Research On The Cultivation Of Top-notch Innovative Talents In High School

International competition is ultimately a competition for talent,and the cultivation of talent is determined by national education.The cultivation of top-notch innovative talents concerns the future development of our country,and it is a proposition of the times that urgently needs to be responded to in the field of education in China.High school education is the stage that bridges basic education and higher education,and has an important role in the whole system of education for top-notch innovative talents.High school education should take up the responsibility of cultivating top-notch innovative talents in China.China has been exploring the early stages of education for high school level top-notch innovative talents since the last century.However,until today,there are still many issues that have not been clarified at the theoretical,policy and practical levels,including the lack of a systematic theoretical foundation,the ambiguity of the policy and institutional background,and the lack of empirical research.This has largely constrained the further development of cultivating top-notch innovative talents in our high schools.This study attempts to systematically consider and examine the cultivation of top-notch innovative talents at the senior secondary level in China from three aspects: theory,policy and practice,in order to respond to the contemporary proposition of "how to further promote the cultivation of top-notch innovative talents at high school level in China".This paper proposed the following four research questions:(1)What are the theoretical foundations related to the cultivation of top-notch innovative talents in our high schools?(2)What is the policy background to the cultivation of top-notch innovative talents in our high schools?(3)What is the current state of practice in the cultivation of top innovative talents in our high schools?(4)How can we further promote the development of the cultivation of top-notch innovative talents in our high schools? The main methods used in the research process were literature analysis and case studies.Firstly,the theoretical and institutional foundations related to the cultivation of top-notch innovative talents in high schools in China were analyzed and sorted out;secondly,E school,which was a high school in Shanghai for the training of top innovative talents,was selected for fieldwork.In the data collection part of the fieldwork,the study mainly used observation and interview methods,listening to classes to observe the current teaching and learning situation in schools,and selecting students and teachers to conduct in-depth interviews to understand the current situation of the cultivation of high school top-notch innovative talents;in the data analysis part of the study,the study mainly drew on the observation framework of the cultivation of high school top-notch innovative talents constructed from theoretical research to analyse the effectiveness and shortcomings of the current practice.Finally,the problems and shortcomings of the cultivation of top innovative talents in China’s high schools at the three levels of theory,policy and practice were distilled,and corresponding reform proposals were put forward.The research results have showed that:(1)The basic theories on the cultivation of top-notch innovative talents in high school include: the psychological characteristics of top innovative talents include good creative thinking and excellent creative personality traits;a suitable environment for the growth of top innovative talents consists of a sound policy and legal system,rich and comprehensive school education and subtle family guidance;the role of basic education,especially high school,in the cultivation of top innovative talents can be summarised by the key words "foundation" and "bridging".The basic education stage should lay a solid foundation for students’ development in all aspects,among which the high school education stage is a critical period for the cultivation of top-notch innovative talents,which should not only do a good job of strengthening the physical and mental foundation and protecting and stimulating students’ creativity,but also play a role in bridging the cultivation of talents in higher education.(2)China has a long history of key high school system,which has had a profound influence on the cultivation of outstanding and innovative talents in high schools in China;the policy direction of encouraging diversified development of high schools has provided a good institutional framework for the cultivation of outstanding and innovative talents in high schools in China;the rich practice of the Youth Class system,to a certain extent,has provided a successful experience with great reference value for the cultivation of outstanding and innovative talents in high schools in China.On the whole,China currently has the institutional basis for the education of top-notch innovative talents at the senior secondary level,and should firmly continue to develop top-notch innovative talents.(3)The actual situation in our high schools today in terms of nurturing top-notch innovative talents is both effective and inadequate.In Shanghai E School,for example,the school attaches importance to creating a free and safe culture;emphasises education on ideals and beliefs;and is committed to creating a diverse and highly challenging curriculum;however,the school’s curriculum and teaching system is not flexible and open enough,and further improvements are still needed in terms of the comprehensiveness of the curriculum,the individualization of the teaching schedule and the differentiation of teaching methods.There is also a lack of educational services for the development of career planning for gifted students in schools.Based on the above three levels of research findings,this paper puts forward targeted reform proposals,including: at the theoretical level,China needs to continuously strengthen and enrich the basic theoretical research on the growth pattern of Chinese students’ top innovative talents;at the policy level,China needs to establish a policy and legal protection system for the education of top innovative talents,and deeply promote the implementation of a diversified development system for high schools;at the practical level,China needs to build a more flexible and open curriculum and teaching system,construct a career guidance service system for students,and construct a diversified evaluation and selection mechanism for further education.