On Flexner’s Thoughts And Practices Of Modern Universities

Abraham Flexner (1866-1959), famous American education reformer and critic, was considered as one of the most influential people in American higher education during the twentieth century. Working as the secretary of the Ordinary Education Committee in Carnegie Endowment for Teaching, he was the founder and first president of Princeton Institute for Advanced Studies. Flexner had various influences on American Education, evidenced by his founding of the early Progressive School within the field of the middle school education, his early participation of the construction of the educational system in American south states, his fund-raising for the establishment of Columbia-Lincoln Normal School, as well as his leadership in the investigation and reorganization of Grey School System.He also created exceptional achievement as far as the American Higher Education is concerned. Invited by Henry Pritchett, the then president of Carnegie Endowment, he investigated the field of medicine sciences in the United States and Canada and worked out the famous "Flexner’s Report" (Medical Education in the United States and Canada) in 1910, which spurred an earth-shaking changes which were desperately needed in American Medical Education field and laid the cornerstone of Modern Medical Education in America. So far, the Flexner Report is still one of the classic literatures in the field of Medical Education. In 1930, he published the book Universities:American, English, German and expounded his ideas on modern universities. In the same year, based on the above-mentioned ideas he founded and became the first president of Princeton Institute for Advanced Studies, which attracted the most prominent scholars and masters from all over the world. In management, he tried his utmost to avoid the mistakes made then in American universities and made Princeton Institute for Advanced Studies the "scholar’s paradise". In 1933, he also succeeded in persuading Einstein to accept his offer to teach in his institute, which made the school to be a remarkable academic center overnight.The formation of Flexner’s modern university ideas went through America’s gilded age, the First World War, the Progressive Movement, and the Roaring 20s, which was in fact the period of major changes in the field of American ideology. During this period, the rise of Pragmatism had a very important effect to every field of life in American society, which inevitably permeated in the field of higher education and triggered higher education’s utilitarian tendency. Undoubtedly, this tendency in American universities became the focus of Flexner’s criticism.In this dissertation, based on Flexner’s thoughts and practices of modern universities, the author of this dissertation, overcoming such difficulties as the extreme lack of domestic materials, the purchase, through various channels, of overseas materials (including those precious English books such as I Remember:The Autobiography of Abraham Flexner; Medical Education in the United States and Canada; Universities:American, English, German; Iconoclast:Abraham Flexner and a life in the learning, etc. and relevant original letters, reports, etc. concerning Flexner.), used historical investigation and comparative analysis to introduce Flexner’s family background, his early experience and his ideas on modern universities after a large number of material translation, material analysis and material sorting, etc.This dissertation, through the analysis of the book Universities:American, English, German, conducted a systematic research on Flexner’s thought of modern universities, the main orientation of which are in the interpretation of Flexner’s ideas concerning the ideal type of modern universities, the function of modern Universities, the organization and management of modern universities as well as the basic differences between modern universities and research institutes. Based on detailed information, this dissertation expounds Flexner’s practice of his modern universities in the United States, namely, the origin and the process of Princeton Institute for Advanced Studies, as well as Flexner’s pursuit for masters and German Nazi’s "merit" for this end during this period; this dissertation also describes, according to the facts, the causes of the American Medical Education Survey, the basic content and the basic thoughts of "the Flexner Report", as well as the medical education reform trigged by "the Flexner Report". At the same time, Flexner’s critical awareness of modern universities, his elitism, free spirit and humanistic implications are analyzed theoretically.In some way, Flexner’s criticism of American universities is the continuation of the American progressive movement, namely, "The Shady Whistleblower Movement", in the field of education. President Gilman’s elite thoughts, simple management and his leadership of Johns Hopkins University, which attached great importance to the scientific research and advocated free and positive academic atmosphere, all played an important role in the formation of Flexner’s ideas of modern universities. Flexner’s reading of German education classics, his study in German universities and his investigation of German universities and medical education deepened his respect and admiration of German universities. President Gilman is a faithful follower of German universities, and Hopkins University is called "Gottingen University built in Baltimore". From this we can see that German universities had important impact on Flexner’s ideas of modern universities. Besides, Flexner’s reading of lots of humanistic classics in his early years, his experience in Louisville library and his contact with many humanistic scholars during his investigation of European education later on became the origin of his humanistic thoughts.For the first time ever, Flexner’s thoughts and practice on modern universities are objectively evaluated. This dissertation holds that Flexner’s thoughts concerning modern universities, like that of Newman’s and Hutchins’, constructed a historic model of university mode, namely, to make universities pure academic research center, which opened up a critique of American universities in history. Next, this paper also analyzes some of Flexner’s wrong judgments and questionable ideas after the change of times. Then, this dissertation after valuating Flexner’s practice concerning his thoughts on modern universities, namely, the founding of Princeton Institute for Advanced Studies and his leadership in the reform of American medical education as well as its big influence in America and Europe, holds that Flexner, at the moment of American university’s inclination to utilitarianism which might make American universities slip into a position of self-gratification and fully indulged in science, lift up high the flag of rationality, made a responsible thinking, and led American academic circle to go beyond utilitarianism and return to rationality. In the same token, Flexner purified American science research, led American academic circle to stick to humanistic spirit, eventually called on American education to walk out of the ordinary and constantly perfect itself. From the reform of medical education triggered by "the Flexner Report" to the founding of the famous Princeton Institute for Advanced Studies, Flexner had a broadening and far-reaching influence on American higher education.