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Issue:153
For a Chinese student, what he has to do is to take down what the lecturer has said in detail in class and write down what he has memorized in examination; until now, very few Chinese scholars have ever been the winners of Nobel Prize, which encourages skepticism and innovation, instead of memorizing. The lesson that can be drawn from these two examples is clear and simple: the spirit and practice of questioning and criticizing are indispensable in education.
To begin with , The goal of encouraging the students to question is not to topple the theories and techniques which were taught to them, but to spur the students to get knowledge more effectively and deeply. Every coin has its two sides, in a sense, a student can put forward a question on a subject only when he or she has seriously considered the subject. Furthermore, the questioning process is equal to a process of learning the subject twice； and after a student has raised a question, he will search for data to support his point of view, which means to ponder a problem thoroughly. When students actively participate in the learning process, they learn more efficiently and more effectively, and the experience makes a deeper impression in their mind which will retain what have learned much longer. Hence, according to question the knowledge what have taught to them, students learn more effectively and deeply.
What's more, it is a particular importance to edify students' skepticism so that by the time they face a problem without a definite and correct answer they can solve the problem leisurely. For example, there is no surprise that a scientist encounters most of problems will be the ones without definite answers. Even if there may be some results from others research, the results are usually incomplete and vague. Similarly, while students of the art must learn to challenge the form and genre what have been established, it is clearly that the art has not a definite limitation, if a student merely accepts what taught to him without question and innovate them , he or she will never achieve anything original.
The value of skepticism also leads to innovation. In fact, the very notion of scientific progress is predicated on rigorous scientific inquiry. For example, in challenging the notion that the Earth was in a fixed position at the center of universe, Copernicus paved the way for corroborating observations of Galileo a century later, and ultimately for Newton's principles of gravity upon which all modern science is based. The soul of scientific progress is innovation and the skepticism is the pathway to innovation, hence the value of skepticism is clearly.
Admittedly, in education, children should first develop a foundation of experiential knowledge before they can think critically about what they are learning. Excess skepticism might be counterproductive in education young children. However, in my opinion , no student should be discourage from questioning. Furthermore, education is an activity not only benefits society in a long term but also direct the students' life way. We should shift our focus from the myopia of restricting study to receiving and reciting to the long-rang view that we are cultivating our students' critical thinking for the future of our society.
In sum, skepticism is a dispensable part of our eduction and the very stuff that progress is made of. We should encourage our students to question and challenge that they learn; and we need to create an environment in which skepticism is encouraged. | 
发表于 2010-10-13 09:19:31
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