Source: China Military Network Comprehensive Editor: Yao Yuan
Military courses conducted in schools are the best way for students to acquire national defense knowledge. Strengthening military theory teaching management and discipline construction is still the primary task before us. How to sow the national defense dream in the ivory tower? Please read today's report in the People's Liberation Army Daily:
Nanjing University Exploring the Way of Military Teaching
■Wu Shuxuan, China National Defense News Reporter Pei Xian
Yang Xin, a military teacher at Nanjing University, is teaching military courses to first-year students. Photographed by Wang Shuqun
When he walked out of Siyuan Building of Nanjing University, Yang Xin's steps were a little slow. He stretched his arms habitually and moved his cervical spine - an hour and a half of class was indeed a bit too much for a person who is over 50 years old. . But thinking of the packed classroom and the eyes eager for knowledge, he quickened his pace again.
In recent years, with the efforts of all parties at Nanjing University, the construction of the school's military courses has gradually gotten on the right track. The most obvious change that has happened to Yang Xin is that "when walking on campus, there are more students saying hello." Although he was more diligent in preparing for lessons, he enjoyed it. In his own words, he was "tired and happy."
Build a strong team of high-quality military teachers
Ancient scholars must have teachers. The first step taken by the Ministry of Armed Forces of Nanjing University to strengthen the construction of military courses is to create a team of high-quality military teachers.
"Have rich teaching experience, excellent military qualities, and are committed to national defense construction" - Teng Weiyuan, the director of the school's Armed Forces Department, defined the selection criteria and visited various universities in Nanjing to "recruit troops." It’s hard work running around, but the results are “unexpectedly good.”
Yang Xin, who was an associate professor in the Military Teaching and Research Section of Southeast University at the time, had done postdoctoral research at the Military Political Work Postdoctoral Station of Nanjing Institute of Political Science. After Teng Weiyuan visited the thatched cottage three times, he became a full-time teacher in the Military Teaching and Research Office of Nanjing University.
However, there are very few full-time military teachers like Yang Xin. Nanjing University has 3,000 to 4,000 students taking compulsory military theory courses and three military elective courses each year. It is difficult for the only full-time teachers to undertake the heavy teaching tasks. The Armed Forces Department of
school decided to adopt a combination of "full-time, part-time, and employment" to make up for the shortcomings of teaching staff. In addition to inviting professional military teachers from major universities in Nanjing to serve as part-time teachers, it also invited teachers from local military academies and outstanding officers from the garrison. Chinese and foreign lecturers.
The primary goal of building a strong teaching team has become more clear during the step-by-step exploration. Teng Weiyuan gave reporters details: In the first national military training camp military class teacher military teaching and academic paper display, Yang Xin won the first prize for military theory class teaching display; Sun Yedong's "On the Application of Mass Media in National Defense Education and Teaching" Won the second prize for scientific research paper in military class...
It is necessary to take both compulsory courses well and elective courses
3,264 people took the exam, with an excellent rate of 35.6% and a passing rate of 99.9%... Looking through the 2016 Military Theory Course Examination Score Statistics, Teng Weiyuan was overjoyed.
As early as 1985, when colleges and universities nationwide piloted the teaching of military theory courses, Nanjing University became one of the first universities to officially offer compulsory courses on military theory. Starting in 2014, in conjunction with major commemorative events such as the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Anti-Japanese War and the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Long March, they have added teaching content related to major commemorative events in the teaching of military theory courses, and also taught "Sea Power and National Development" and "Military Strategy" Thinking" and other elective courses.
Yang Xin, who has 20 years of teaching experience, still remembers the "nervousness" of stepping onto the podium on November 19 last year. On that day, Nanjing University held a seminar on the teaching of military strategic thinking elective courses. Different from previous lectures, the audience in the audience included not only its own students, but also many experts from inside and outside the school, as well as from the military.
Yang Xin believes that it is precisely because discussions are conducted before each elective course is offered and opinions and suggestions from all parties are fully listened to that it can better meet the needs of students.
Yang Ming, a freshman who has been a military fan since childhood, was very excited when he learned that the school had added three elective courses: "This is a formal channel for us to obtain national defense knowledge. The more courses we offer, the more we will learn." "More."
Seeing the students' eagerness for knowledge, Yang Xin suddenly felt a warm feeling in his heart: "We are planning to open a new elective course on traditional military culture next semester." Before the words finished, the audience heard. applause.
Innovate the teaching model and create quality courses
The bell rang for a long time after class, and many students rushed to ask questions. This made the lecturer Wang Shuqun quite pleased: "We carry out military theory courses to stimulate students' interest in learning, and to achieve this The purpose requires continuous innovation and improvement of teaching models.”
The Armed Forces Department of the school has made unremitting explorations in this regard, and classroom interaction has become a standard for assessing student performance. Unexpectedly, the students' enthusiasm extended this interaction even after class.
"Only when students are willing to learn and take the initiative to learn can we achieve good teaching results." Yang Xin said that recently, they are studying a "guided research" teaching model, in which teachers explain basic theories and cutting-edge theories in detail. And appropriately teach research-based learning methods and methods of studying military theory, and students will conduct research-based learning.
Military teachers’ innovations in teaching models go far beyond this. In 2014, Yang Xin opened an MOOC on "Sun Tzu's Art of War Strategic Thinking" on NetEase Cloud Classroom, making him an "Internet celebrity" for a while. Some schools will use it directly for classroom teaching, some schools will use it interspersed, and most of them will be used by individuals for online learning.
"So far, the MOOC has been viewed more than 18,000 times, and it is still growing." Yang Xin is full of confidence in the teaching model of the MOOC. Students reported that this model breaks the traditional teaching model and allows repeated learning of knowledge points that they do not understand, which is more conducive to improving learning results.
We must innovate the teaching model to allow students to absorb the teaching content to the maximum extent and internalize the concept of national defense. Today, the original intention of setting up military courses has gradually been realized, but Teng Weiyuan is not satisfied. He said: "Strengthening the country and the army is the pursuit and responsibility of a generation of young students. How to stimulate their enthusiasm for serving the country has a long way to go in military courses in colleges and universities."
Yanyuan teaches the art of war, and the general goes to war again
■ Our reporter Zhang Haihua Correspondent Sun Chang
"I would like to ask my friends on the affirmative side, " Sun Tzu's Art of War " said: attack with troops first, then attack second. Secondly, conquering troops. Doesn’t this mean that conquering troops is more important than conquering troops? "
" Opposition debaters, please note that conquering troops is the premise of conquering troops. Just imagine, if there is a huge disparity in the strength of the two sides, how can we talk about conquering troops? "
In Peking University's Neo-Confucianism 410 classroom, a tit-for-tat debate is going on - this is a scene from the graduation course of "Introduction to Sun Tzu's Art of War" at Peking University. As the lecturer of the course, Xue Guoan sat in the audience and watched the debate with great interest, sometimes nodding to express approval and sometimes smiling to show encouragement.
The first semester of teaching has come to a perfect end. Xue Guoan, the former deputy director of the Strategic Teaching and Research Department of the National Defense University, who has experienced the test of war and taught hundreds of "Sun Tzu's Art of War" to all military generals and colleges, secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Origin:
Why did General Professor enter the Peking University classroom?
In December 2015, Li Weihua, director of the National Defense Work Office of the Ministry of Armed Forces of Peking University, was looking for a teacher for the course "Introduction to Sun Tzu's Art of War".
Peking University attaches great importance to general education, and the selection of classics is the focus of general education. As the most valuable classic of Chinese military science, "The Art of War" has naturally become the first choice for the selection of classics. An expert recommended him to Professor Xue Guoan from the Sun Tzu Art of War Research Center at the National Defense University.
""Introduction to Sun Tzu's Art of War" has many class hours and a small salary. Professor Xue Guoan is very famous in the industry. Besides, can a general who usually gives lectures to general schools come to a college to teach?" With the mentality of giving it a try, Li Weihua got through to Xue National security phone number. Unexpectedly, Xue Guoan readily agreed.Not only that, he also promised to bring a team of doctors and postdoctoral fellows from the National Defense University to teach students from Peking University.
Li Weihua was overjoyed. He later learned that Xue Guoan made this decision because of his unforgettable combat experience many years ago.
In 1979, Xue Guoan, who had only been in the army for one year, participated in the border self-defense counterattack and quickly grew up on the battlefield, becoming the leader of the Spitfire squad. However, what made him heartbroken was that 19 comrades in the platoon were killed or injured in the battle.
The cruel war made Xue Guoan start to think: "You can't fight with courage alone, but also with wisdom. Strategy is the key factor in winning the war." He secretly made up his mind to learn more skills to reduce the casualties of his comrades. This simple idea has always inspired Xue Guoan to attend military school and take the postgraduate examination.
's unforgettable practical experience has given him a unique understanding of the connotation of the art of war, which he has integrated into his teaching and research. After more than 20 years of research and struggle, Xue Guoan became the subject leader of Sun Tzu military art research at the National Defense University.
As he deepened his research on Sun Tzu's Art of War, Xue Guoan continued to deepen and expand his original "small goals". He often said that Sun Tzu's emphasis on "conquering the enemy without fighting" is the pursuit of the highest ideal of human nature. Sun Tzu's purpose in studying war is to "safeguard the country and the entire army." Sun Tzu's core value of war is total victory, the pursuit of victory, and the pursuit of victory. Winning with strategy is to reduce the destruction and bloodshed of war. In today's era, the wisdom of "Sun Tzu's Art of War" is a treasure that cannot be ignored. If more people can understand the art of war and use the wisdom of "Sun Tzu's Art of War" to seek peace, it will be the happiest thing for a researcher who has come from the battlefield.
"Teaching "Sun Tzu's Art of War" to young people in the national defense education class of a century-old prestigious school and spreading the wisdom of Chinese traditional culture, why not do it!" Xue Guoan set off again with a new dream.
Explore:
How should we teach students about the art of war?
To teach and educate people, you must first find the key that can unlock the wisdom of the students.
Xue Guoan once taught "Sun Tzu's National Defense Thought and China's National Defense Policy" while visiting the United States. He also lectured on "Sun Tzu's Art of War" at the Finnish National Defense Academy, and worked on the podium of the National Defense University for more than 20 years.
How to make traditional Chinese studies more interesting? What kind of teaching method can make young students more active and fully participate in the classroom? These have always been questions that Xue Guoan and his teaching team have been thinking about.
Xue Guoan analyzed that for Peking University students, the focus of teaching should be on the establishment of thinking models, mastering the laws of competition, the art of thinking and optimal working methods, and applying them to future life and study, using the skills of our ancestors The wisdom left behind makes the motherland strong.
To this end, Xue Guoan organized the doctoral students and postdocs he led to form a teaching group. He, postdoc Zhao Siyang, and Dr. Zhang Youfeng gave the lectures. Two doctors, Zhang Xiaopeng and Liu Chang, followed the class throughout the whole process and served as counselors.
In view of the active thinking characteristics of Peking University students, the teaching team has made various designs and attempts in teaching formats. In the class, they added a "tit-for-tat" debate competition, a "question and answer" time, and a "book and word" reward mechanism.
Xue Guoan knows very well that the study of "Sun Tzu's Art of War" requires repeated study and practice to truly understand it, and relying on the "Internet +" platform to continue and promote it is undoubtedly an effective and feasible way.
Therefore, they successively established the "Introduction to Sun Tzu's Art of War" WeChat group and the "National Security Art of War" WeChat public account. Students can not only raise questions in the group and discuss and solve them anytime and anywhere, but also regularly check the WeChat public account updates to deepen their understanding of "Sun Tzu's Art of War". The study and understanding of "The Art of War".
effect: Why is
art of war so popular among students?
"When a general talks about the art of war, it sounds very high-class!" The elective courses were just announced and filled up quickly.
On September 22, 2016, the first "Introduction to Sun Tzu's Art of War" class came as scheduled. The students came to the classroom early to occupy their seats. The 150-person classroom was packed with seats. Many students who did not occupy their seats simply stood in the aisle to the side.
“Teachers at Peking University all have their own areas of expertise and different teaching styles, but it’s still refreshing to listen to Mr. " said Liu Yibin, a philosophy student.
Ju Boyuan, a freshman girl from the Arabic department who won the best debater, impressed the audience deeply with her careful thinking, quick responses and well-founded arguments. She said: "The teaching format of the debate competition is very novel. I didn't know much about "Sun Tzu's Art of War" before. Since taking elective courses and joining the debate group, I have become more and more interested in Sun Tzu's Art of War. Not only did I read the textbooks and related papers I read it all over and actively discussed with other students in the group how to formulate the argument and think about the questions that the other party might ask. "
As one of the many students who came here because of the reputation, Wu Minyu just happened to see Teacher Xue's class schedule and wanted to give it a try. . As a result, I couldn't stop listening to it, so I stayed in class and became a loyal listener of "Introduction to Sun Tzu's Art of War" class.
"One of the characteristics of Peking University students is their strong desire for knowledge. Although they come from different majors, some study medicine and some study literature, you can feel their thirst for knowledge from their eyes while listening to lectures." Xue Guoan believes that "The Art of War" is a rich treasure house of wisdom. What he wants to do is not only deepen students' understanding of the essence of Chinese studies, but also help them develop a way of thinking to look at and solve problems from a strategic perspective.
"After listening to Teacher Xue's class, I have a new understanding of shouldering the responsibility for the country and the nation. Only when the motherland is strong can the people be safe. At the same time, I also feel that there is a long way to go." Wu Minyu said.
There is a military elite class in the ancient city
■Yu Fei, Special Correspondent of the People's Liberation Army News Cao Qi
Like many young people nowadays, every weekend, Yang Zhongyuan, a junior student at Xidian University, will be immersed in the world of online games. However, in recent times, Yang Zhongyuan will travel through most of Xi'an on weekends to Xi'an University of Technology and attend classes in the military elite class.
What is the military elite class? Why is it so attractive? The story begins with Liu Juncheng, a teacher in the military elite class.
In 2004, Liu Juncheng transferred from a certain unit of the Air Force to the Military Teaching and Research Office of Xi'an University of Technology as a full-time military instructor. "The military uniform has been taken off, but the military spirit remains. I want more students to fall in love with the military and care about national defense."
The ideal is beautiful, but the reality is very "hurt". Liu Juncheng carefully prepared military classes, but found that the students were not interested. Many came to class just to earn credits.
His embarrassing experience is a microcosm of the dilemma faced by many military instructors in colleges and universities. Due to the lack of emphasis on national defense education, the lack of military instructors, and outdated teaching methods, students are "not interested" in military courses.
If you are poor, you will change, and if you change, you will be successful. Taking into account the fact that regular military courses involve many students and are not unified in departments, the Armed Forces Department of Xi'an University of Technology and the on-campus selection and training office jointly opened a public welfare training class - the Military Science Elite Class, which attracted more than 10 students from the school who care about national defense and love military affairs. College students, Liu Juncheng serves as the teacher.
Liu Juncheng has been in the army for several years, loves the art of war, and has done research on military education and application of the art of war. On the basis of thorough research, he decided to combine ancient education with modern education, combine military school education with local college education, combine military education with Chinese studies education, and boldly try to innovate teaching methods. In this class, students can not only analyze current affairs and give pointers in class, but also carry their luggage and equipment and go on a hundred-mile march on foot; or they can visit ancient military relics and deduce the success or failure of famous historical battles on the spot.
It is difficult to think of a military class like this as popular. Nowadays, the Military Science Elite Class has become a business card of national defense education in Shaanxi colleges and universities. Not only students from Xi'an University of Technology like it, but students from outside the school also come to attend.
Liu Juncheng became "popular" and became even busier. At the time of the interview, he and his students were busy planning recent war reenactments and military study tours."The 'three-combination' model of regular classes, regular training and mobile study tours is relatively successful. Next, I will extend this teaching model to the national defense education of the whole school and even the whole society, so that more students can care about national defense and fall in love with the military. ."
This class has no get out of class bell
■ Narrator: Li Weihua, Director of the National Defense Work Office of the Armed Forces Department of Peking University
"Today's military theory class was the most shocking class in my four years of college." After many years, the senior student's face turned red with excitement. Still clear in my mind.
In 1994, I entered Peking University with a dream of being armed and became an officer of the school’s Armed Forces Department. The first task I was responsible for was to coordinate the opening of military theory courses.
At that time, the teachers of Peking University’s military theory courses were all officers selected by the troops stationed there. However, the content taught by some teachers is relatively old-fashioned, and some are based on scripts, which makes it difficult to resonate with students. In those years, one of the things that my colleagues in the Armed Forces Ministry and I did most was to study how to improve the teaching level of the teaching staff.
This situation improved in 2001. At that time, in accordance with the spirit of the National Military Training Work Conference, the task of teaching military theory courses in our school was transferred to the National Defense University. The National Defense University has selected a group of outstanding teachers from the military training teaching and research sections of college students. Most of them are directors or deputy directors of each teaching and research section. This is undoubtedly great news for us.
Later, some students reported that although military theory courses had been offered for many years, they could not satisfy everyone's appetite for knowledge. "Add elective courses!" My colleagues and I repeatedly discussed and researched, and based on students' learning needs, we launched the elective course "Contemporary National Defense" in 2003, and the elective course "Introduction to Sun Tzu's Art of War" in 2006.
The quality of the teaching team has been improved, the curriculum system has been improved, and students' evaluations have become higher and higher. For several consecutive years, military theory courses have been rated as one of the most popular public courses by students, and the passing rate of students’ military theory exams has reached 99.9%.
In 2015, a student named Li Ming ran to my office sweating profusely and asked about the military recruitment policy. When asked why, we learned that he had just finished his military theory class and couldn't restrain his desire to become a soldier and rushed over. "Military service is the obligation of every citizen. As a student of a higher education institution, I should fulfill this obligation." Those passionate words are unforgettable to me.
However, the construction of military courses goes far beyond this. Strengthening military theory teaching management and discipline construction is still the primary task before us. In the classroom guestbook, a student once wrote: "The military courses offered by the school are the best way for us to acquire national defense knowledge. We hope to have the opportunity to learn more knowledge." Students' expectations are our goals. I replied firmly: Our footsteps will not stop, and there is no end bell for military classes...
(Compiled by interviews with China National Defense News reporter Pei Xian and intern reporter Tang Xue)
Related links
Foreign military curriculum construction practices
United States: American ordinary colleges and universities National defense education not only attaches importance to moral and spiritual education, but also focuses on the study of scientific and cultural knowledge, military skill training and physical exercise. National defense education is regarded as an important means to enhance national defense strength and improve the comprehensive quality of the people. Common colleges and universities in the United States have set up homeland security courses. The government regards natural sciences and foreign languages as key subjects and requires schools to implement them seriously and include sports projects related to military applications into the content of national defense education.
Russia: In order to strengthen the national defense education for young students, military courses are set up at the higher education level. Courses are offered in different forms such as military sports and military training, and included in the semester teaching plan. At the same time, special military training is established in schools organize. In recent years, Russia has established national defense education or military training teaching and management institutions, which are responsible for providing specialized national defense education and military training to students. The establishment of military teaching and research offices or military training departments in colleges and universities further improves the training management system for college students. The Ministry of National Defense is also responsible for formulating national teaching standards, training syllabuses and teaching methods for training, assisting local universities in providing necessary facilities for military teaching and research offices, and allocating funds to build training bases.
UK: The Department of Defense Reserve has established Army Officer Training Corps, Navy Training Center and Air Force Flying Squadron in dozens of universities across the country, respectively responsible for military training and publicity work for students from several universities in the region. The navy, army, and air force have respectively established specialized officer training teams in universities, recruiting students from schools generally, and conducting military training for students who voluntarily participate. Students can voluntarily participate in training activities organized by the army, navy and air force. The training time is arranged for one to two weeks on weekday evenings or weekends and holidays. Participating students can receive training fees. The British government also provides specialized military degrees in many universities to enrich young students' military knowledge and strengthen their national defense awareness on the basis of improving the basic military skills of college and middle school students.
(organized by Pei Xian)
