The degree of freedom of learning in American universities and the cultivation of character and spir

Autonomy, the United States mainly focuses on the flexibility of knowledge acquisition and application.

First of all, the two sides have different positioning of the educational function of the university. As the name liberal education suggests, Americans believe that undergraduate education is the most basic education for a free person, which helps an individual grow into a sound person with rational thinking and critical spirit. However, due to many reasons such as history and economic development, China's university education is also positioned as a professional education to cultivate professionals in certain fields.

The biggest difference between the two is that the goal of the former is to produce sound individuals who will become competent citizens of civilized society; The goal of the latter is to cultivate instrumental talents. Because of the essential differences in the goals of the two, there are also fundamental differences in many other aspects of Chinese and American university education. They can also be reflected in the choice of majors and curriculum in a concentrated manner.

Chinese college students have already decided on a certain major before they enter the school. In addition, from the first semester of entering the university, I began to study professional courses. In addition, professional courses (including core courses and related courses) account for at least 60% of the total number of university courses in China.

American college students, on the other hand, do not have majors when they enter the university, but study some public subjects according to certain requirements. These subjects generally cover a number of major departments: literature, art, history, philosophy, humanities, social sciences, mathematics, science, and other major fields.

After a relatively extensive education, students will be able to understand themselves, society and the connotations of various disciplines more clearly.

Therefore, it is only in the third year of college that students have the opportunity to choose the major they are interested in, and there is usually an academic advisor to guide the student.

After deciding on a major, students begin to study for a specialization. However, the proportion of professional courses generally does not exceed 1 3 of all courses. Therefore, it is conceivable that the students produced by American university education have significant advantages in terms of breadth of knowledge and balance.

A basic education in history, humanities and philosophy ensures that graduates are equipped with at least basic modern citizenship. A broad but in-depth knowledge of different fields will enable graduates to maintain an interest in science, thus laying the foundation for further research at postgraduate level. These are all things that we need to study well in China's education.

Chinese universities train college students as company employees, while American universities train private business owners.

They are willing to learn, most of them are engaged in learning, the teaching methods are lively and diverse, and the interactive teaching mobilizes students' enthusiasm and encourages students to participate in learning and practice. Strong sense of wholeness, more emphasis on human dignity.

Generally speaking, I think American college students are still more serious about studying than in China. Their strength lies in their learning methods, and they are thick-skinned enough to express their ideas when they have them. They have a strong sense of business and a sense of distress, unlike many of us Chinese who feel good about themselves.