中国世纪?——高等教育的挑战

The Chinese Century?——The Challenges of Higher Education

在任何一个机场商店,随处可见宣告"中国世纪"即将到来的各种书刊,"龙醒了"、"中国崛起"、"崛起的中国","中国上升"等题目到处可见。但是,崛起不必然等于领导。领导力的构成要件究竟是什么?在高等教育领域,中国正在从质和量两个方面建设全世界增长速度最快的体系。过去四百年中,全球最强大的国家均为世界提供过文化、思想和教育等领域的模式。比如17世纪路易十四治下的法国、18世纪乾隆治下的清朝、19世纪的英国和德国、20世纪的美国。现在,中国希望培养全球精英。那么,中国的大学是否蓄势已待,在21世纪领导世界?

One can find in any airport kiosk books that proclaim ours to be ＂the Chinese century. We have titles such as ＂The Dragon Awakes,＂ ＂China＇s Rise,＂ ＂The Rise of China,＂ and ＂China＇s As- cent,＂ to name but a few. But to rise is not necessarily to lead. What constitutes leadership？ In higher education, China is building the fastest growing system-in quality as well as in quantity-in the world. The foremost global powers of the past four centuries all offered models in the realms of culture, ideas, and education. This may be said of seventeenth-century France under Louis XIV; of the Qing during the Qianlong reign of the eighteenth century; of Britain and Germany in the nineteenth century; and of the United States in the twentieth. China now aspires to educate global elites. For the twenty--first century, then, are Chinese universities poised for global leadership？