资助、雇佣和教育:美国博士研究生助教制度功能之争

Funding,Employment,and Education:The Dispute on the Functions of American Doctoral Teaching Assistant System

20世纪90年代以来,美国博士研究生助教是雇员还是学生的身份争议引起学界广泛关注,这一问题是反思博士研究生助教制度的重要窗口。博士研究生助教的身份之争,表面上是助教和大学管理者对助教教学任务性质的观念争锋,实际上却隐含着助教维护教学权益和大学管理者节约教学成本之间的利益博弈。其根本原因是,在学术劳动力临时工化的危机下,博士研究生助教制度的资助、雇佣和教育功能失衡,雇佣性超越教育性。无论研究生助教被定义为雇员还是学生,研究生助教制度都应平衡好资助、雇佣和教育三种功能,立足于保障博士研究生的教学权益和提高高等教育质量,而非成为节约教学成本的雇佣手段。

Since the 1990s,the dispute over "whether American doctoral TAs are employees or students" has attracted wide attention in academia,which is an important window to reflect on the doctoral TA system.On the surface,this dispute was a conceptual conflict between TAs and university administrators on the nature of teaching tasks,it implies the benefit game,in which TAs safeguard teaching rights and interests while university administrators save teaching costs.The root cause for the dispute is that under the crisis of casualization of the academic labor force,the funding,employment and education functions of the American doctoral TA system are unbalanced,and the purpose of employment has transcended that of education.Whether GTAs are defined as employees or students,the GTA system should balance the three functions of funding,employment,and education,and be based on protecting the teaching rights and interests of doctoral students as well as improving the quality of higher education,rather than becoming a means of employment to save teaching costs.