Tang Bingyi. Education is described as what is the difference between industrial services and agriculture [EB OL].（2023-12-20）
There are many metaphors about education, all of which reflect a unique understanding of education. In addition to agriculture and industry, there are also service industries in modern society, so can education be considered agriculture?What is the difference between education being described as agriculture, industry, and services?
Likened to industry: the temperature of education disappears in the cold operation
Industry is characterized by mechanization, programming, assembly lines, and step-by-step. Education is not an industry, and it should not be. However, some of today's education is very much like industrial mass production, and it is expected to cultivate ideal standard talents through standardized production. In the same curriculum and teaching content, students are instilled with standard answers according to a unified template, which becomes an educational product on the assembly line, and the diverse personality and creativity are gradually worn out in the process. Treating education as an industry, the generation of education has become manufacturing, creation has become replication, guidance has become rules, and education has become control, the vitality and creativity of students have been extinguished, and the vitality and driving force of the school have also disappeared. When education is alienated into industry, and schools are alienated into factories, the temperature of education is exhausted in the cold operation.
It is known as the service industry: education loses its responsibility, energy, sanctity and love
The service industry is characterized by service first and customer first. When customers come to consume, those in the service industry should treat each other as God. The purpose of education is to serve the growth of students, but the way of education is to cultivate students with heart and love, rather than serving students out of return. Education has the way of education, teachers have the dignity of teachers, between families and schools, between students and teachers, it is definitely not a simple relationship between paying prices and providing services, and the relationship between home and school and teachers and students based on equality and mutual respect and mutual dependence is far beyond the simple transaction relationship of the service industry. Treating education as a service industry, teachers need to unconditionally cater to the needs of students and parents, the professional level of teachers is not reflected, the role of teachers is dwarfed, and the unequal status leads to the intensification of home-school conflicts. The alienation of schools into service industries has weakened the friendship between teachers and students, and diluted the dignity of teachers, and educators have lost not only the right to criticize and educate students, but also the responsibility and energy of education, and even the sanctity and love of education.
It is said to be agriculture: only ask about the cultivation in line with the laws of growth and generation
The metaphor of "education is agriculture" was first put forward by Mr. Ye Shengtao, a famous educator in China, who said in the "Ye Shengtao Education Anthology": "Education is agriculture, not industry. "Compared to industry and services, education is most like agriculture. Agriculture is characterized by long-term, regular, persistent, and adaptation to local conditions. In agriculture, according to the difference of each piece of land and each seed, it is necessary to adapt measures to local conditions, and put seeds with different growth Xi such as yin and light in a suitable place for their growth;In education, according to the characteristics of students and the different learning habits of different XiXi, it is necessary to teach students according to their aptitude and help them learn Xi with half the effort. In agriculture, it is necessary to believe in the power of the land, as long as you water and fertilize regularly, and treat the seeds seriously, you will definitely bear the desired fruits;In education, teachers should also believe in the power of education, and believe that the unremitting outpouring of love and the infiltration of knowledge will eventually have a subtle effect on the development of students' personality and the progress of learning Xi. Agriculture is the art of growth, and it cannot violate the law of growth, and it cannot pull out seedlings to help it growEducation is the art of generation, and all the precious character and knowledge that is deeply rooted in the human heart need to be cultivated slowly. Regard education as agriculture, teachers should stick to the land of education like farmers, work intensively, work hard, be full of love for the land, look forward to the seeds, care for the young seedlings, and be patient with the fruits, silently dedicate and wait for the tree people.
The contrast between education as an educational metaphor for industry and service and agriculture reminds us to return to the original intention of education: educators should be gardeners, not engineers, or entertainers who serve the place. The views and attitudes on different metaphors of education prompt us to reflect and summarize in time to find the original intention and return path of education.