北京清華成“黨校”

媒體看中國 | 2011.05.01
百年學府成“黨校” 清華精神無處尋

清華與北大一樣是中國近代自由思想的搖籃之一
Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: 清華與北大一樣是中國近代自由思想的搖籃之一
本週，香港媒體在報導和評論中國新聞時關注的焦點主要有：溫家寶夫婦高調會見香港左派人士吳康民，透露了什麼信息？今天的清華大學已成為"​​中央黨校"，早已丟失了早年的清華精神。



清華精神今何在？

與此同時，香港《蘋果日報》則就清華大學百年校慶發表評論，題為《清華的獨立精神自由思想丟棄殆盡》。評論寫道："前幾天，人民大會堂舉行清華百年校慶大會， 9名中央政治局常委中有6人出席，其中胡錦濤、吳邦國、習近平是清華大學校友。清華以理工科而全國知名，在中共建政前培養了一些頂尖科學家，但更知名的就是在中共建政後培養了最多官員，故有「滿清王朝北大荒」（北大荒原指黑龍江省北部荒原）之說。當清華百年校慶宣傳文字中擺出49年後清華校友輝煌的黨政人脈時，有網友說：「我怎麼感覺不是清華，而是中央黨校啊！」"……胡錦濤在清華百年大會​​上說，寄望學生「正確處理個人、集體、社會關係」，「保持個性，彰顯本色。」他沒有提到的是：丟掉了中共建政前的清華精神，使培養出來的學生永遠只是黨官，而不能成為「保持個性，彰顯本色」的獨立的個人。 "

評論接著寫道："什麼是清華精神？在清華園立有一塊紀念碑，上面端書「海寧王靜安先生紀念碑」，這是紀念清末民初大學者王國維而建的。 1925年，王國維出任清華國學研究院導師，與梁啟超、陳寅恪、趙元任一起，培養了整整一代國學研究家。 1927年夏，王國維感於「世變」，​​決定結束自己生命，自沉於頤和園昆明湖。

1929年夏，清華國學院師生為紀念這位傑出學者，募款修造了這紀念碑，碑文由陳寅恪教授撰寫，語意深長，陳寅恪其後認為這是最能代表他治學思想之作。

其詞曰：「士之讀書治學，蓋將以脫心志於俗諦之桎梏，真理因得以發揚。思想而不自由，毋寧死耳。」「先生之著述，或有時而不章；先生之學說，或有時而可商；惟此獨立之精神，自由之思想，歷千萬祀，與天壤同久，共三光而永光。」"

《蘋果日報》的評論還寫道："1953年，陳寅恪一位學生，奉中央之命南下廣州，勸陳寅恪北上出任擬建立的中科院中古研究所所長一職，陳修書婉辭，並解釋當年寫王國維紀念碑文，是認為必須脫掉「俗諦（三民主義）之桎梏」，「真理才能發揮，受『俗諦之桎梏』，沒有自由思想，沒有獨立精神，即不能發揚真理，即不能研究學術。學說有無錯誤，這是可以商量的……獨立精神和自由意志是必須爭的，且須以生死力爭。……一切都是小事，唯此是大事。」

因此，他提出若要他當中古研究所所長，他的條件就是「不宗奉馬列主義，並不學習政治。」否則就談不到學術研究。 ……中共對所有以生死力爭獨立精神和自由意志的知識分子，都扼殺打壓務盡。丟棄了這個立下碑文的清華精神，不會培養出獨立自由的學者精英，只會不斷產生令人毛骨悚然的未來官僚。 "



摘編：李華

責編：洪沙

FOUNDATIONS JOIN TO OFFER ONLINE COURSES FOR SCHOOLS
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the world’s largest philanthropy, and the foundation associated with Pearson, the giant textbook and school technology company, announced a partnership on Wednesday to create online reading and math courses aligned with the new academic standards that some 40 states have adopted in recent months. The 24 new courses will use video, interactive software, games, social media and other digital materials to present math lessons for kindergarten through 10th grade and English lessons for kindergarten through 12th grade, Pearson and Gates officials said. The article is in The New York Times.

Foundations Join to Offer Online Courses for Schools

By SAM DILLON

Published: April 27, 2011

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the world’s largest philanthropy, and the foundation associated with Pearson, the giant textbook and school technology company, announced a partnership on Wednesday to create online reading and math courses aligned with the new academic standards that some 40 states have adopted in recent months.

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The 24 new courses will use video, interactive software, games, social media and other digital materials to present math lessons for kindergarten through 10th grade and English lessons for kindergarten through 12th grade, Pearson and Gates officials said.

Widespread adoption of the new standards, known as the common core, has provoked a race among textbook publishers to revise their current classroom offerings so they align with the standards, and to produce new materials. The Gates-Pearson initiative appears to be the most ambitious such effort so far.

The Pearson Foundation is heading the course-writing effort. But Pearson Education, which owns textbook houses like Prentice Hall and sells an array of multimedia classroom tools, will market 20 of the new courses to schools and districts.

The Gates Foundation, which has promoted the common core standards movement in its philanthropy, is providing $3 million so that four of the 24 courses can be offered free to schools, partly to give educators a taste of how the digital courses can be used in classrooms.

“We’re hoping that by placing those four courses in a way that’s accessible, people will take a look at them and make connections,” said Mark Nieker, president of the Pearson Foundation.

In his educational work, Bill Gates has explored ways that new technologies can transform teaching. Vicki Phillips, a director at the Gates Foundation, said the partnership with Pearson was part of a “suite of investments” totaling more than $20 million that the foundation was undertaking, all of which involve new technology-based instructional approaches.

The new digital materials, Ms. Phillips said, “have the potential to fundamentally change the way students and teachers interact in the classroom.”

The partnership with the Gates Foundation could give Pearson a considerable advantage as textbook and learning technology companies position themselves in an education marketplace upended by the creation of the common standards.

“It’s a good deal for Pearson, and it’s good for Gates too, because it brings more attention to the standards,” said Jack Jennings, president of the Center on Education Policy, which has studied the evolution of state policies on the common core.

Susan Neuman, a former Education Department official in the George W. Bush administration who is now a professor at the University of Michigan, said the new course materials could provide an important link between the common core standards and the standardized tests that two consortia of states are writing, with $330 million in Department of Education financing.

“This is something that’s been missing in all the policy statements on the common core: a sequential curriculum,” Dr. Neuman said. But she worried that after a period of consolidation in the textbook publishing business, Pearson has few strong rivals.

“Pearson already dominates, and this could take it to the extreme,” she said. “This could be problematic for many of our kids. We could get a one size fits all.”

Judy Codding, a former president of a teacher training company, is leading the course development effort. Many of the courses should be completed by January 2013 and the rest by December 2013, she said. A challenge will be to find ways to excite students about learning, she added.

“We have a lot of kids in our country who haven’t met the lesser standards,” she said, “and now we’ve raised the bar. So we have a tall task to bring all kids along.”