作为符号的通识教育:以德国大学为例

General Education as a Symbol: Experience from the Allgemeinbildung in German Universities

通过对德国大学通识教育的历史和现实课程体系的考察可以发现,尽管通识教育在德国教育思想界具有悠久的历史,向世界输出了许多著名教育家,但其注重整体利益和长远利益的取向违背了德国大学注重专业教育实践的功利取向,因而在"二战"前一直发挥着"隐性"功能。20世纪40年代末,英国占领军视"公民教育"为对战败国高等教育体系加以改造的工具,德国大学遂被迫接受通识教育。20世纪90年代末,在经济全球化洪流中,在通识教育已经成为世界一流大学一个标志性符号的背景下,德国大学的通识教育在各类大学勃然兴起。不过,德国固有的重视实践的传统与流行的通识教育思想间的张力揭示出其符号功能的本质。

The spread of general education in a worldwide scale is a phenomenon that cannot be overlooked. Through the investigation of German universities, the symbolic function has been identified as an important driving force for the rapid spread. Allgemeinbildung （general education） has a long history in Germany until the World War II because of the Utilitarianism in the universities. After the World War II the British Army of Occupation tried to bring in the Allgemeinbildung in order to replace the instrumental rationality in German universities, but it did not work well eventually. From the 1990s, Allgemeinbildung become popular in German universities as an important symbol of the World Class University.