The disadvantages of today’s inspirational education

As an educator, only by figuring out "what success is" can we guide students to develop their potential. We have made it clear that "success is a mental state" and "success is working happily and living actively", so what we want to guide students is to adjust the best mental state to face every day. Everything students do in school is for Prepare for a "happy work, active life" in the future. Understanding this, teachers can find the right direction in the process of promoting inspirational education and avoid "taking the wrong path." Because without rational understanding, it is impossible to have the right direction in educational practice, and it is impossible to be a conscious and sober educator.

1. Defining goals is more utilitarian

In 2001, Yin Jianting, a high school Chinese teacher at a key middle school in Zhuzhou City, Hunan Province, wrote in an article: "I want to clearly define Let me tell you - studying and going to college is for yourself, not for others... In the future, you can find a good job, earn a lot of money, and have a beautiful personal life, such as a happy life, a fulfilling life, and a bright future. , have a brilliant career, and even find a beautiful wife and give birth to a smart son. Therefore, I emphasize that studying should be for yourself!" The newspaper disclosed this matter, and someone summarized Yin Jianting's view as "(The purpose of life is) to earn money. Make a lot of money, marry a beautiful woman, and have a smart son.” As a result, there was an uproar online and offline, and people were talking about it.

In today's world of diversified values, perhaps we cannot say that this view is wrong. "Knowledge changes destiny." Many people are eager to get out of the mountains and change their destiny through reading. Many people have indeed taken this road, leaving the mountains and entering the city, getting a good job, having a wife, children, a house and a car. However, this is not the only goal of reading. For many people, this is just an incidental "result" in the process of life's struggle, a "result" that comes naturally.

Philosopher Feng Youlan once divided various different realms of life into four levels in the article "The Realm of Life":

We can divide the various different realms of life into four levels: for four levels. Starting from the lowest, they are: the natural realm, the utilitarian realm, the moral realm, and the realm of heaven and earth.

A person may just follow his instinct or the customs and habits of his society. Like a child or a primitive man, he does what he does without any awareness, or not very much awareness. In this way, what he does has no or little meaning to him. His realm of life is what I call the natural realm.

A person may be aware of himself and do various things for himself. This does not mean that he is necessarily an immoral person. He can do things whose consequences are beneficial to others and whose motives are self-serving. Therefore, everything he does has utilitarian significance to him. His realm of life is what I call the utilitarian realm.

Some people may understand the existence of society and they are a member of society. This society is a whole, and he is part of this whole. With this understanding, he does all kinds of things for the benefit of society, or as Confucianism says, he does things to "justify his justice and not seek his own gain." (Inspiring Life) He is truly a moral person, and everything he does is moral behavior that conforms to strict moral meanings. Everything he did had moral significance. So his realm of life is what I call the moral realm.

Finally, one may understand that there is a greater whole beyond society as a whole, the universe. He is not only a member of society but also a member of the universe. He is a citizen of the social organization and at the same time what Mencius calls a "citizen of heaven". With this understanding, he does all kinds of things for the benefit of the universe. He understands the significance of what he is doing and realizes that he is doing what he is doing. This awareness constitutes the highest realm of life for him, which is what I call the realm of heaven and earth.

Among these four realms of life, people in the realm of nature and utilitarianism are the people they are now; people in the moral realm and the realm of heaven and earth are the people they should be. The first two are products of nature, and the latter two are spiritual creations.

The natural realm is the lowest, the higher one is the utilitarian realm, the higher one is the moral realm, and finally the heaven and earth realm. ”

In this way, although Yin Jianting’s “goal” of studying is reasonable, it can only be regarded as a “utilitarian realm”. However, if this is the case, the world will be a selfish world of “everyone for me” . When people live in such a world, their happiness will be compromised.

So, why do you study? This is a question that students should think deeply about, and it is also a question that we should guide students to think about. I think this should be a question that every educator should think about.

2. Setting goals that are divorced from reality

The first time I heard the word "garbage time" was. When watching an NBA game, the score gap between the two teams was too big. The ball was controlled by the leading side, and the leading side was slowly passing the time; the lagging side had lost its fighting spirit - the distance was too far, and it was hard to catch up. If you can't make it, you are wasting your time. The commentator at the time used this word: "The game has entered garbage time..."

Today, I heard a student say this in the classroom: " It’s so hard to endure this garbage time——” I stopped walking out of the classroom and instinctively looked back at him. The moment his eyes came into contact with mine, I swallowed the second half of “ah——”. I didn’t say anything What, walked out of the classroom with heavy steps

"The dead are like this!" "Thousands of years ago, the sage stood by the river and expressed the ruthlessness of time: it will never return! Since then, the metaphor "time is like flowing water" has been used countless times by countless people. "Year after year The flowers are similar, but each year is different. "How many people feel sad for the flowers that are similar year after year and the people who are different year after year; "The flowers in the forest withered the spring red in a hurry. "In a hurry, flowers wither, beautiful scenery passes, and people age easily! How many people "sorrow for the brief moment of my life and envy the infinite Yangtze River"! All the words that harm time and spring have never stayed in his mind. Why? I feel heavy.

Looking at the countdown sign downstairs: "There are only 43 days until the college entrance examination"! As soon as he walked out of the classroom and stood in the corridor and looked down, he could see this number. , this is just a meaningless decoration. Why?

When I returned to the office and told my colleagues what I said, a colleague’s shocking words shocked me: "He I feel like there is no hope, so of course it’s garbage time! "Besides, he's not the only student who's wasting his time?" There are so many! "

Yes, there is no hope, they can only "endure"! But, who makes them feel that there is no hope? Thinking of the mobilization meeting 50 days before the college entrance examination, those who came up to express their determination said: “God rewards those who work hard, and in the fiery June, my college dream will definitely come true! "But how many of the more than 1,500 people actually went to college? Only three or four hundred people were on the list, and more than a thousand people either went home to farm, went south to work, or came back after the college entrance examination. Repeated. However, the most mentioned thing in our conference meeting was: "2004, my dream of going to college will come true!" "The words that were intended to inspire people have disappointed so many people. After taking the mock exams again and again, the scores that can no longer be improved have made many people disappointed and even desperate! Therefore, this precious time is regarded as gold by them. It’s “garbage”!

Is this a slogan that is out of touch with reality, is it motivating or discouraging? Students cannot climb Mount Everest, but they are told: “Mount Everest is not scary, as long as you are willing to climb it. "Students cannot "swoop up" and "ninety thousand miles", but they have to say to them: "If you flutter your wings, you will surely win the title of Toad Palace." "There are only a few people in the school who can "cross the Yangtze River and the Yellow River" to go to college, but they have to say to the students: "If you ride the wind and waves, you will definitely be able to cross the Yangtze River and the Yellow River and march north." "Sometimes I think about how ridiculous and sad this is! When our slogans only have sound but no actual content, and the students' hearts are only the long sand of disappointment without the oasis of hope, what kind of education is ours? Failed?

I think, we know that they can’t “go up to the sky to catch the moon” or “go down to the five oceans to catch turtles”, so we might as well encourage them to catch something that can be obtained by jumping. Grapes", to catch the "small fish" that can be obtained with a little effort.

In life, many of us are the "rich men" who only see the number of times students fall, but not the number of times students get up. Many students fell down again and again during the exam journey, but they got up again and again to face the next exam...

Inspirational Education