NEWS

The Third Period Activities Together with Directors in the 2010-2011 Academic School Year of the College of Education: The Symposium of Meng Xiancheng and Zhejiang University’s Spirit of Education and

Date: 2010-12-31       Visitcount: 1656

    Recently, The Third Period Activities Together With Directors in the 2010-2011 Academic School Year of the College of Education: The Symposium of Meng Xiancheng and Zhejiang University’s Spirit of Education and Academic Culture was held in meeting room 228 in the Academy of Classical Learning in the Tian Jiabing Building on the Xixi Campus. Especially invited to the symposium were Professor Zhou, Professor Zhao and Professor Sheng who are the editors of the Collected Works of Meng Xiancheng. Professor Xiao and Professor Shang who are dedicated to research education history were also invited. Professor Yu, the President of the Education History Institute in Korea was invited as well. More than thirty master and doctoral students from various professions attended this conference. Professor Liu was the host.
    At the beginning, Professor Zhou introduced the reason for editing these works for everyone. She said that Professor Meng had worked for about 13 years in Zhejiang University and he had been the teacher of Professor Chen who had been the tutor of Professor Zhou. So editing the Collected Works of Meng Xiancheng was not only needed for developing the discipline of education history, but was also the last wish of Professor Chen. Then, Professor Zhao introduced the lifetime and academic activities of Professor Meng in detail. Professor Meng’s hometown was Changzhou, Jiangsu province. He studied in the University of Washington and the University of London after graduating from Shanghai Saint John's University. What’s more, he mastered English, French and Russian. He returned home in 1921 and started to teach in Zhejiang University in 1929. While working in Zhejiang University, he, besides teaching, founded the Laboratory School for Populace which was used to study and push education for China. In 1946, he was invited to be the Director of Literature in the College of Zhejiang University by President Zhu Kezhen. He also participated in directing the administrative affairs of Zhejiang University.
    The Collected Works of Meng Xiancheng contains three volumes which are composed of 74 papers and letters and 7 books. The content ranges from philosophy of education, China and foreign history of education to mass education and so on. As a youthful scholar, Professor Sheng reviewed the experience of editing this book. He said that he understood Professor Meng’s academic ideology more deeply and tasted his patriotism and education sentiments further.
    The editors’ speeches aroused heated discussion by those in attendance. Professor Xiao pointed out that Professor Meng was not only an educational historian, but also an educationist. His characteristic of study can be summarized into combining history with theory, combining China with foreign countries and combining general with profession. He was an important pioneer in various fields of education. The Collected Works of Meng Xiancheng would provide much convenience for education history researchers and it also reflects the academic spirit of the education discipline in Zhejiang University. Professor Yu also expressed his admiration of Professor Meng in fluent Chinese. He said that education researchers in Korea were also tidying famous educators’ thoughts and works, but teachers in Zhejiang University have been doing this earlier than them. Then, Professor Shang captured several fragments from these collected works and shared her ideas with the teachers and students present. She praised Professor Meng for combining knowledge with methods and his elegant demeanor and strength of character as a scholar. He had been persistent in following his ideals for a long time, especially after the founding of the new China.
    After that, students asked many questions about this book and expressed their enthusiastic thanks for this symposium. They all thought that they gained quite a lot and deeply comprehended the spirit of Qiushi and of Zhejiang University.
At the end, Professor Liu stated that Professor Meng was an educationist coming from Zhejiang University and he worked at Zhejiang University for the longest time. He, being responsible for teaching and students, was a specimen of modern academic educators. We merrily gathered to review his history and recall our predecessor today and should transmit his excellent academic tradition in the education discipline from generation to generation.
 

  • College of Education, Zhejiang University
    866 Yuhangtang Road, Hangzhou
  • Tel  : +86 571 88273934
  • Fax : +86 571 88273187
  • Copyright © 2018 College of Education, Zhejiang University. All Rights Reserved.
    您是第31850位访问者