Popularization And Character Of Elite

Higher education has played a very important role of fostering the elite since ancient time. From fostering simple political or academic elite people at earlier time to training experts and leaders in various areas nowadays, modern higher education has developed to be a social system that incorporates educating, science-researching and social functions, which has a pivotal position at contemporary time. To realize modern and contemporary social demands for talents, higher education should go with the tide of time to make adjustment consistently. In western countries, the developing level of higher education even can be regarded as one of indexes to measure modernization level. Professor Martin, American sociologist, investigated the experience of higher educational development in western countries due to the important position of higher education in social life. He pointed out his famous theory of the period of higher educational popularization that divides periods of higher education development according to gross school entry rate. When gross school entry rate reaches 15% -50%, higher education come into the period of popularization and great changes different from elite education will take place in educational objectives and functions, educational targets, educational organizations, educating process, social relations, and so on, which changes some shortcomings of traditional elite education and provides some new opportunities for the development of higher education. Our country is at the vital period of modernizing construction currently. Social development demands amounts of human resource, so promoting the popularization of higher education is the best way to satisfy this demand. Therefore, both scholars, experts and government policy-makers have the stand of popularization and advocate popularization of higher education. However, due to the current situation of educational development in our country, the development pattern of popularization has not been mature enough, which is clearly reflected in following 3 aspects. (1) It lacks completed measuring standard of gross school entry rate. In some foreign countries, the number of students in higher institutions that is to measure the gross school entry rate does not include the number of students in non-common institutions, while the enrollment statistics in our country'higher education include the number of some adult educational students. The difference on measuring standard makes the results by calculating have difference, which, to some extent, it lacks comparability with so-called popularization in western countries. (2) It lacks material support. When GDP ranges between $1000-$5000 per capita, it is the period that higher education may transform from elite education phase to popularizing phase. Currently the income level in our country is just enough to be content with this requirement, so the basis of popularization is still quite weak. (3) It lacks the balance amount the areas. Parts of areas have realized the development pattern of popularization of higher education, but in other parts of areas, elite higher education is still main and only way. The development pattern of popularization of higher education has not been completely set up in our country, and it still in the initial phase of popularization. So from realistic angle, it is still early that elite education retire from the historical arena. During this special period, if the popularizing development pattern blindly makes a rapid promotion by force, not only originally scarce higher educational resource cannot be makeeffective use, but also in contrast would it lead to a waste of higher educational resource. As a result, higher educational functions will lose balance and then it will influence its all functions to foster the elite and its responsibility to supply talents to the society. The existence of popularizing higher education and elite education is not conflict with each other. Especially under the situation of initial phase of popularization, elite education, being a necessary complement, still has its existing necessity and its existence accords with the demands social development. Firstly, it is reconsidered that the admitting conditions of popularizing higher education are modified. The institution of university entry examination in the elite educational phase is comparatively fair and cannot be replaced. It breaks away from the influencing factors such as status and position and enables capability standard to be the important admitting principle of higher education gradually. Compared with modifying admitting conditions of popularizing higher education that actually takes economic ability as replacing conditions, it looks more fair that elite education adopts strict exam system from the angle of capability standard. Selecting talents not only accords with the goals of modern elite education, but it is also content with popularizing demand –providing talents for economic society. Secondly, the standardization of higher education under popularizing development pattern is reconsidered. It is pointed out that to satisfy social demands to realize the task of popularization, producing pattern of goods standardization should be applied to higher education. However, it is wholly out of utility intentions, and it only sees short-term profit according to market demands with a result of mediocrity of higher education, whichnegates the elite nature of talents. This is a destroying hit to the functions of higher education. The elite are social leading people depending on their natures of revolution and innovation. They undertake the important responsibility of social reform. The standardizing producing pattern is not different from strangling fresh combatants of social development. From long-term interest, elite education is the fostering base of the social elite people. Its position is not movable and its functions are not negligible. Finally, the responsibility of popularization of higher education is reconsidered. It is considered mainly aiming at that currently some higher institutions set up majors blindly. Higher education not only fulfills the economic functions, but it also has important duty to promote social development. This development pattern completely leading by the market makes higher education developed to the direction of marketization, which thinks highly of short-term profit and results in that ultilitizm is prevailing. Education is the foundation of humans and it is the power mechanism of human development. So during the higher educational reform, it should consider its functions completely while it should not simply consider from economic interest or blindly promote popularizing reform. Modern higher education is a social system that incorporates educating, science-researching and social functions. It not only undertakes the responsibility of economic development but also fulfills the burden of overall social development. So only advocating popularizing higher education cannot be content with the need of overall social development. It should reconsider the important position of elite education in the modern higher education system and encourage coming back to elite education. It should not return to high-input and low-output situation at the EliteEducation Age but it should demand people to look back at the substance of elite education, which is the emphasis to foster social elite people and reconsider the function of elite education. Basically speaking, the substance of various shortcomings that result from popularizing higher education is the result of excessively publicizing instrument ration in industrial society and great constraining value ration. At the same time of pursuing the economical and political goals of social development, higher education has been changed into affiliation to the organ of state power. To change the negative results of popularization of higher education, it should return to pursue the value of fostering the elite and emphasize that higher education not only serves the society but also undertakes the responsibility to lead social development. When pursuing the goals of overall and harmony social development, it should fully develop the good tradition that thinks highly of human science in elite education, and base on human in order to foster fully developed and high quality talents for social improvement, thus to come back to the spiritual substance of higher education. In contemporary world, science and technology dramatically developed and international competition is increasingly getting intense, while our country is in a special historical period, so it should undertake double tasks –industrialization and informatization. It is facing the challenges adjusting industrial structure and improving efficiency of production. This demands great supports of science, technology and talent and it needs to improve competitive and innovational abilities of the Chinese nation. Therefore, accelerating realization of popularization of higher education is necessary to revive our nation. However, because ournation does not have the conditions to overall promote popularizing development pattern, elite education cannot retire from the historical arena yet, while it must be a necessary complement of popularizing education to continue to exist and play its role. Higher education can be developed to a correct direction unless the effective cooperation of popularizing and elite education has been realized. For this reason, two feasible suggestions are given: (1)From the macro angle, the government should implement rational policies to correct the shortcomings of popularization of education. Since the State Council ratified the Ministry of Education to establish < Plan for Educational Revitalization Facing 21st Century>, the expansion of admitting students has begun. Therefore, the government, the creator of expansion of admitting, should correct and make up the problems that resulted from expansion of admitting by making policies. As far as the tendency of noblization of education is concerned, the government should increase the investment to education, make relevant complementary plans and reduce the gap between the rich and the poor so that it realizes fairness at the beginning of education. Considering of educational quality and the real ability to undertake popularizing higher education of our nation, it should adjust the admitting scale of higher education to realize popularization of higher education with steady steps at premise of guaranteeing the quality. (2)As far as the implementing subjects of higher education are concerned, it should adopt pluralist development pattern.The task of fostering the elite is given to the traditional key universities to be held responsible for, and the universities should be made to develop to the...