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　　■ special article on the construction of a strong nation through education ①

　　opening words

　　in order to study and implement the spirit of the third plenary session of the 20th cpc central committee and the national education conference, and to provide advice and suggestions for promoting the construction of a strong nation in education, course weekly will launch the "special articles on the construction of a strong nation in education" column starting from this issue, inviting well-known experts to explain their views from different perspectives in combination with basic education curriculum and teaching reforms. please pay attention.

　　at the national education conference that just ended, general secretary xi jinping emphasized that "we must coordinate the implementation of the strategy of rejuvenating the country through science and education, the strategy of strengthening the country through talents, and the strategy of innovation-driven development, and promote education development, scientific and technological innovation, and talent cultivation in an integrated manner." the "decision of the central committee of the communist party of china on further comprehensively deepening reforms and promoting chinese-style modernization" (hereinafter referred to as the "decision") issued by the third plenary session of the 20th cpc central committee pointed out that "education, science and technology, and talents are the basic and strategic support for chinese-style modernization." the "decision" also made an overall layout for the integrated reform of education, science and technology, and talents, elaborated on the goals and tasks of deepening the comprehensive reform of education, and put forward clear requirements such as "strengthening the coordination of science and technology education and humanities education." this is of great significance for us to understand the special value and special mission of science and technology education in the integrated reform of education, science and technology, and talent systems and mechanisms from the macro perspective of national strategy, strengthen the reform and development of science and technology course teaching, pay attention to the coordination of science and technology education and humanities education, and then promote the high-quality development of education and enhance the overall performance of the strategic functions of education, science and technology, and talents.

fully understand the role of science and technology education in education, science and technology,unique role in talent integration reform

along with the exploration of the laws of socialist modernization construction and the theoretical development of the relationship between productivity and production relations, and between economic base and superstructure in the movement of social contradictions, the mutual promotion, linkage, integration and coupling between education, science and technology, and talents have been deeply revealed, and the systematic characteristics and strategic significance of education, science and technology, and talents have become increasingly clear.

science and technology education is an important intersection of education, science and technology, and talents. it plays a unique role in promoting educational development, scientific and technological innovation, talent cultivation, and the reform of education, science and technology, and talent systems and mechanisms. science and technology education is an educational activity that takes natural science and technology methods as the main educational content and aims to cultivate students' scientific literacy and innovation ability. science and technology education originated from the inheritance of science and technology and the accumulation of knowledge in ancient times and has a long history. for example, the educational content advocated by the mohists during the spring and autumn period and the warring states period in my country included mathematics, acoustics, mechanics, optics, psychology, and many technical skills of production labor. the education of rational natural view, empirical observation, and logical reasoning methods in ancient greece in the west also shines with the brilliance of science and technology education. the development of modern science and the birth of the first and second industrial revolutions are, in a sense, the result of the interaction between education, science and technology, and talents. the establishment of the modern science and technology education system in the west has laid a talent foundation and social and cultural environment for the development of science and technology. as early as before the first industrial revolution, philosophers such as bacon and locke advocated the idea of ​​science and technology, which effectively promoted the development of science and technology education in the uk at the basic education, secondary vocational education, and higher education stages. watt, who made important contributions to the first industrial revolution in human history, grew up in an educational environment like that in britain. the "magic" of technology and the leverage effect of the influx of wealth enabled people to have a new understanding of the elements of social, economic and cultural development.

science and technology are the primary productive forces, science is potential productive forces, and technology is real productive forces. marx pointed out in the "instructions of the provisional central committee to delegates on certain questions": "we understand education as the following three things: ..., third, technical education." this is of great significance for us to understand and grasp the modern relationship between education, science and technology, and talents. the gradual establishment of the science and technology education system in the modern sense and its interactive relationship with science and talents have increasingly highlighted its strategic role in economic development, national security, national defense construction, improvement of quality of life, and improvement of social civilization. this is of reference significance for us to strengthen the reform of education, science and technology, and talents.

science and technology education is interconnected, fundamental and strategic in the education, technology and talent systems. in terms of interconnectedness, science and technology education permeates all elements of education, technology and talent. science and technology education is an important part of the education system. education without science and technology education is incomplete. science and technology education is an important factor affecting the development of science and technology. science and technology education affects the ability to cultivate science and technology and the cultural environment. science and technology education is the pillar of contemporary talent training. the literacy of science and technology and information is the key skill of the 21st century described by the oecd. if you cannot choose and use contemporary technology well, it is difficult to become a well-educated talent.

in terms of basicity, technology, like science and mathematics, has become the center of contemporary social change. they cause social change, shape social change and respond to social change, and become the foundation for today's children to cope with tomorrow's world. science and technology education is the common foundation of education, science and technology, and talents. without high-quality science and technology education, there can be no high-quality education, science and technology, talents, and there can be no high-level and efficient integrated reform of education, science and technology, and talents. science and technology education lays the foundation for the growth and development of science and technology talents, and for the cultivation of science and technology innovation talents and the creation of a cultural environment.

from a strategic perspective, on the one hand, education, science and technology, and talents play a strategic supporting role in china's modernization drive; on the other hand, new quality productivity is triggered by revolutionary technological breakthroughs, and science and technology education plays an irreplaceable strategic role in both aspects.

science and technology education and humanities education work together.lay a curriculum foundation for the integrated reform of education, technology and talent

with the extensive and profound penetration and application of technologies such as big data, the internet of things, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence in scientific research, production, and life, the new generation of information technology has brought more prominent features such as rapidity, convenience, intelligence, ubiquity, and information diversity. however, at the same time, it has also led to problems such as value loss, path dependence, false information, cyber violence, lifestyle disorders, and lack of ethics. fraud and crime using information tools often occur. high-tech production and lifestyle must be supported by high humanity and high emotion. only in this way can science and technology better benefit mankind and be more sustainable. therefore, strengthening the coordination between science and technology education and humanities education is an important trend in the development of contemporary science and technology education.

first, we should fully tap into the increasingly rich humanity contained in contemporary science and technology education. whether it is scientific education or technical education, we need to pay attention to the educational content of values, world outlook, moral sense, ethics, etc., and we need to pay attention to the scientific attitude, scientific methods, and scientific spirit of the education objects, and pay attention to the education of intellectual property rights, technology patents, laws and regulations, etc. we should focus on stimulating students' sense of responsibility, self-confidence and mission through the history of scientific and technological development and the great changes brought to human society by key core technologies, as well as major scientific and technological innovation achievements since the founding of new china. through value choices and scientific exploration in scientific and technological activities, we should stimulate students' curiosity, desire for exploration and desire for truth. through the restoration of the discovery and invention process of major scientific and technological technologies and the analysis of the role of science and technology and humanistic factors, we can inspire students' bold imagination and careful verification, and cultivate students' iterative pursuit, practical ability and innovative quality of excellence.

secondly, we should focus on the synergy of the science and technology education and humanities education curriculum system. within science and technology education, we should strengthen the synergy of science education and technology education. on the one hand, we should strengthen the basic role and engine role of basic scientific knowledge and scientific principles in science education, and focus on the basic and innovative application of scientific principles in real situations; on the other hand, we should strengthen the technology and engineering education in primary and secondary schools, strengthen the cultivation of students' technical practice, graphic expression, engineering thinking, materialization ability, etc., lay a solid foundation for students' scientific and technological innovation, do a good job in scientific education addition, make up for the shortcomings of science and technology education, and lay a good foundation for design learning and operation learning for the cultivation of students' scientific and technological innovation ability. outside science and technology education, we should strengthen the synergy of science and technology courses and literature, history and philosophy courses, strengthen the intersection and integration of science and technology and humanities courses, focus on interdisciplinary theme practice activities of courses, and strengthen the implementation of the relevant spirit of the ministry of education on the introduction of excellent traditional chinese culture into primary and secondary school curriculum textbooks and revolutionary traditions into primary and secondary school curriculum textbooks, so as to improve the cultural nature of the courses and build a science and technology and humanities general education curriculum system that runs through universities, middle schools and primary schools.

finally, we should continue to strengthen the comprehensiveness of the implementation of contemporary science and technology education and humanities education. since the 1970s, countries around the world have begun to advocate "science, technology and social education" (sts education), advocating the cultivation of students' sociality and cultural edification in science and technology education, and integrating environmental education, life education, safety education, national defense education, and ethical education into science and technology education. since the beginning of this century, the united states and other countries have vigorously promoted stem education, and practical attempts such as steam education, stream education and stem+ education have emerged. the core of these efforts is to focus on the educational concept of integrating science and technology with humanities and strengthen comprehensive practical activities based on real problems. this trend has also been reflected in the basic education curriculum reform in my country since the beginning of this century. for example, textbooks such as mathematics, physics, biology, and geography have added columns such as science and technology, science and society, and science and culture. the general high school technology curriculum standard (experimental) is also designed in parallel with technology and humanities as the two main lines. the "general technology curriculum standard for general high schools (2017 edition, revised in 2020)" has added course modules such as "technology and humanities integration innovation special topic", etc. in recent years, the construction of new engineering and liberal arts in my country's higher education reform has fully reflected the concept of synergy between science and technology education and humanities education. we should promote the synergy between science and technology education and humanities education from the perspective of cultivating scientific and technological innovation talents, building a solid foundation for the scientific and technological and humanities literacy of the workforce, deepening the innovation of the education system and curriculum structure, and promote the improvement of the humanistic quality and innovation ability of scientific and technological talents, strengthen the potential development of strategic scientific and technological talents and top-notch innovative talents, so as to continuously adapt to the national strategic needs and lay a solid foundation for the integrated reform and systematic development of education, science and technology, and talents.

(the author is the deputy director of the china education reform and development research institute of nanjing normal university, the host of the unesco chair in technology and engineering education for children and youth, and the director of the national key research base for the construction of general technology textbooks for primary and secondary schools. this article is a phased research result of the major bidding project of jiangsu provincial education science planning "strategic research on the integrated collaborative innovation development of provincial education, science and technology, and talents")

china education news, september 20, 2024, page 05

author: gu jianjun