Published 23:59 Sunday, June 7th, 2009 by yeer 1,005 views
ISSUE 51
51、"Education will be truly effective only when it is specifically designed to meet the individual needs and interests of each student."
Generally speaking, there are two methods of education, students-centered and comprehensive. Which education method is effective has been a controversial issue for a long time. While the speaker asserts that only by the student-centered method designed to meet the needs and interests of each student will education be truly effective, I hold the opinion that it is not unfair and reasonable to underestimate or even ignore effects of the comprehensive method, and only two methods are combined coordinately can education achieve its genuine goals.
Admittedly, students will be more active in pursuit of knowledge in their interested fields. Edison is a typical example demonstrating that the failure to discovery of his gift regarding invention by his teachers and interest is the best teacher. His teachers not only failed to discover his gift regarding invention but also as deride him as an imbecile because Edison often ask strange questions such as “why is one added by one equal to two since there is still one cup when one cup of water is poured into another cup full of water?” and finally threw him out of school. Nonetheless, it is his strong interest in invention and guidance of his great mother rather than conventional education that make him one of noblest inventors in history.
However, thorough students-centered education strategies will exert prominent negative impacts on the effectiveness of education. First of all, it is quite and even impossible for school to meet EVERY student’s needs and interests. More teachers with specific knowledge and teaching equipments are indispensable for various needs and interests, which certainly demands huge investment in education by government and society. Additionally, some students’ interests do not last long—they may show interests in physics inspired by Einstein at beginning and turn to other subjects after finding physics is too abstract to understand. Frequent changes of their interests will merely lead to a scratchy of knowledge instead of mastery. Furthermore, to study what they are interested in may be used as a powerful excuse of evading difficulties. Few students will choose math, chemistry, physics and those needing long term devotion. By contrast, most students prefer the choice of arts, such as singing, drawing and dancing which are common forms of entertainment. The whole society will suffer from the unbalanced supply of graduates finally—scientific research will be bogged down due to the shortage of talents majoring in science and engineering. Moreover, overemphasizing interests of students will make them lack basic skills to work in modern complex society. Aside from knowledge, other abilities are require for one to do work well, such as clear expression of one’s ideas and cooperation with colleagues.
The destination which education should reach should include two parts. On one hand, to find out one’s unique talents and further to maximize them, which requires students-centered education. On the other hand, students should be granted with a full understanding of knowledge and necessary skills to make a living when stepping into society, involving comprehensive education. So truly effective education depends on a balance between individual needs and interest of students and compulsory curriculum provision by school.
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