Sounds and Fury

All of us who have had the experiences with participating in any successful in-class discussions are fully aware that the best professors are those who reserve their opinions in order for the students to discuss, debate, argue, re-discuss, and reconsider their points of view before fully grasping them as their own.

All of us who have had the experiences with leading such discussions also know that rather than telling them what the answers should be, it's best to ask them first: "well, what do you think?", "why do you think that way?", "please justify your position and address your position in light of the counter-arguments as well ".

Why? Because the role of the teacher/professor/educator is not about propagating one's personal belief or faith (even though that could be fully legitimate under a different and non-educational context) but the guiding and shaping and challenging of the formation of such beliefs and faiths for the students.

Precisely because the students are young, and along with such youth there is outburst of passion and enthusiasm, that it is ever more important for the educator to provide an unbiased FORUM of serious discussion and critical analyses BEFORE any reckless judgment or position is taken if not carried out in a form of public, social activism.

Social activism may be a good means to a greater end; however, when founded not upon questionable logic and shaky thoughts if not mere heated energy and passion, it may become a highly dangerous tool to an unjustified end.

I see a lot of heated passions, sentimentalism, sensationalism if not romanticism in this student movement (as clearly shown by the selected clip above). However, critical and analytical discussions that take full consideration into the two sides of the debate remain in lack. I absolutely cherish the passions of the youth and their desire to not miss out on a potential landmark in history. However, that exact same passion was what once drove millions of youths to answer the calls of the Cultural Revolution - only that such misguided passions ended up supporting a cause that lead to greater disaster (one may certainly site the Tiananmen Square Incident as the counter example, but even the latter reflects several controversies in regards to the nature/organization/intention of student movement as some studies have shown us over the years).

Nobody wants to miss out on history, but I don't think anybody wants to stand on the wrong side of the history either. History itself has told us over and over again that, oftentimes, there is no absolute white or black bu infinite gray only. And this is why it is absolutely essential for those on the educational front to present such grayness to the students and to guide them through it despite how much more complicated, sticky and confusing such grayness or a discussion on such grayness may be (than, say, putting a complicated and serious matter into a 8-word statement).

At present, as far as I can see, such grayness has not been paid attention in this movement.

Shouting out overly simplified slogans or raising highly sensational banners may be ideal for a political movement. But it contradicts with what education is meant to be.

Rather than burning passions and the stirring of such passions, my question remains - what exactly stands beneath the flaming of such passions? Is it a momentary sensational or sentimentalism or urgency to join the peer bandwagon, or is it a fully flushed-out, thought-through conviction?

Behind the overarching phrases of "human rights," "peace," and "democracy," students - justify your position please. Also, justify your position in light of the possible counter-arguments please.

我同意這段:
All of us who have had the experiences with leading such discussions also know that rather than telling them what the answers should be, it's best to ask them first: "well, what do you think?", "why do you think that way?", "please justify your position and address your position in light of the counter-arguments as well ".
或許學生們做得還不夠好, 但是, 妳怎麼知道 they are not learning to do? 妳怎知這些老師們只是在 propogandize their own belief? 如果妳到過 ptt2 甚至是到廣場上 (which I guess you are not able to do for now) 看看老師如何跟學生刻意保持距離而避免加入個人意見, 看看學生們內部如何不斷進行辯論與自我批判, 我想妳或許會有不一樣的評價.

Hi, iron, sorry for the following long reply but I feel like to make a point or two, referring to mys' comment. :)

mys, I think, when we construct comparisons across the history, we need to carefully take into account the historical context as well. The ongoing student movement (STM, hereafter) is not a "revolution"; rather, the students are pleading for some changes of certain policy. They are not aiming at a total destruction of a value paradigm (as that in Cultural Revolution or Tiananmen) that can indeed lead to disasters easily.

Have you read the blog(s) of the STM? The STM blog encompasses explicit and well-constructed statements, elucidating just why this STM is initiated, based on what their arguments are and in particular, where they are heading to.

Of course each STM is brimful of sensationalism or romanticism that undergirds their willingness to fight further. But the discourse they provide, as can be seen in their blog(s), already shows that they are not merely immersed in some desire to play a role in the history and the STM is nowhere near the furore of cultural revolution or Tiananmen in the comparison you draw.

I agree that teachers, professors and so on should indeed help them to establish plausible arguments and to justify their position building on counter-arguments. I think, you would find that they have actually been trying to do this, if you closely observe their actions, read through their statements, blog posts and so forth.

Hi 鐵志，

我發現Amnesty在台灣有分部。你們有在關注警察的暴力行為嗎？我試圖在Wash U形成關心台灣人權問題的社群。我認為上揚唱片事件太過份，還有其他的事件。所以，我想要做一些事。目前我的目標是要讓台灣違反人權事件納入US Department of State的Human Rights Report內。這個目標比較是我現況有機會達到的。我年底會回台灣，不知道有任何可能的參與？

我的email: pchen@wulaw.wustl.edu. 可以和我聯絡嗎？

看到很多謾罵，覺得你也滿無辜的(苦笑)
我唯一痛恨野草莓的一點：
他害我錯過了金馬的電光滾石!!!
等我想到要去看的時候已經錯過最後一場了。
野草莓的確太可惡了。

LennonX真抱歉，我偷偷去看了電光滾石 :)
cstr：是這樣的，AI有亞洲部門會和各地分會合作撰寫各國人權報告。至於要如何影響美國國務院，我並不知道，但我相信他們一樣會有人研究。