Education is regarded as the cornerstone of national rejuvenation and social progress, and occupies an important position in the national strategy. Education is not only about imparting professional knowledge, but also about spreading civilization, improving the quality of the people, and promoting social progress.
The strength of a nation comes from the strength of education, from the fact that science overcomes ignorance, civilization overcomes barbarism, and progress overcomes backwardness.
The most important education in a person's life is schooling. This is the only way for a person to leave the family, go to society, and learn to grow themselves. School education depends on thousands of teachers, who give students the knowledge, who show up to say, who lead by example, and who have an impact on students throughout their lives.
Families in our country have always attached great importance to education, and many families, whether rich or poor, regard education as an important means to settle down and break away from their inherent classes. In ancient times, there was a saying that "learning and excellence is a master", after reading the book well, with a full stomach, sold to the emperor's family, seeking an official and a half position, and realizing the grand wish of governing the country and leveling the world. In the past, the content of learning was relatively simple, as if it was enough to write an article, but now the content of learning is very broad, and it is divided into many majors to meet the needs of social and economic development. Nowadays, education is mainly about self-growth.
In ancient times, teachers were positioned as "preaching and teaching" and "being a model for others", and were respected and admired by others. Confucius was the earliest teacher in China, with **3,000, which can be described as a peach and plum all over the world. Later generations of teachers all respected Confucius as their ancestors and were highly respected. In the past dynasties, Confucius was also highly respected, and Confucian temples were built in various places, and sacrifices were given from time to time, so as to seek the prosperity of culture and education, and talents came out in large numbers.
In the past, when people wanted to learn a craft or enter the profession to apprentice, they often had to hold an apprenticeship ceremony and perform three prostrations to show respect and gratitude to the teacher (or master). "A teacher for one day, a father for life", students should always maintain respect for teachers and live up to the grace of teaching.
In modern education, teaching is still a respected profession, but it certainly cannot be compared to the past. In the past, there were few people who could be teachers, and there were not many opportunities for people to get education, so there was a great emphasis on those who had knowledge or skills. In modern society, education covers almost everyone, everyone has universal access to education, and teaching has become an ordinary profession, no different from doctors, workers, civil servants, etc.
However, the teaching profession still has its particularity, the most important function of education is to teach and educate people, the quality of teachers determines the quality of students, but also determines the quality of the whole society, what kind of teachers, what kind of students, and what kind of social people.
Dewey, a modern American philosopher and educator, mentioned in his books "School and Society" and "Democracy and Education" that with the rapid development of science and technology and culture in modern society, educational reform is also intensifying. In line with this, people's understanding of the value and function of education is also deepening. The main difference between modern education and modern education is that the focus of modern education is directed to the development of individuals, while the focus of modern education is directed to the transformation of society. He believes that the individual development of students should be consistent with the needs of society, and the main function of school education is to transform society and promote social progress.
The developed countries and nations in the world attach great importance to education and regard it as a strategic priority for development.
The most typical example is the Meiji Restoration in Japan. Before the Meiji era, Japan was a closed country, economically backward, ignorant people, and socially conflicted people, and faced the threat of becoming a Western colony. Under these circumstances, Emperor Meiji of Japan carried out a top-down reform known as the Meiji Restoration. Through the reforms, the fate of Japan was changed, and it completely embarked on the capitalist path and entered the ranks of the world powers. The Meiji Restoration was so successful in large part because of its implementation of "civilization and enlightenment." In the words of a Japanese scholar: "For the unprecedented great change in history, all the policies of the hundred houses were founded at the time, and the education system was the most." ”
In the Meiji Restoration, education came first. In terms of education, Meiji** has taken several measures: First, it has vigorously popularized elementary school education and improved the overall quality of the whole people. The second is to implement industrial education to meet the needs of industrial development. The third is to establish key universities and cultivate high-level talents. Fourth, we should vigorously promote teacher education and improve the social status and welfare of teachers. Fifth, increase investment in education and do a good job in development planning. Through these measures, the quality of the Japanese people has rapidly improved, and ignorance and isolation have been swept away. Since then, education in Japan has changed dramatically in just a few decades, reaching the level of the world's advanced countries.
The reason why the United States has become a world power is also closely related to its education level. The United States attaches great importance to education, provides a lot of funds for basic education, all public schools are free, and the United States strictly implements the 12-year compulsory education system, that is, from primary school to high school, and fully implements free and compulsory education.
The Jews are the people who attach the most importance to education, "respecting teachers as God, and teachers as fathers." After the establishment of the State of Israel, the rejuvenation of the country through education was taken as a basic national policy. Founding Prime Minister Gurion said that there is only one thing about Jewish history: quality trumps quantity, and there is no future without education. Israel's education budget is second only to the defense budget at about 10 percent, and even during the war years it accounted for at least 7 percent. With an average education expenditure of $4,000 per capita for its 2 million students, Israel has one of the highest budgets, facilities and talent in the world. Israel is extremely poor in natural resources, but relying on its greatest resources, talent, as well as its advantages in science and technology and capital, it has achieved economic take-off in just one generation and transformed itself from a backward agricultural country into a developed modern country in the difficult and dangerous war environment. The world's 13 million Jews account for only two-thousandths of the world's population, but they have won 29% of the Nobel Prizes, and have produced many brilliant stars in various fields: Albert Einstein, Freud, David Ricardo, Picasso, Kafka, Chaplin, Mendelssohn, Kissinger, etc.
Yuelu Academy in Hunan is one of the four famous academies in Chinese history, which has gone through several generations of the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. Yuelu Academy has survived for thousands of years and is a symbol of the importance attached to education in the Huxiang region. It is also the existence of Yuelu Academy that has cultivated generations of outstanding talents for the Huxiang region, and a large number of people who can not only create ideas but also promote the historical process have emerged, such as Wang Fuzhi, Tao Shu, Wei Yuan, Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang, Cai Yi, Cai Hesen, He Shuheng, Deng Zhongxia, etc.
Education is an important means to impart knowledge, disseminate civilization, increase knowledge, and open up thinking, and it is the only way for a person to move from ignorance to civilization. Social civilization and progress, economic development, and national prosperity all depend on the benefits of education. If we want a country to always walk on the road of civilization and development, so that all kinds of talents can continue to emerge and achieve sustainable development, we must give priority to education and truly respect teachers and education.