education – Junjun's Home

也谈火车票：中国的缩影

在大多数人眼里，我不是一个爱旅行的人。无论是在曾经财大人的眼里，还是如今在兰卡的中国人圈子里，我都不是一个旅游者。理由很简单，我既没有去过周边的庐山、凤凰和张家界，甚至于没有去过武汉的磨山和植物园；也没有去过伦敦和苏格兰高地。尽管我也曾到过长沙、北京、东京和夏威夷，可那都是出公差，却未曾旅游过。

既然不出门，自然也就很少买票。如果不是因为这学期参加了曼彻斯特大学的一门课程，恐怕我连那张Young Person Card （英国的一种学生火车票打折卡，所有的票都可以打1/3的折扣）都会被浪费掉。每周的曼城之行和购票似乎成了我的一门必修课。每周五上网购票，买一张10磅的往返票，然后去火车站POS刷银行卡取票。一切都在瞬间完成。以至于，我几乎淡忘了火车票购买的“难度”。

这次回国度假，因为要和婷婷回她湖北老家，而后辗转回到江苏，火车票购票的难度终于重新又提上了日程。多谢我国铁老大的毫无公德心的恩赐以及中国庞大的人口基数，火车票的购票，尤其是在重点节假日和春运期间，是一件费心而费力的苦差事。以至于某年国外媒体甚至称春运为“世界上最大的一次人口迁徙活动”。

好在今年赶上了铁道部的12306网站的开通，我不用去跟票贩子做非常不平等的交流，而坐在电脑面前刷票。但是，我显然是被英伦的生活磨直了大脑，事情远没有我想得那么简单。在大清早我购票的时候，放票后短短一分钟内，硬卧，软卧已告售罄，我在抢下了两张硬座以后的两分钟内，该车所有带座位售票都已然售罄。此等速度，恐怕在世界上也无人能及了。试问：对于只有苦苦排队的民工兄弟们而言，他们如何能购到票？

如果说购票已经让我略有恼火，那么我去罗湖车站取票恐怕就是真正的高潮了。一般取票的过程分为三步：验证证件-核对订单信息-打印车票。这个过程在英国的自动终端上不需要1分钟，可我们敬爱的铁老大的售票MM却花了十分钟。原因呢？她们似乎根本不会使用这个系统，以至于出票时旁边还有人现场教学。同时，我瞠目结舌的发现他们居然不会使用第二代身份证读卡器，而是一个数字一个数字手工输入。以至于我跟周围排队的朋友开玩笑说，也别搞了，直接把键盘鼠标拿出来，我自己来解决吧。

当然，铁老大的服务态度的确有待加强，但是却也不代表我们消费者一点问题都没有。我在过去的一年里习惯了照章办事，却发现这一套在中国是行不通的。比如外面的通告显示：所有的换票都在某一地集中进行，但是大厅内却又设立”互联网换票窗口“；打着”互联网换票“的窗口却也同时受理电话订票。而当我看到一个兄弟因为今年身份证限制而大吵大闹的时候我明白了一个道理：中国人还远没有到达有理说理的层次。或者说句不客气的，跟中国人，有时候根本不需要讲理，或者，无理可讲！而这个，恐怕才是现在一系列社会问题的根源吧。

作为一个法制国家，或者说是一个有秩序的社会，其前提就是所有的成员必须能够自觉，或者强制接受规则的约束。这种约束其实分为道德和法律两方面。法律的约束具有强制性却只包括了最低限度，而更多的约束则是基于道德的自我约束。而这种自我约束的水平和层次则是代表了社会的文明程度。很可悲的是，新中国的破四旧，固然破掉了过去的陋习，却也去掉了国人心中应有的良知。华为的狼性文化、票贩子的极端逐利、小悦悦的无人理睬、731动车事故政府的不作为都说明了无论是普通百姓还是政府高官，都丢掉了做人应有的人性。而这些东西，归根到底，则是传统文化教育的缺失。

有句话说的很好，叫做十年树木，百年树人。人性的提升，道德的彰显和社会风尚的提升是需要时间和积累的，而不是几句来自党中央的口号所可以解决的。当然，更重要的是，这种时间和积累必须以”民智初开“为前提。如果一个民族的大多数人连基本的公平和正义都没有解决，恐怕我们需要的是一个蒋公在百年前推行的“训政”制度了。只是，这种制度是当局愿意看到的么？显然不是。要不他们的子女该何去何从？

Education in UK: Some Random Talks

今日终于得到了一个空闲的时间来看下久已荒废的博客，发现上次更新距今已有一月有余。事实上，不仅仅是我，周围很多写博客的朋友的更新频率都大不如前。究其原因，无非就是工作的繁忙，学习的凌乱，生活的窘迫等等。而我，则是忙于书本和论文之间，实在是没有心情也没有时间来写这个博客。

掐指一算，我来英国也已经有八个月零两天了。事实上，这八个月对我而言，似乎并没有轰轰烈烈的进步，也没有振奋人心的消息。相反，国内的一些朋友们似乎事业如日中天，做的风生水起。当然，大多数人的日子依旧是平淡甚至于是操劳的。比如我的小亲亲就还在为我们的未来而奋斗着呢。

与大多数这里的研究生直接上博士所不同，我大概是我们系为数不多的从海外直接弄来的学生之一。其中的优势和弱势都是显而易见的。至于优势，那恐怕就是相对于这里的学生所具有的不一样的经验和知识结构；如果说劣势，那恐怕就是语言能力和金钱的问题了。毕竟能支付英国学费的家庭不会是穷光蛋。只是，在有优厚的奖学金条件下（相比较中大的800人民币一个月），金钱的差距其实并不是非常的显著。更多的，只是一种基于金钱的理解层面上的不同。而在这里，你也会发现，中国的社会的确有断层。

英国的教育，很难给出一个正确的评价。这是一个昔日的王国，国民们依然充斥着对美国这个同胞兄弟的鄙视和那种不知道哪里来的自豪感，尽管卡梅隆政府已经处于“巧妇”要为“无米粥”的边缘。这里有着非常好的设备和教材，也有不错的老师。第一次来英国看到学校的IT建设水平和数据库资源，顿时让我有了一种英国在闷声发大财的感觉。就我所在的兰卡斯特而言，我们的数据库资源跟美国主流学校的差距并不大了。

但是，这也是一个正在毁掉年轻一代的国家。数周前的伦敦暴乱终于把多年的年轻人教育问题摆到了台面上。如果说中国的富二代的所作所为已经激起了足够的公愤，那么英国简直就是个富二代国度。唯一的区别在于，他们所谓的富二代，并不一定是基于他们自己的父母，而仅仅是基于他们的政府基于高税收而给出的高福利。这里的民族似乎不懂得什么叫痛苦，不懂得什么叫做磨难，因为他们的失业率和通胀率放到中国，那根本就是个“前景一片大好”的态势。而在这里，卡梅隆这个名字基本成了骂人话。

这种福利其实正在断送英国的未来。原因很简单，我们发现，英国的学生并不认真，也不努力。就我所在的专业而言，本科的教学其实如蜻蜓点水。这里的考试根本不会为难学生，就算是大量中国来的孩子们也可以凭借他们不出色的英语过关甚至于取得不错的成绩。这里的孩子们真的非常有自信，他们敢于挑战任何权威，质疑任何问题。只是，他们却真的很少会去让自己有闲心学习足够精确而深入的知识。

这里就引发出来了另一个有争议的问题，也是我一直需要答案的。那就是，这里的学生，无论是本科还是硕士，其实知识水平和能力相对于美国和香港，新加坡等国的学生而言，在PhD入学时候的差距还是有点显著的。如果说美国的PhD制度是直接重构知识，那英国的制度则是直接开始研究的步骤。我不知道这种起跑线的差距是否是导致了现在英美间学术论文水平差异的根源，至少，我很佩服我的同事们可以在三年内完成从一无所知到博士毕业的过渡。这是需要水平和毅力的。

无论硕士的一年制度，还是博士的三年制度，无不透视出这个国家的浮躁和急功近利。当然，这个策略是符合成本效益原则的。毕竟如美国般的培养制度会让教育预算如美国军费般直线上升。而这里的短学制其实也恰恰迎合了很多有钱却成绩一般的学生们的投机需要。于是，我们发现，在英国各大学校的热门专业的教室里，熟悉的面孔越来越多。而他们在9个月的时间里，就需要完成本科-硕士的转变。在30万人民币与2-3年的时间之间，这是一个非常有意思的博弈。

但是，这里的好处在于，我不用疲于奔命，我可以有闲暇的时间来写博客，也可以有闲暇的时间来思考一些问题。这点我非常感谢我的老板Peasnell教授和O’Hanlon教授，他们替我挡住了来自系里的某些哥们的急躁，给了我一个可以重新把心放回到桌面上，静静思考的机会。希望，这种短暂的闲暇，可以给我一个全新的思考和理解。

PS: 我估计看到这篇文章的读者，无论你是在英国留学还是曾在英国留学，都会多少刺痛你那脆弱的心灵。但是请了解，一个博士生，一个研究人员，他们的眼里往往只有缺点，而不是优点。尽管她们会充分注意他们，并如心爱男人般在心中雪藏。

Four-Week Invigilation: An Informal Review

拜敬爱的Andrea童鞋（此人不懂中文）和可爱的会计与金融系的制度，以及我们“万恶”的资本主义剥削制度（没办法，马克思爷爷的书读得太好），我很有幸的参加了为期四周的“职业培训”。之所以说他是“职业培训”，是因为如果我哪天博士侥幸毕业，并有幸的成了某大学的“叫兽”，并开始祸害我们的“未来”的时候，监考可能是日常工作的重要组成部分。提前学习并加以练习方能在使用时得心应手，慌而不乱，不会饥不择食，一盘散沙。（这都什么词儿？算了，各位看官自行理解）。

其实说白了，除了监考频率太高导致了我在邮件中对Andrea大放厥词以外，监考的感受还是很爽的。试想，在一个广阔的天地间，大家伙儿都在奋笔疾书，将自己的命运简单维系在三寸笔尖之时，我却在那里悠哉悠哉。或俯首查看，或昂首阔步，或如风般疾走，或老树般盘根，实则不一而足。望着那些充满稚气的脸蛋上所透露出来的严肃和对考试的憧憬，却也同时让我回想起了过去的七年中所经历的各种考试。当然，他们都过去了。

之所以说监考非常累，不仅仅是因为需要在考场中来回走动，更重要的是心累。当站在考场中央无所事事般游荡，而心中却又纠结着办公室桌上的那堆该死的不能拿来当手纸的纸张的时候，两股力量的交错就会让你变得心力交瘁。而后来的事实证明我是正确的。因为当我拿着电脑或者Kindle在考场中做一些事情的时候，这种症状就会好很多。看来，我果然不是当公务员的名。或许这也是为啥我“不远万里，来到英国”享受这个劳碌命了吧。

但是考场终究是考场，不是个干活的好地方。找一些轻松无聊，却又能放松自己的“乐子”才是正道。或许有人说看美女不错。但是哥们姐们，这里可是英国，我真不觉得那些高鼻梁，蓝眼睛，个子比我还壮的女人们魅力在哪里。每次看到他们我都会很邪恶的想到一个单词——家庭暴力：）不过好在这里的中国学生也比较多，似乎可以更好的符合我的审美观。然而，很悲剧的是，这些富家女们（别不好意思，能到这里读本科的公子哥们和公主们的家庭条件可都不差）打扮的实在是过于“入时”。当你看到一个十岁的小娃娃穿着黑丝和吊带时候你有啥感想？哈哈

相比较那些凡夫俗子们的爱好，显然学者的思维在这里更容易找乐子。我想任何一个中国的老师来到这里，看到这里的考场，见到这里的学生都会大呼教育的失败。的确，我第一次进入考场就是如此的感觉。这里的教育并不那么重视规则，比如考试期间你可以去厕所，答案写到了试卷上老师也会好心的给你收走，不把答案写到规定的地方也是可以的。要知道，这三条，尤其是后两条中触犯任何一条，国内老师可都可以让你“再见”了。

来国外之前常听说老外比较“单纯”，而这在考场中也可以见到。比如，起码有 40%的考生是不知道如何给答卷编号的，比如“第X本共Y本”。我真的不知道为什么会有如此高的比率。而其中约有10%的朋友，在我耐心的解释，甚至于亲手示范下照样给你来个啼笑皆非的答案。类似的，这里的答卷是有密封条的。而我起码见过十个人是直接用舌头去舔，好吧，您咋不看看周围人是怎么干的呢？这是胶带，不是邮票啊！

而最让我吃惊的，其实远非如上所提。如果你到这里来看下孩子们的读写姿势，我相信任何一个祖国的老师都会破口大骂小学老师。遥想我在国内读书那会儿，我们这一辈80后的读写姿势已经让所有的老师们大叫“忘记了列祖列宗的教诲”，而当我看到这里的孩子们时，我不得不说，他们岂止是忘记，恐怕“列祖列宗的教诲”是否存在都是一个值得商榷的问题了。当你面前的纸张被旋转了九十度，你还能写字么？这里的孩纸们可以照样健“笔”如飞；当你那尊贵的脑袋直接已经跟桌子亲密接触的时候，你还能看清写的字么？这里的孩纸们照样可以。我有时候真的怀疑，他们的眼睛是不是都是超广角，具有非凡的最近对焦距离？

当然，不得不承认，这里的孩子们真的是太幸福了。试想，当你期末考试拿到的考卷题目就是老师平时讲过，只是改了下数字，甚至于连数字都没改一个的时候，你会不会泪流满面？如果换了我，我想我会热泪盈眶。为啥？就算我在读专科那会儿，我也没遇到过如此好的待遇啊！以至于有次我跟一个老师开玩笑，我把06年南大考研的一道成本会计题目（需要N次分配&结转）翻译成了英文告诉他，说这是我三年前经历的磨难之时，他惊奇的看着我，说，Jun，这太不可思议了。因为，这题目我都不能保证我做得出来。我可是老师！！

与国内流行的“挫折主义”教育相比，这里的教育显然是和谐的，如沐春风，和风细雨。这里的学生似乎永远不懂得去尊敬权威和资深人士。简单的考试铸就了他们无比坚强的内心和信心。诚然，这样的心态是非常好的。他们脑子里永远会提出各种各样的奇怪问题。而这些问题如果放到国内，绝对会被老师拍出办公室：）但是，不就是某些荒谬的想法才铸就了伟大的研究么？当然，对大多数人而言，恐怕这种自信并不是啥好事儿。目空一切的行为往往会导致极其惨烈的后果，只是，这里的孩子们的乐观积极向上的心态真的是太牛掰了。

尽管如此，这里却有着努力读书的学生，积极备课的老师和非常友善的后勤行政人员。所以说，他们还是很幸福的。的确，有的时候，只有当你经历了种种的不幸，才知道生命如此可贵！

Citizen-managed Teachers: Their Past and Future

For most students like us, who were born and grew up in a city, participating state-owned schools, from kindergarten, primary school to middle school and university, it is hard for us to imagine the ‘citizen-managed’ teachers. The only impression for me is from the documentary films. But a recent notice on the future of these teacher bring such persons into our sight. It is the headlines of the journals and newspapers bring us the opportunity to take a consideration of all these teachers. Prior to the start of this article, I do wish all these teachers everything goes well. They have devote too much to the development of the education in China.

Citizen-managed Teachers and Their Past

Citizen-managed teachers, a special group of teachers that is widely seen in rural regions of China, forms a significant portion of the teachers in less developed regions of China. Unlike the teachers who are holding an official certification from the Ministry of Education, these teachers are taking their teaching positions in quite weak conditions, and are awarded quite little salary, which is about 1/4 to the certificated teachers, though their responsibilities on teaching and their loyalty on students are identical. The asymmetric role on their output and input is an essential feature for these teachers.

The citizen-managed teachers are rendered due to the demands from the comparatively weak economic conditions in some regions. Due to the schools in China are mainly state-owned, the salary for the teachers, especially those for primary and middle school, are from the government. The salary for the teachers is an important portion for the expense on education in annual budget for the government, both the central and locals. For those regions that can hardly support this salary in their budgets, citizen-managed teachers are employed. Their salary are mainly paid by the local village and the school they are working for directly.

For decades, the poor situation for these teachers are focused, and numerous films, documentaries and reports were published. With the concern of the financial constraints that are frequently suffered in those regions that the citizen-managed teachers are mainly distributed, these teachers may suffer from low payment for their salary, and they may not receive the medical insurance and pension plan from the government. For them, they have devoted too much to the education career.
The Contributions of the Citizen-managed Teachers to the Education in China

Though the development of the Chinese economy since the Open Door Policy from 1979 has promoted the civilization process of major cities in China, and the population living in metropolis and medium cities has been rapidly increased, the population of the rural regions is still dominant. The statistical showed that the amount of citizen-managed teachers was to be over 4.8 million in 1977 and this number was reduced in the near decades but it is still a large number due to the financial conditions.

In fact, these teachers has taught quite a lot of students, and they offered the children in remote rural regions an opportunity for their knowledge. Those we can easily find fully equipped schools in large cities like Beijing and Shanghai, where students are enjoying good education quality and excellent instruments, the conditions in rural regions are still limited, especially for the primary schools. One of my classmate used to tell me that his primary school was set by his resident village, which is located in a local temple. And there is only one teacher, who teaches all the grades and subjects, including Chinese, Moths, Music and Sports. It is such teachers that promoted the development of the education and indefinitely, the development of the country, on various realms, including science, technology and economy.
The Mandatory Termination for Citizen-managed Teachers: Possible Reasons

A recent announcement from the Ministry of Education showed that the citizen-managed teachers would have to be terminated mandatorily if they are not able to transfer their identity to a qualified teachers in time. This transfer would consist of a series of exams for courses on pedagogy and an integrated investigation on their teaching performance. The exams sounds likely to be simple but difficult for those teachers since they seldom receive formal training for such courses. In fact, in my opinion, a mandatory termination for such teachers may not that stable. But I suppose this announcement may involve two following governmental considerations.
1. Consideration on Improvement of Education Quality
  
  Frankly, the limited educational background fro most citizen-managed teachers can prevent them from improving the education quality. A statistics on these teachers shows that great partition of them are holding a high school diploma or equivalent. Though they may not face difficulty when teaching in a primary school, the enlightens on the students for broadening their horizon is a problem. In fact, the education quality on knowledge itself is undoubtedly important since it would perform a fundamental role in a student’s further study, the horizon should not be overlooked. And the termination may based on this consideration, since qualified teacher should know more besides teaching itself, ideally assumed.
2. Consideration on Employment for Newly Graduated Students
  
  This consideration sounds more or less out of morality though it is comprehensive. For years, the employment of newly graduated college students has been a social difficulty. And such problem is more severe in normal schools. Since the unique institutional background that the teachers in most public schools are supported by the government, the total amount is more or less fixed. Such situation made the employment for students from normal schools a great trouble. I have ever studied in Department of Mathematics in a normal school, I clearly understand its difficulty. My friends are working in various teaching positions, ranging from teachers in kindergarten to high school.
  
  Such difficulty on employment markets drive me to this direction. Terminating the citizen-managed teachers can provide more vacancies for these students. It sounds quite rational. Such solution can both reduce the difficulty of employment for college students and improve the education quality. But the question is, shall the graduates be willing to go to the rural regions for their career?
What Can They Do in Future?

For those teachers that are facing mandatory termination, it is obviously a tragedy. Since such termination mean they would have to transfer themselves to another industry. The process for such transfer can be difficult, especially when they are getting old, and they have devoted nearly all their best ages to their students. For younger teachers, who are in his/her 20s or 30s, taking some training, or obtaining a higher diploma would be a good idea. More directly, they can make full efforts on exams, pursuing to be a qualified teacher. While for the old ones, their lives may be a problem. They would be returned to the lives like their predecessors, leading their lives on the plants. I don’t know whether they should thank the government for such a release or not.

I don’t know why the governmental decision is always so arbitrary, from the Internet constraints, the controlling on the property market, to this termination for citizen-managed teachers. I suppose only when the government can fully make their decisions according to the wealth economics, the China can really be a developed country!

PS:Writing a structured blog is really a tiring job, but it does improve the readability.