Professor Zhu Guanglei appointed as adjunct professor of Tongji University

A lecture on improving the quality of liberal education successfully held

 Hosted by the School of Political Science & International Relations (SPSIR) and the Institute for China & World Studies of Tongji University, the Tongji Serial Lectures on Social Sciences No. 38 was successfully held in Conference Room 1802, Zhonghe Building, Tongji University on May 28, 2021. Prof. Zhu Guanglei, a chair professor at Nankai University, Director of the Academic Committee of Zhou Enlai School of Government, a distinguished professor of the Changjiang Scholars Program of MOE, and a winner of the National Famous Teacher Award (the first session), was specially invited to give a keynote speech on the topic of "Several Cognitive and Technical Issues on Improving the Quality of Liberal Education".

Prof. Men Honghua, a distinguished professor at Tongji, President of the Institute for China & World Studies, and Dean of SPSIR, presided over this lecture. On behalf of Tongji University, Dean Men first presented to Prof. Zhu the Letter of Appointment according to which he would serve as an adjunct professor of Tongji, and thanked Prof. Zhu for his guidance on the Political Science discipline of Tongji.

Afterwards, Prof. Zhu provided systemic guidance and instructions on undergraduate and postgraduate teaching as well as young teachers and scholars’ work in several aspects including "necessity and feasibility of improving the teaching level", "technical issues on improving the quality of liberal education", "cognitive issues on improving the quality of liberal education", and "issues concerning teachers’ work attitude".

Prof. Zhu pointed out that it is necessary to improve the level of liberal education. There is both necessity and feasibility in this regard because this is a reasonable social requirement for higher education. Liberal education has been highly valued by the country and all sectors of society. In particular, the public has placed great expectations on excellent teachers in Chinese universities, so it is imperative to improve the level of liberal education. Prof. Zhu added that it is urgent to improve the teaching level so that the public can gain a wider access to higher education. With the adjustment of teaching model, the teaching level has been affected by popular higher education, and it is important to get fully prepared to help the "majority".

According to the reality of liberal education, Prof. Zhu summarized several important technical issues on improving the quality of liberal education, and explained in detail the "cognitive issues on improving the quality of liberal education" and "issues concerning teachers' work attitude". He said that it is necessary to pay attention to the level of education recipients and distinguish general education, junior college, undergraduate and postgraduate teaching. As stressed by him, middle school education is to improve students’ ability of thinking through images, undergraduate education is to hone students’ skills of thinking through concepts, master education focuses on their integration of structural thinking, and PhD education pursues the preliminary realization of theoretical innovation.

On the issue of teachers’ work attitude, Prof. Zhu said that both young teachers and senior teachers need to handle the relationship between job and career and the relationship with their colleagues, so as to create a harmonious environment for work and collaboration.

In the interactive session, the teachers and students of SPSIR asked questions such as how to increase students’ interest in the discipline. Prof. Zhu gave rigorous and vivid answers including “balancing the theory-case ratio” and “enlivening the teaching atmosphere and stimulating students’ interest”, which won him a big round of applause.

 In closing, Dean Men thanked Prof. Zhu for bringing such a fruitful lecture and a “Golden Lesson” to the teachers and students of Tongji. He pointed out that Prof. Zhu, as a national-level famous teacher, has years of experience in liberal education, and his lessons feature both understandability and profundity. Dean Men summed up this lecture with a quote from The Analects of Confucius: “A good teacher is good at giving methodical and patient guidance. He will enrich my knowledge with ancient books and instruct my behaviors with etiquette, so that I can’t stop learning even if I want”. Finally, on behalf of the faculty and students of SPSIR, he looked forward to more lectures and guidance from Prof. Zhu as a member of Tongji.