论地方院校学术与职业的平衡--英国19世纪城市学院发展及启示

Keeping a Balance between Academic Excellence and Vocational Relevance in Municipal Colleges:Lessons Learnt from the Development of Civic Colleges In the 19th Century Britain

知识经济时代,一个国家的高等教育体系,要靠社会来引导还是靠学术来引导?高校尤其是地方院校,应追求学术性还是重视职业性?这是高等教育在发展方向上面临的根本性两难问题。英国19世纪城市学院的产生顺应了工业化的要求,代表了新型大学的发展方向,标志着英国高等教育近代化的开端。然而城市学院在其后来的发展过程中偏离了最初的办学轨迹——职业与技术特征,出现了向传统大学学术性靠拢与回归的现象。分析和探讨英国城市学院发展轨迹对我国地方院校的健康发展具有重要的借鉴意义。

In the era of knowledge economy,should a country's high education system be oriented towards societal needs or academic achievements? Should higher education institutions(HEIs),esp.municipal colleges,pursue academic excellence or vocational relevance? These are dilemmatic questions confronting us with regard to the development of higher education.Civic Colleges,founded in the 19th century Britain,met the needs of British industrialization,represented the developing trend of a new type college,and ushered in the modernization of British higher education.However,in their late stage of development,Civic Colleges gradually deviated from their original route,i.e.vocational and technical education,and returned to the academic orientation of traditional universities.A study on the development of Civic Colleges in Britain would be fairly helpful and illuminating to the healthy development of municipal colleges in China.