Topic:
"It is important for higher education to challenge established traditions and values."
Present your perspective on the issue below, using relevant reasons and/or examples to support your views.
Nowadays students of universities or colleges are inspired to have critical thinking to any knowledge they received . At the same time, seminars are held to question established tradtions and values. I agree with the speaker that this it is crucial for higher edcation not only to teach students some facts and laws but encourage them to challegne entranched ideas and customs, since it is necessary to question the values and it is possible for higher education to afford the responsibility.
To begin with, any established traditions and values still need proving and examing. Traditions and customs passed by generations may be accustomed to our ancestors but have already cannot be suitable to contemporary soceities. For instance, our ancestors may believe in some magic in curing diseases, and some of them even believe that they could recover without having any formal treatment . Children born in such a family that they all have such an opinion could also deny modern medical care. Undoubtely, from today's view, modern medicine is scientific in curing diseases, so , the tradition is harmful for the children. When it comes to our values, it is the same. When we are young, most of our values are installed by others subconsciously, so that we all accept them no matter they are right or wrong.
After having analyzed the necessity of challenging entranched traditions and values, I will go on with the point that why it is in higher education that should this challenge take place. It is in college that our minds are becoming mature and our ability of critical thinking gets developed to the extent that enables us the analyze any ideas or theories. Therefore, higher education should have afforded the responsibility to educate our younger people to have a critical thinking towards traditions and values. Consider, a little boy born in a Christine family, whose members are all Christine and observe all the rules of Christine. Most likely that the boy will grow up as a Christine and believe in that human is a creation of God, because every idea is instilled by his family and his own analytical thinking is still unawakened. However, after he has been taught Darwinism and natural selection theory, and encourage by the teacher to think carefully about some questions and read more books recommended by the teacher in university or college, his old value system may shackled. That 's why some children break away from Christine when they have grown up and received higher education. Thus, universities and colleges are the best place to encourage students to challenge established traditions and values.
Moreover, should only the students are equipped with critical thinking and question ideas? Teachers, professors an scholars in universities or colleges should also afford such responsiblity. Becasue those group of people are experts in particular areas and may have already made research into such traditions and values, so that their opinions should be authoritative and more challenging to old values.
Additionally, to challege established values and traditions does not mean to disdain their and throw away all of them. The important of such challenge lies that it encourage students or any scholars to question the ideas in order to understand it . If the idea is wrong, more scientific ones will propounded to substitute it; otherwise, people could received it with strengthened belief.
On balance, I contend that higher education should play ther role of challenge established traditions and values , because such values or traditions may have rooted in people's mind, but that doesn't mean they are totally right or they are still helpful in our age. Moreover, it is suitable for higher education to afford the responsibility to challenge such ideas , since students are equipped with such ability and knowledge. Of course, to question doesn't mean to overturn everything and replace with totally new, it is also to way to think carefully and understand them.作者: so猫 时间: 2004-2-21 11:42:56
我不这么认为，我觉得能到5分往上。
Consider, a little boy born in a Christine family, whose members are all Christine and observe all the rules of Christine.
这个例子有点敏感，要是碰到宗教人士心里不爽可能会摆pooh一道也说不定。不过是e－rater就没关系拉。:)
我觉得到数2，3段逻辑没什么问题阿，适当外推不存在偏题
恭喜pooh
辛苦没有白费，赞一个作者: 雪夭 时间: 2004-2-21 12:01:25