Teacher's Day is coming again. Although September 10 is a Sunday, it will not affect the enthusiasm of China students and parents for teachers. Needless to say, WeChat is full of wishes, and material stimulation outside the spirit has gradually become standard, ready to move.
In China, from the official to the folk, respecting teachers and attaching importance to education has always been a tradition. People not only respect and admire Confucius and his theory, but also covet the utility of education, thus "benefiting" teachers.
The British historian Toynbee once praised the procuratorial system of the central government in the Western Han Dynasty in his magnum opus Historical Research, arguing that China people formed a relatively perfect civil service system two thousand years ago.
The core of the so-called inspection system is nothing more than the assessment of knowledge (nurturing teachers) and moral quality (nurturing filial piety), and education is an important reference index.
The rulers of China have long combined education with the promotion of social status, that is to say, the importance of education has been recognized and consolidated by the official system.
Under this system, from ancient times to the present, the habitual thinking of China people is to make education utilitarian, and the starting point of reading is "usefulness". Books have their own golden houses. Reading can be an official, and being an official can make a fortune.
As an actor (or initiator) of education, teachers are also the first to bear the brunt and are influenced by utilitarianism "re-education".
Students give gifts, or out of respect, but more hidden utilitarian purposes, I hope teachers can give "special care." The resulting demonstration effect soon spread to the whole class, grade, school and even the whole society. If you don't give gifts, you will become a minority, nervous, forced by pressure and human feelings, and have to give in.
The teaching staff is uneven. Some teachers use gifts as a new source of income because of their low salaries. The so-called "relying on mountains to eat mountains" is the same as the nature of government power and money transactions.
With the development of internationalization of education, the upsurge of studying abroad among the middle class in China has intensified, and the "drilling" of China students has also transcended national boundaries.
Before I went to study in Britain more than ten years ago, I also prepared some commemorative medals and key chains for the Beijing Olympic Games and gave them to British teachers on Teachers' Day and Christmas.
I didn't know there was no official Teacher's Day until I arrived in England. The big holidays were just Christmas and Easter. Apart from birthdays and weddings, it is Christmas that can really have the so-called "gift-giving" scene.
The "ceremony" between the British is incredibly shabby. Usually, it's easy to invite people to dinner, and even if you drink coffee, you have to go Dutch. Finally, at Christmas, it is just a small paper card with one or two simple messages written on it.
The "harmony" that China people value most is almost superficial here.
Among the international students, except China, there are few gifts. No matter how cheap the gift is, it will attract British teachers to open their eyes, cover their mouths, repeatedly praise Fantastic (excellent), get more than a dozen thanks, and especially want to flatter in front of other passing teachers and express their infinite love and gratitude. In other words, the British will give the giver enough face.
However, not all times there is such a reaction, but also depends on what you send. The British accepted the gifts of "small favors" and three melons and two dates very readily. Not if it is expensive. The unit price of gifts accepted by British institutions, including universities, cannot exceed 50 pounds (about four or five hundred yuan), otherwise it is a bribe.
Money, British teachers will not accept, it is not worth losing your job for hundreds or thousands of pounds; Paying tens of thousands of pounds is not worth it to the sender.
In addition, please eat, it is possible to "eat for nothing". When I was the chief representative of British universities in China, I accompanied British vice-presidents to visit domestic cooperative universities. China universities invited guests, and twelve dishes were served on a big round table for ten people, excluding staple food and fruit. Wine is a national cellar-class wine, and the number of toasts is round after round. While bidding farewell to Fujian, colleagues of the partners also chatted privately with professors from British universities, hoping to help children led by the education department solve the problem of studying abroad. The professors nodded and replied:
All right. I′ll see to it. Will you send me an email? Ok, I'll pay attention to it. Can you send me an email? )
But for everything entrusted, the reply is basically the same, "You'd better contact xxx, I'm not in charge of this business." Even if the right person is entrusted, the answer is generally "according to the admission regulations of the school ..."
In fact, the relationship between teachers and students in Britain is far less intimate than that in China. The British value equality under the rule of law, reducing the cost of social operation, but alienating interpersonal relationships, so the British are always cold and keep their distance from others; China people pay more attention to human feelings in order to break through the institutional barriers under strict rule and exchange extra spiritual and material input for the right to subsistence and development. Therefore, China people will be very enthusiastic, and from time to time, they almost crowded in.
About the author: Zhao Gang.
MBA, University of Glasgow, UK; A well-known expert in international education, currently the chief representative of China of Northumbria University; For more than ten years, he has been engaged in educational exchanges and cultural communication between China and Britain, and has written "Going to Britain" and "A Journey of European Perception"; Senior self-media person, awarded Sohu "20 16 Self-media Person Studying Abroad", and received attention and support from Tencent Education, Sina Education and a little information education channel.