大學與社會的服務關系(英文版)

AssignmentTitles:

ShouldUniversitiesservesocietyandinwhatwayscanthisachieved?

Abstract:

Thispaperexploredthequestionwhetheruniversitiesshouldservesociety.Bythereviewingofuniversitydevelopinghistoryandanalyzingsomesupporttheories,thepositiveanswerhasbeengiven.Thentheapproachesforimprovingthisservicehavebeenproposedintwosides;oneisimprovinguniversities'functionssuchasindividualeducationandpubliceducation;theothersideisthepolicysupportfromsociety.

Introduction:

Asapartofhumansociety,universityhasplayeddifferentrolessinceithappened.Ithasbeenreportedthatinthehistory,universityhasdistanceditselffromhumansocietybutsometimesitkeptclosetothesocietyactivelyoreveninanultrawaysuchasrevolution.Intheotherwords,universityvariesitsassociationwithsocietybetweensocialandacademic.Nomatterwhichpositiontheuniversitywas,theinfluenceoftheuniversityonhumansocietyweresignificantandnonignorable.Somescholarssupportthatasanacademicinstitution,universityshouldnotservesocietybuttoconductresearchandacademicstudies.However,otherexpertsarguethatuniversitiesshouldservesocietyandcaterdemandsofsociety.Inmyposition,thisservicecanbeachieveddirectly.Forexample,trainingthemanpowerthesocietyneedorworkouttheunemploymentproblems.Alsoitcanbeachievedindirectlywhichmeanskeepacademic.Inthisessay,IwillprovemypositionbypresentingareviewoftherelationshipbetweensocietyanduniversityindifferenthistoryperiodandanalyzingtheGeneralsystemtheory(Bertalanffy,1968),AshbyaswellasMarx'stheories.Thenillustratemyideasandexamplesonhowuniversitiesservicecanbeachieved

Theideaabouttheuniversity’sfunctionischanginganddeveloping.

Inordertoexploringtherelationshipbetweenuniversityandsocietyweshouldbatebacktothehumanhistorytolookfortheassociationinthepast.IwillstartthisreviewfromtheschoolinancientGreekageandnextgothroughthemiddleAges,thenturntotheindustryrevolutiontimeandfinallyIwillfinishthisreviewatmodernage.Thisreviewisforexploringthechangeoftherelationshipbetweenuniversitiesandsocietyandlookingfortheevidencefromhistoricalperspectivetosupportthatuniversitiesshouldservehumansocietybecausethehistorypresentsacleartrendthatuniversitieshavestartedtoservehumansocietyandthisservicehasbecamemoreandmorepopular.Besides,thehistoryistruthandevidencewhichcouldnotbenegatedandignored.

"'Academy'and'Lyceum',whichestablishedbyPlatoandAristotlewerethemostsignificanthighereducationinstitutionsbeforeuniversitieshappenedinMiddleAges"(Bligh,1990.p24).In387BC,PlatoestablishedaschoolinAthenscalled‘Academy’.Itwastheoneoftheearliestwellknownhighereducationinstitutionsinthewesternworld.InthisschoolPlatoestablishedseveralsubjectssuchasarithmetic,geometry,psychologyandastronauticbasedonThePythagoreanspower.Unfortunately,Justinian(theemperoroftheEasternRomanempire)closeddown‘Academy’afterabout900yearssinceitwasestablished.However,itsexistencehashadasignificantimpactonhighereducationhistoryuptonow.Asahighereducationrepresentativeatthattime,theschoolofAcademyhaddistanceditselffromthetemporalsocietyandmainlyfocusontheTruthsuchasscience,philosophyandpsychology.Forthenextthe900years,'Academy'becamethecradleoftheTruth.OneofthegreateststudentsinthisschoolisAristotlewhowasthefounderoftheAristotleTheoryandhemadesignificantcontributiontophilosophyandsciencesuchasthetheoryofFormalLogicandGeocentricTheory.Inaddition,Universitiesestablishedinmedievaltimewerealmostbasedontheprincipleof'Academy'.Asabeginning,therelationshipbetweenuniversityandsocietywasdistanced.

Afterthe'Academy',intheearlymedievaltime,therelationshipbetweenuniversityandsocietywaschangedbutthedistancewascontinued.Therewereplentyofhighereducationalinstitutionsestablishedanddevelopedatthattime.AtthebeginningoftheMedieval,universitieswereforestalledbytheChurchaspeopleandsocietywerecontrolledbythisreligionpowerforalongtime.Besides,churchesneedmorepriesthoodtoenhancetheircontrolling(Bligh,1990).However,inthe11thcentury,manufactureandbusinessactivitiesoccurredasaresultofthecapitalismactivities.Thechurchschoolcouldnotcaterthedemandofmanufactureandbusinessdeveloping.Therefore,somemanufactureandbusinessunionshadestablishedtheearliestmodernuniversitiessuchastheUniversityofBolognaandTheUniversityofPariswhichtaughtpeoplesocialconceptandknowledge(Haskins,1923).TheexampleofthehighereducationchanginginBritainatthistimemaygiveusmoretruthabouttherelationshipbetweenuniversityandsociety.OxfordUniversityandTheUniversityofCambridge,twooftheoldestandthemostreputableuniversities,usedbelongtothechurchpowerwhentheyestablishedandcourseswerecontrolledbytheChurch(Bligh,1990).However,bytheinfluenceofRenaissancethought,thesetwotypicalchurchuniversitiesbegantochangetheirteachingcontentsandmethodsfromtrainingtheclergiesandgovernorstoeducatingpublicandsocialelites.Intheotherwords,thechurchuniversitiesbecamesensitivetosocietyandtriedtoadoptthenewsocialenvironmentandproductionrelationship.Withthetimegoing,inthe18thcenturyinEngland,theindustrialrevolutionspedupthesocietydevelopmentsignificantlyandthenewproductionrelationshiphasbeenacceptedbythepublic.PlentyofmoderncivicuniversitieswereestablishedsuchasTheUniversityofLondonandTheCityUniversity.Theseuniversitieswereestablishedfordevelopingindustryandeconomy.Eveninthelatertime,somecitiesestablishedtheiruniversityfollowingthecity'suniquefeature.Forexample,theUniversityofLiverpoolmainlyfocusesontheseafaringresearchasLiverpoolisoneofthemostsignificantportsintheUK.Besides,theUniversityofManchester,theearliestcivichighereducationinstitutionwhichrepresentsthebenefitsofbusinessmenandmanufacturer(Sanderson,1972,p.61).Ingeneral,theroleofuniversitieshasbecamemoresocialfunctional,andithaspromotedtheeconomyandeducationdevelopingofsociety.TherelationshipbetweenuniversitiesandsocietyhasbeendevelopedmorethantherelationshipinMedieval.

Sofar,thehistoricalreviewabovehasdrawnacleartrendfortherelationshipbetweenuniversitiesandsociety.Thishistoricalevidencecanpartlysupporttheuniversity'sservicebutnoenough.Asasocialsystem,Humansocietyhasrealizedhowsignificantuniversitiesare.Theyproduceknowledge,ideas,essentialskillsaswellaspoliticssourceswhichcanhelpuniversitiestoadjusthumansociety.Inthenextparagraph,GeneralSystemTheory(Bertalanffy,1968)willalsobeusedtomainlyprovethenecessityofuniversities'service.

Inaddition,thereisarelevantsupportfromBertalanffyLudwingvon(1901～1972),theAustriabiologistwhoestablishedtheGeneralsystemtheory,Hedefinedthatsystemisanensemblethatconsistofdifferentsectionswhileeachsectionisrelatedandinfluencedbyothersandsystemisoneofthewaysofallthesubjectsexist(Bertalanffy,1968).Bythisdefinition,Humansocietyisthesystemwhichcanbedividedintothreefeatures:politics,economyandculture.Eachfeatureisimportanttotheothers.Inthissystem,universityshouldinitiallyworkandserveforthecultureandindirectlyservingthewholesystemasuniversityiswithinthissystem.Thatistosayitisimpossibleforuniversitytoleavefromthissystemasuniversityiscreatedbythissystemandtoworkforit.Ontheotherhand,universitiesaretheresultofinheritanceandcircumstance(Ashby,1974.p.2)whichindicatethesameideaaboutthepositionofuniversityinthissocialsystem.

Let’smovefocusfromthegeneralenvironmenttouniversityitself,itcanbeseentheuniversityparticipantsarehumanbeingandcomparewithanimals,humanissocialbeingwithsocialfeatures.Marx(1984)claimedthat"thehumanessenceinnoabstructioninherentineachsingleindividual.Inthisrealityitistheensembleofthesocialrelation"(p.285).Bythissocialrelation,theuniversityshouldbesocialandservethesocietyashumanbeingconductsthissocialactivity.

Insummary,asithasbeenreflectedsincemodernuniversityestablishedinthehistoricalreview,thereisatrendforuniversitiesservinghumansociety.Besides,accordingtoBertalanffy'stheory,thisserviceisnecessaryasuniversitiesbelongstohumansocialsystemandrelyonthissystem.Inaddition,thissocialactivityisconductedbysocialcreaturewhichishumanbeing.

Inwhatwayscanthisserviceefficientlywork?

Asuccessfulserviceshouldbeeffective,professionalandappropriatetoitsservepurpose.Whatfunctionsofuniversitiescanmakethisservicesuccessful?Basedontheclassicalsociology,educationhasbeenendowedwithtwomainfunctions.Oneistofocusonindividualsandsocialeliteseducationwhichhascalledselection.Theothermainfunctionisconcernedwiththebenefitsofthewholesociety(Brennan,2024).FromBrennan'sposition,asapartofeducation,universitiesalsocanbefunctionalbyimprovingtoindividual(selection)aswellascontributetothepublicsociety(socialization).Inthissection,Iwillexploreinwhatwayscanuniversitiesservesocietyeffectivelybasedonthesetwofunctionsaswellasknowledgetransfer.FinallyIwillanalyzewhateffortscansocietyprovideasreturntouniversityservice.Intermsofthelatter,thepolicysupportfromsocietywillbediscussedwithexamples.

Functiononindividuals(selection).

Asasocialsystem,thedevelopmentofhumancommunityisdependontheindividual'ssuccessandachievementinitially(Bertalanffy,1968).Thisindicatesthatimprovingindividual'seducationistheinitialstepforservinghumansocietybecausehighereducationcanhavealifelongtermimpactonindividualanditishelpfulforhighereducationtoserveandadjustsociety(Brennan,2024.p.7).Forexample,thediscoveryofRadiumbyMadamCurie.Thishashadasignificantimpactonthedevelopmentofmodernmedicalscienceandalsoherstoryhashadapositiveimpactonhumansociety.Besides,DengXiaoping,oneofthegreatestChineseleaderduringthesecondworldwar,hewasastudentatTheUniversityofParisinFrancein1920.Heabsorbedthewesternprogressiveideasandknowledgefromtheuniversity,thenwentbacktoChinaandparticipatedthegreatrevolutionapplyinghisexperiencesandknowledge.FinallyunderhisleadershipChinahaspreventedtheinvasionfromJapan,dictatorshipandpoverty.Therefore,individualeducationisessentialasthefundamentalstep.

Functiononthepublic(socialisation)andknowledgetransfer

Comparedwiththeindividualeducation,universitiesisalsoestablishedforpubliceducationandsocietybenefits(Ashby,1974,p.113).Asapartofhumansociety,universitiesshouldnotonlyfocusonindividualeducation,butalsopayattentiontomasseducationforsocialisationsuchaseconomicandpoliticdeveloping.Intermsofeconomy,itismainlysupportedbyindustrywhichneedmassiveeducatedandtrainedmanpower.Therefore,thepubliceducationshouldbeimproved(Bligh,1990.p.11).Thatistosay,massivemanpowertrainingisthefundamentaldemandasthemassiveproductionagewastakenplace,theincreasingfactoriesneedsignificantnumberofskilledworkers,managersaswellasdesigners.TaketheUniversityofLondonasanexample.TheUniversityofLondonwasexperiencedsignificantchangesduetotheindustrydevelopmentbetweenthe1880sandtheFirstworldwar(Sanderson,1972).Atthe18thcentury,themassiveproductionneedsalotofmanpowerthatmasteredskills,science,finance,aswellasmanagement.Thereforethisuniversitywasestablishedandbegantocultivatestudentswhocanmeetalltheconditions.Besides,changingwhenthesocietyhaschangedwasalsoneeded.Becauseofthehighspeeddevelopingofhumansociety,wehavehadnewchallengessuchasthefinancialcrisesandenvironmentproblem.Thus,universitieshasagainchangedtheirstudyfocusfromtheoldissuestothesenewproblemsandtotrainnewgraduatesinordertosolvethosenewproblems.Inotherwords,universitiesshouldobserveandfollowthechangingofthesocietyifitisnecessaryandappropriate.

Itisalsoimportanttochangetheservicepatternbetweenuniversitiesandhumansociety.Bythis,Imeanuniversitiesshouldalsoexporttheiracademicandadvancedideas,valuesandknowledgetothesocietyandinthiswaytoadjustandhelphumansocietytodevelop.Tobemorespecific,Forinstance,theUniversityofYaleandHarvardUniversity,theyarenotonlytoprovidelessonstotheirregisterdstudents,butalsouploadthepopularvideoversioncoursesontheinternetforthepublic'sbenefitsasnotallthepublichavethechancetobeatop-notchuniversitystudentsandthepublicneedtobeexposedtonewideasandknowledge.Besides,anotherimportantapproachtoservesocietyisthatputtheuniversity'sideas,knowledgeorachievementsfromscientificresearchintopracticeforindustrialization.Wecancallit'industrializationofknowledgetransfer'.IntheUSA,thereareapproximately3500highereducationinstitutionsinthiscountry,nowtheseinstitutionsnotonlytrainhighqualityindividual,butalsohasbecamethecenterofthehightechnologyresearchinganddeveloping.AftertheSecondWorldWar,Americanuniversitieschangedtheirmainfocusfromstudyingtheorytosolvingpracticalproblemsanddevelopingindustrialization.Forexample,theinventionofthefirstcomputer"ENIAC"in1946,whichwasdesignedandinventedbytheprofessionalteamthatconductedbyDr.MauchlyandhisstudentEckertforthreeyearsandthenthisnewuniversityproductstarttheElectronicinformationage.Aswecanseethatsincetheinventionofthefirstcomputer,ithasalreadybenefitedhumansocietysignificantly.

However,thereisanoppositepositionontheapproachofuniversityservicebutalsoachievable.Anuniversityisaboatforexploringandspreadingtruthandknowledgeanditsroutwillbeneverchangeeventhoughinthedifferenttimehumansocietyhasdifferentdemands(Ashby,1974).Universitiescanalsoservesocietyindirectly.Itmeansuniversitiescankeeprationalmindanddonotlosstheiracademictraditionswhentheyservethesociety.Firstly,thereasonwhysocietyneedsuniversitysomuchitthatuniversitiesalwaysgofasteranddeeperandtheyhavemoreideassocietyhasnot.Forexample,theTheoryofRelativity,whichisEinstein'sgreatestcontribution.Thistheoryisnotforcertainindustrialdemandsoranybusinessrequirements,butforpurelyacademicandscientificexploring.However,theTheoryofRelativityhashelpedhumansolvedalotofproblemsandansweredseveraldifficultquestions.

Whateffortsshouldsocietydoasreturntouniversityservice?

Ingeneral,universityandhumansocietysupporteachothermutually.Thatistosay,Inordertoservesocietyeffectively,theeffortsfromuniversitiesarefarfromenough.Thisserviceneedmoresupportsandencouragementfromsocietyinreturn.Asmentionedbefore,universityistheproductofhumansociety,thereforehumanbeingshouldberesponsibleforthisproductinquality,valuepracticalapplicabilityaswellasitsimpacton'market'.Thefollowingparagraphwillpayattentiontotheactionsthatsocietyandgovernmentsshoulddoascollaboratetotheuniversitywithexamples.

Inthemostcountries,highereducationinstitutionsarealwaysinfluencedbythepoliciesaseducationhasbeenasignificantareawhichthegovernmentsmostconcernabout.Thatistosay,agoodpolicycanhaveapositiveimpactondevelopmentofuniversity.InSouthKorea,Thehighereducationhasbeensignificantlyimprovedinthequalityandquantityburingthelast60years(Shin,2024).Oneofthereasonsisthegovernmentalpolicysupport.Inthemid-1990s,thegovernmentlaunchedthe5.31educationreformwhichproposed120reformagendasandmostofthemarereferredtohighereducation(Shin,2024).Inthelatertime,thepolicypaysattentiontobuildingmodernandhigh-techuniversitiesandresearchprojects.Forexample,theprogramsofBrainKorea21(BK21)andWorldClassUniversity,HumanityKorea(HK),SocialScienceKorea(SSK)wereproposedbytheKoreangovernmentinthelate2000s(Shin,2024).Asaconsequence,thereisanincreasingnumberofoverseasstudentsinKoreanuniversitiesandthereputationofkoreanuniversitieshavebecamehigherthanbefore.AlsoinMalaysia,recentlythegovernmentestablishedaNationalHigherEducationFund(NHEF)tosupportthepoorfamilywhichcannotpayforthetuitionfees.Besides,governmentalsoencouragestudentsstudyaboardtocomebacktoMalaysia(Postiglione,2024).Therefore,itcanbeseenthatgovernmentalpoliciesissignificantforhighereducationdeveloping.Withoutthegovernmentalpolicysupport,theotherassistancesuchasfinancialandculturalsupportsishardlyachiveable.

Conclusion

Insummary,thewholetextgavethereasonswhyuniversityshouldservesocietyandthesuggestionsforhowthisservicecanbeachieved.Fromthehistoricalreview,universitieshaschangedwithsocietychangingandalsoprovidedrelevantservicetosociety.Thisgeneraltrendillustratesaclearrelationshipbetweenuniversitiesandsociety.Whileinthisrelationship,societyplaysakeyroleasitcontributetothedevelopmentofuniversityingeneral.Tobemor