Do foreign universities teach "politics"?

Speaking of politics, the following is taken from Sina!

The author said: A media in China recently published an open letter "Teacher, please don't talk about China in this way", criticizing the phenomenon that teachers "don't talk about China" in college classes. This article caused an uproar. There were loud cheers [Weibo] and fierce attacks. What should we talk about in college class? What not to say? What should I say? What should I say? This is a problem faced by all countries. Some people think that universities are ivory towers, and there is no question of "what not to say" in essence. But this is just an ideal state. In reality, almost no country thinks it is appropriate to set no restrictions on teachers' classroom speeches, because "when you (teachers) stand on the podium, your students usually just need to listen."

Russia: It is dangerous to insult your country.

Do Russian university teachers often talk about their country in class? A Russian friend told me that in the classroom of colleges and universities, "the personal voices of some teachers who are enthusiastic about politics" will inevitably appear, and their political attitudes and views will affect the students in the classroom more or less. However, as long as teachers abide by the law and abide by the contract signed with the school, they will not "talk nonsense" in class.

"The key is the law," said Sergei, a friend. "No teacher dares to insult government leaders in class, whether it is commenting on ministers, prime ministers or presidents. You should bear legal responsibility for swearing casually. Most university teachers who insult their country, Russia, will not do this. In any case, it is very dangerous to humiliate your country and nation in front of students. Russian college students are all adults, with the ability of independent thinking and patriotic feelings. Teachers talk nonsense and may not be sought after by students. If some teachers break away from the course content and spread anti-government remarks, most students will not buy it. "

Teachers engaging in "political propaganda" in class also does not conform to the relevant regulations of Russian universities. An economics professor criticizing the Russian government's economic policy in class is completely different from teaching that Russia is bound to have a "color revolution." The former is a scientific view in professional courses, while the latter is a political incitement that violates the relevant regulations of the school. Teachers' classroom teaching activities are to transmit scientific knowledge, not to spread political thoughts. Although university professors have their own political views, they usually don't use the opportunity of class to convey their political emotions to students. In fact, some professors like to criticize the government for grandstanding, but they know very well that if their criticism deviates from the content of classroom teaching, they will be abandoned by students and fired from school.

Russian experts believe that the legal society does not allow teachers to curse the streets in class, nor does it allow teachers to talk about social politics in class. Russian intellectuals have a tradition of saying no to the government, especially "Xanadu intellectuals" in colleges and universities, who usually like to ridicule current politics. University teachers should have the responsibility to train students to look at social phenomena rationally and scientifically, and their teaching activities should maintain their due critical spirit. If a college teacher consciously spreads racial discrimination or criticizes the government's national unity policy, he will bear corresponding legal responsibilities, but he should not be accused of criticizing some economic and social policies of the government from the perspective of academic research.

With the rapid increase of family cars, the Moscow government has issued some "advanced parking fee regulations" this year, which has aroused strong social repercussions. A sociology professor at a university in Moscow not only commented on the government's new policy in class, but also asked students to submit "perfect parking scheme" homework. Russian experts believe that this kind of teaching activities in university classrooms cannot be restricted at will. (The newspaper's special correspondent in Russia, Wang Jiabo)

America: Personal political views should be shared, not instilled.

Xiao Zhang (not his real name), a sophomore at new york State University, told Global Times that he took an American history course. When talking about the war of independence, the teacher suggested going to a nearby museum to have a look. When it comes to American democracy, the teacher is even more passionate and full of pride in his words. Xiao Zhang said that he noticed that the teacher always introduced how great and correct the United States was in his lectures, and never said that the United States was bad. But teachers sometimes criticize some policies of the US government, such as Obama's immigration [Weibo] reform policy.

Another Cornell University student told the Global Times reporter that he had attended courses such as the history of contemporary American diplomacy and the Cold War in the United States. He had never heard of a teacher "smearing" the United States in class, and few people deliberately praised the United States. And a professor with a high academic level often attacks the "American superiority theory", and his class is recognized as "excellent" by students.

The United States advocates academic freedom, but most professors in the United States strictly abide by the principle of classroom neutrality and do not conduct political indoctrination. The Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure formulated by the American Association of University Professors in 1940 points out that teachers have the freedom to discuss their topics in class, but they should also be careful not to introduce some controversial issues unrelated to the topics discussed in teaching; When teachers speak or write as citizens, they are not bound by school censorship and discipline. Because of their special position in society, they have to undertake some special obligations. ...

In fact, what teachers should say in class is also a controversial topic in the United States. Some people question: Will teachers' expressing personal views have a bad influence on students' forming their own views? Some people think that the classroom should not be a forbidden area for teachers' views. But it is a very skillful job to distinguish between sharing and instilling personal opinions. "The key is not to tell students what to think, but to give them more things to think about."

In 2009, william robinson, a sociology professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, sent an email to his undergraduate class, in which he severely criticized the Israeli treatment of Palestinians, including photos of the Nazi Holocaust. Two students condemned him and thought that this email contained anti-Semitism. Many of Robinson's colleagues think that academic freedom protects this kind of communication, but many groups think that Robinson has crossed the line and abused faculty and staff.

Aronson, who teaches history, told the Global Times reporter, "The purpose of teaching American history is to help students correctly understand the past of the United States. The history of the United States is not long, but it is magnificent. There are many important events and historical figures that have a great influence on the world. However, America is not perfect. In my opinion, many policies of the government are biased. I will promptly tell students to look at problems with critical thinking and form their own conclusions after comprehensive analysis. "

Germany: "Political correctness" is the basic skill

As a defeated country in World War II, Germany has high requirements for university teachers in the process of getting out of the shadow of World War II, and "political correctness" is one of the important "basic skills".

Global Times reporter learned from the German University Federation that German university teachers are civil servants [Weibo] and enjoy a high political status. Teachers are protected by the Constitution, receive state salaries and enjoy occupational safety. However, university teachers should also abide by various political requirements.

Berlin political scholar Manfield told the Global Times reporter that university teachers are the bridge between the country and students. While providing preferential policies to civil servants, the state also requires civil servants to be loyal, so civil servants should give up some basic rights: university teachers should have freedom of speech and assembly, and they can freely participate in inner-party elections, but they should be subject to certain restrictions, such as not going on strike and not slandering various national systems in university classes. This is the teacher's duty.

Stefan is a teacher at Potsdam University. He has a high academic ability, but some students report that Stefan covered up Nazi crimes when he encountered historical problems in class. Some students also found that the teacher had participated in the activities of the far-right party Social Democratic Party. After investigating him, the State Education Bureau dismissed him from public office. The Education Bureau believes that university teachers can't publicize Nazi ideas, and teachers must teach real history according to textbooks in class.

Sonia, an economics major at the University of Frankfurt, told the Global Times that German universities will conduct feedback surveys on teachers' performance in the classroom. At the end of each semester, the teacher will give each student an evaluation form. The evaluation table lists all kinds of teachers' performances in the classroom, such as whether they are closely related to the teaching objectives, whether they are vivid and so on.

Like Sonia, many German students told reporters that their teachers, whether they are young teachers in junior year or professors in senior year, are very rigorous and pay attention to academics. They have never met teachers who complain or talk about their political views.

Hartvig, a sociology teacher at a German university, told reporters that German teachers have their own rights, but they must respect the rights of students in the university classroom. For example, you can't impose your political views on students, let alone distort history and discredit the country in class. Otherwise, it is likely to violate German law.

Japan: Universities are not allowed to breed negative energy.

Japan, which has always regarded itself as a "model of democracy in Asia", has a very "politicized" university education.

After World War II, Japan took college students as the "leader" and university classrooms as the "battlefield" to build the spiritual pillar of the whole society. The government puts forward the "spirit of harmony" to cultivate citizens with "perfect personality". The university changed the training goal from "intellectual and moral body" to "moral and intellectual body". At the same time, Japan adopted legislative measures and formulated a set of education laws.

Although there are some differences in curriculum between Japanese private universities and public universities, the core is to realize the national ideological education goals and concepts. University teachers will come up with various government policies, organize students to discuss, and finally form a relatively formal report. Professors with "background" will send reports to decision makers for reference through various channels.

Blindly attacking government teachers will be regarded as "politically problematic", "not objective" and "unprofessional", which will arouse students' resentment and even be expelled for violating laws and regulations. In short, universities can openly discuss government policies, but they are not allowed to attack for the sake of attack.

165438+1On October 4th, the police appeared in Yoshida Campus of Kyoto University. At that time, some teachers and students distributed anti-government political leaflets and delivered speeches on campus. It is an "excessive activity" to do such a thing on the university campus. The police immediately entered the school to investigate, and the result was a conflict with the students. The police dispatched hundreds of policemen to deal with the matter.

Japan regards universities as an important base for ideological education, and it is absolutely not allowed to become a hotbed of negative energy. Even all kinds of political activities that can be carried out in society have to be laid back in the university.

(Original title: Do foreign universities talk about "politics"? )