大学排名、大学精神与大学故事

大学排行榜的好坏,取决于评价标准的设计、统计数据的方式以及具体操作是否严谨。大学评价不能重“物”轻“人”。对于“大学精神”,我认为没有凝定不变的东西,也不相信用一两句话就能概括十几万人近百年的努力,有关讨论是“可爱”而“不可信”的,而我宁愿把这种讨论转化为讲述“大学故事”。校园里广泛流传的故事,经过一代代师生的选择、淘洗和再创造,以活灵活现的形式,不断传承并塑造着大学精神。它同样可以成为大学史乃至教育学研究的重要课题。大学教授是大学故事中的主体,如何实现古人“从游”之义,坚守与自己身份相适应的道德准则,经得住金钱和名位的诱惑,已成为十分严峻的问题。必须回到“尊师重道”上来,在对中国传统教育精神的理解、接纳和转化中,重建师生关系,重塑教授形象。

University Rankings, University Spirits and University Stories

This paper, based on the author's several lectures, holds that whether university ranking is good or bad depends upon whether the design of assessment criteria, the statistical data and the specific operation are rigorous. University assessment should not place more weight on "things" rather than "persons". With regard to "university spirits", it is argued that nothing is unchangeable, and it is impossible to generalize the efforts of so many people in nearly one hundred years into one single or two sentences. Thus the related discussion may be "delight", but not "reliable", and it is better to transform this type of discussion into telling "university stories", which have been inheriting and reshaping university spirits, and become important subjects of university history and education studies as well. Professors are the protagonists in university stories. It has become a critical issue for them to adhere to moral codes that are in accordance with their social standing, and withstand the temptation of fortune and fame. It is imperative to be back to "teachers' dignity", and reconstruct teacher-student relationship and reshape professors' image in the process of understanding, accepting and transforming traditional Chinese educational spirits.