阿伯特·洛厄尔对哈佛大学的改革及启示

Abbott Lowell and Educational Reforms at Harvard University

当前我国正处于社会发展的转型期,对创新人才求之若渴。然而,我们的大学培养出的毕业生却难以符合时代发展所需人才质量的要求,大学教育亟需变革。一百年前以哈佛大学为代表的美国大学面临着类似的问题。1909年阿伯特·洛厄尔就任哈佛大学校长,从三个方面对哈佛大学进行了成功的改革:实行"集中与分配"制课程,在学术自由与学术责任之间取得恰当平衡;建立荣誉称号制度,鼓励学生在学习上相互竞争;建立导师制,加强师生关系,重塑大学学术优秀。这些措施不仅使哈佛大学挽回了社会声望,而且对美国其他大学也产生了普遍影响。时至今日,洛厄尔的这些改革措施对我国的大学教育仍然有很强的现实意义。

Nowadays,Chinese society is undergoing profound social transformation and desperately in need of innovative and creative talents;however,most of our college graduates can not live up to the requirements of such a rapidly changing world.To remedy that situation,it is necessary to reform our higher education system.A similar problem confronted Harvard University in the US about one hundred years ago.To tackle that problem,Abbott Lowell,who became the president of Harvard University in 1909,carried out a series of reforms on undergraduate education at Harvard University,focusing especially on the following three aspects.First,establish a flexible curriculum with concentration and distribution requirements to strike a balance between academic autonomy and accountability.Second,establish an honorary degree system to promote academic excellence through healthy competition.Third,establish a tutorial system to rebuild positive student-teacher relationships.These measures not only helped restore the reputation of Harvard University as a world-class institution,but also had a profound impact on many other universities in the US.Higher education institutions in China today can also draw valuable lessons from the reforms at Harvard University.