Hu Kunsheng first needs to clarify a question: Do Chinese people have creativity? Do Chinese children lack creativity? Answer with two examples from around you. One: Once, when students arrived at school in the morning, the preparation bell rang one after another, but the students were crowded at the door of the classroom. The classmate who originally kept the key forgot his key at home. The entire class was unable to attend class at all. As a class teacher, I was extremely anxious and had exhausted all possible means, preparing for the last resort - smashing the lock. At this time, a little boy who was usually inconspicuous hesitated again and again, walked up to me tremblingly, and whispered: "Teacher, I can open the lock." In desperation, there was no other way but to acquiesce in allowing him to perform his stunt. I saw him finding an old key, dividing it by three and five, and opened the closed door. Everyone poured in, and the class continued as usual. Second example: Two pieces of news appeared in the newspapers last year. In the spring, the industrial and commercial department disclosed that a kind of artificial egg appeared on the market. Its size, shape, and even the style and texture after opening are the same as ordinary eggs. It is difficult for non-professionals and highly skilled people to identify. This matter has not yet been resolved. In the summer, a kind of artificial tofu is sold on the market. It does not use a single soybean. The tofu produced is sold all over the country. Maybe what you and I eat on the table is this kind of artificial tofu produced with chemical raw materials. Tofu. Now we can answer the question at the beginning, do Chinese people lack creativity? No, the Chinese are not very creative at all. From children to adults, they are all smart. Although the second example is a bit ironic, to be honest, even if the chemist Nobel is born again, he still has to sincerely admire the creativity of the Chinese people. But an iron fact is torturing the nerves of the Chinese people. According to statistics, none of the world's major scientific and technological inventions in the past four hundred years were made by Chinese people. Since the creation of the Nobel Prize, no real Chinese has won a single prize. A truly scientific award. It seems that in these aspects, the creativity of the Chinese people has suddenly disappeared. Even before his death, science guru Qian Xuesen wrote to the Prime Minister, accusing China of the failure of education over the past decades. No one thought about what Mr. Qian said, and no one dared not believe it. It seemed that people suddenly found the reason why the Chinese people were insulated from the Nobel Prize. It was education that stifled children's creativity step by step, and it was schools and teachers who turned the formerly wealthy into Creative students become uncreative "ordinary people". Today I want to stand up and speak loudly. Don’t put all the blame on teachers. They are responsible, but their weak shoulders cannot bear such a heavy burden. They are only part of society, and there are various other roles, such as schools and supervisors. Departments, families, society, and even the country are actually extending invisible black hands, stifling the creativity of Chinese children. The author will explain it from four aspects below: 1. The pursuit of scores stifles children’s creative thinking. It is no exaggeration to say that Chinese society is now an era of examinations, and the whole society is obsessed with examinations and scores to a crazy degree. It is an indisputable fact that schools care about grades and teachers value grades. But is it just the teacher? Do parents want scores? It can be said that there are not many parents who don’t value their children’s scores more than their lives. When they go to school for a parent-teacher meeting, the first thing they look at is how many scores their children got, and what are the criteria for good teachers and bad teachers? , that is, where the grades of the class taught by this teacher rank in the school. Society doesn’t want scores? It can be seen from the tension in various departments during the college entrance examination every year, from the media's bombardment of the college entrance examination, and from the hype and pursuit of the top candidates in the college entrance examination and high school entrance examination in various places. The enrollment rate suddenly became a symbol of local progress, a symbol of local development, and even a measure of local political performance. In such a general environment, how can a school not regard scores as a top priority? Otherwise, how can it explain to parents, society, and superior leaders, and how can it survive and develop? The government puts pressure on the Education Bureau for grades, the Education Bureau demands grades from the principal, and the principal demands grades from teachers. Schools formulate various rules and regulations that link scores and rankings, wages and benefits, teachers’ professional titles, and promotions based on merit. . Teachers only have to work hard for themselves and their students. If you don’t ask the students, who else will you ask for? Taking exams has become a magic weapon for teachers, and taking exams has become the lifeblood of students. Students can only be immersed in books and homework. Endless courses and a large number of repetitive and mechanical exercises have become students' only life. For children who grow up in such a life, their creativity and creative thinking will inevitably be exhausted step by step. Without creative thinking, how can they not be forced to do creative work? 2. The standard of good children stifles children’s creative passion.
Teachers have a common mentality, they like students who have good grades and are honest and obedient. Therefore, being honest and obedient has become an important criterion for a good student in the teacher's mind. They also mold their students to such standards. Those who meet this standard will be liked, cared about, praised, given certificates of merit, sit in a good seat, and become class cadres and team leaders. Children who do not meet this standard are naughty students, bad students, and problem students. They find fault everywhere and are constantly guarded. They only criticize, do not like or care about them, sit in the worst position, and are never rewarded. They are always controlled and suppressed. Students who have been influenced by the values ??of good students for a long time, students who have been suppressed for a long time, will only become more and more submissive. How dare they question, raise objections, or act rebelliously? It is understandable that the little boy who helped me unlock the door was worried. In fact, it’s not just students. Look around you, in which industry, department, unit, and leader who likes disobedient people and rebellious subordinates, and allows for the existence of opposing voices. If a teacher treats students like this, how dare the teacher himself be dishonest and disobedient in the workplace? Unless you are short of shoes, will workers dare to rebel? Do company employees dare to be rebellious? Unless you have trouble with your own job. Department personnel dare to be dishonest and obedient, and unit employees dare to be dishonest and obedient? Subordinates dare not pretend to be honest and obedient in front of superiors, unless you are in trouble with your own future and destiny. In this way, being honest and obedient becomes the common standard for good people in the whole society. "Square on the outside and circle on the inside" has become the Chinese way of life. No matter how much you have your own thoughts or deep-seated ideas, you still have to act honest and kind in front of leaders, bosses, and superiors. Otherwise, you will no longer be a good person in everyone's eyes, and it will be difficult for you to gain a foothold in this society, let alone make a difference. Chinese people have made statistics. Most of the country's leaders are graduates of Tsinghua University, but there are very few Peking University graduates with the same status. Let's leave aside the problem that Tsinghua students do not do scientific research or develop their own majors. But when looking into the reasons for the difference in the current official status of graduates from the two schools, the author remembered the saying "Character determines destiny." Most of the Tsinghua students are science majors. They look dull, honest, and organized. How can such a talent not be liked and reassured by leaders? Peking University emphasizes liberal arts, and liberal arts students are radical in their thinking and aggressive in doing things. Coupled with the influence of Peking University's traditional thinking, Peking University graduates will definitely not behave like good people in people's minds. How can such graduates be liked by leaders, and how can their careers flourish? What harm is there if students strive to be good students and the whole society strives to be good people? The greatest harm is to follow what others say, follow suit, be cautious in doing things, be cautious in life, and lose the passion for creation. As everyone knows, all creation comes from questioning, from opposition, from rebellion, from denial of predecessors and denial of authority. Galileo did not have the courage and determination to oppose, and Aristotle's theory that had ruled for more than two thousand years might still rule. I would like to ask what major theoretical discoveries and proposals were not made on the premise of subverting the predecessors? Without creative thoughts, there will be no creative thinking. Without the enthusiasm for creation, there will be no creative actions, and the inherent creativity of human beings will be lost forever. In this sense, the standard of a good child in the eyes of teachers, the standard of a good person in the eyes of society, and the standard of a good subordinate in the eyes of leaders are actually invisible killers that stifle the creativity of Chinese children and Chinese people. 3. "Safety is more important than Mount Tai" stifles the space for children to create. Mr. Tao Xingzhi established education throughout his life and devoted himself to education to save the country. The purpose of his school is to integrate teaching with life and production practice. In the Yucai School he founded, many clubs were established among students, either working or growing vegetables. The cafeteria was fully managed by the students. Students studied music and painting, and often went out to perform to promote the Anti-Japanese War and raise funds for the school. A large number of students engage in social practice activities outside of school, and as a result, many outstanding talents have been cultivated. Let me ask you, which teacher can take children out of school today? Which school leaders and authorities can agree with teachers taking students into society? In fact, it's not that I can't, but I don't dare. I haven't taken students on spring outings in 10 years. The slogan "Safety is more important than anything else, and responsibility is greater than Mount Tai" will scare away all teachers. Students can only huddle in the classroom and ask for scores from books, which has created countless four-eyed, bean sprouts, those with high vision and low abilities, and those with high scores and low abilities.
Maybe some people say that there are not many interest classes? Let's take a closer look. Except for those sent by parents, which of the so-called interest classes, interest groups, etc. established in the school do not have a utilitarian purpose, and which one can be compared with the Yucai School Club back then? At this point, the author would like to lament Mr. Tao's vision and courage in running schools. I also lament that today, the autonomy of schools in running schools is actually not as good as it was 70 years ago. Dancing with shackles has become the most common helplessness in today's education world. I also lament that today’s children are not as relaxed and happy as the children of 70 years ago. The lack of social practice severely restricts children’s space for free creation. 4. Social utilitarian thinking makes creativity hard to find. The commodity economy society is a society that pursues benefits everywhere. It is difficult for schools and people to stay away from the world. The crazy pursuit of material wealth has caused the loss of social values. People can do whatever it takes to get rich quickly, and do it as simply as possible. People have already I am no longer willing to do things in a down-to-earth manner, and I am no longer willing to sit down and invent and create. Prescribing real estate, speculating, buying and selling, and manufacturing and selling counterfeit goods have become shortcuts for people to make a fortune. The artificial eggs and artificial tofu disclosed at the beginning, as well as the Sudan red incident and fake milk powder incident that frightened the Chinese people, are all by-products of this utilitarian society. Under such a social background, who is still willing to spend a lot of time, money, human and financial resources on basic research, and which company is still willing to devote itself to invention and creation? The utilitarian thinking of individuals, the utilitarian thinking of enterprises, and the utilitarian thinking of the entire society have inevitably spread to China's institutions of higher learning and scientific research departments. Everyone aims to generate income, and others also serve economic development. Fake academic degrees and fake Ph.D.s are rampant, and papers Plagiarism is a problem. According to statistics, the number of papers published by Chinese universities ranked first in the world in 2010. The number of citations is probably very small. Most of the papers are not original and lack quality. Without quality, who will cite them? If you don’t devote yourself to research, where will quality come from? In such a society, who will do research? If you have money, you are an uncle, you are a successful person, and fame and wealth will come to you uninvited. It can be said that the loss of social values ??is the biggest culprit of the loss of creativity in our society. The entire country's contempt for creativity and neglect of originality has contributed to the situation. Look at the fake CDs and fake software sold all over the market. It's no wonder that people criticize us for not paying attention to intellectual property rights. Look at the endless queues of cars running on our roads. , how many of them are produced by us with independent intellectual property rights? Take a look at our home TVs, refrigerators and washing machines. Which ones are not joint venture products? Look at how many of the aircraft in the sky are made in China. Only fighter jets are made in China, but most of them are imitations. Isn’t this a great irony of patent protection? It is said that China’s first nuclear submarine was built on a foreign model. Of course, this is related to national conditions, and it can also be said to be a national strategy in the early stage. However, if this strategy is implemented for too long, the country will mislead the people. Counterfeiting is much faster than independent manufacturing. If the country does not pay attention to the protection of intellectual property rights, the whole society will lose the motivation to be original and the whole country will lose its creativity and competitiveness. To sum up, Chinese children do not lack creativity. It is the invisible black hands that have stifled or are killing their creativity during their growth. Chinese people do not lack creativity either. It is the social environment that makes them Create the soil that has lost its growth. In this sense, education, schools, and teachers should not bear the main responsibility and become the target of criticism for no reason. They are just a part of society, just operators and executors at the lowest level. Society is a big machine, and teachers are just a small part of it; society is a giant, and teachers are just an organ, or a hair, on the giant's body; society is a big tree, and teachers can only be a green leaf in it at best. They have limited power, limited energy, and therefore limited responsibilities and limited responsibilities. Don’t think of teachers as the executioners who stifle the creativity of Chinese children. Even the executioners on the ancient execution ground do not have the power of life and death. The ones who really deserve to be hated are those who stand behind the executioners. How to cultivate the creativity of Chinese children and how to protect the creativity of Chinese people is a huge proposition worthy of our deep thinking.