Ronald Barnett’s Idea Of Higher Education And Its Implications To China’s College Ideological And Political Education

Ronald Barnett is a professor at the Institute of Education,University of London,a renowned authority of higher education theory and author of books such as The Idea of Higher Education,Reshaping the University,and A Will to Learn:Being a Student in an Age of Uncertainty.In Barnett’s opinion,higher education is "higher" because the education is "free" and "liberal",which opens up infinite possibilities for students’mental development.For this reason,Barnett’s idea of higher education is also called"the emancipatory theory of higher education".In his representative work The Idea of Higher Education,Barnett focuses on five key aspects of higher education today,namely,the weakening of the foundation of higher education,the epistemological and sociological undermining of higher education,the interpretation of key education concepts and the recovery of the idea of liberal higher education.His research opens new grounds for the development of higher education.With the rapid changes of the society and the world,China’s college ideological and political education is confronted with both internal and external challenges.External challenges include new forms of social operation,new cognitive patterns,higher levels of public awareness,and greater opennes and diversity of the Chinese society.Internal challenges,on the other hand,include the incompatibility between the backward idea of education and the rapid development of the society,the great need for innovation in both the contents and methods of education,and the fact that college ideolotical and political education cannot meet the demand of the developing society,which prevents it from working effectively.Therefore,how to improve education concepts and innovate education practice now becomes the major task China’s college ideological and political education is facing.Barnett’s idea of higher education is an important source of inspiration for Chinese universities to deal with the challenges facing the ideological and political education.Many of the problems existing in China’s college ideological and political education can find ansewrs in his idea of constructing the concept of higher education,putting education theories into practice,promoting the idea of academic freedom among students,and attaching importance to equal diologu and the cultivation of critical thinking.This thesis focuses on the main contents of Barnett’s idea of higher education as well as the challenges facing China’s college ideological and political education.It concludes that in order to guarentee the all-round developent of students,college ideological and political educatin should aim at "freeing" the mind,imbuing students with morally sound values and correct cognitive patterns during the emancipating process,and emphaisizing rationality in education practice and open learning so as to better cope with the challenges.