characterized by information superhighway, released mankind from the obstacles of long distances. And the third revolution, which is featured with big data, cloud computing and intelligent production is happening here and now in our own time and will liberate our minds. Fundamental changes will take place in many things that we have been taking for granted, including what we once were best at. It is predicted that the next three decades will witness earth-shaking changes in human society. University presidents should do things to help our students get a clear understanding of themselves, of the changes in future society, and of the ways to a better tomorrow.
谢谢大家!
Thank you!