Alice Ou (區桂芝), who teaches Chinese language and literature at Taipei First Girls’ High School, stirred up controversy over remarks she made at a news conference at the Legislative Yuan on Monday last week, in which she criticized the 2019 curriculum guidelines for de-emphasizing classical Chinese.
Subsequently, Ou sought to rationalize her remarks by citing President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) advocacy of respect for freedom of identity.
However, Ou is responsible for teaching high-school students who are under 18 years old, in this case at the prestigious Taipei First Girls’ High School, where she is said to often spout off about her political leanings in the classroom.
This behavior is no longer a question of freedom of identity. Rather, the point is that teachers should not forcibly indoctrinate high-school students, whose ideology is not yet mature and fully formed, with their own political standpoints. To do so not only contravenes the constitutional principle of educational neutrality, but also sows divisions within the friendly and uncomplicated culture of the school campus.
Of course, teachers are entitled to have their own political ideas, but they should not bring them into the classroom, otherwise they would end up forcing their ideas and mindsets onto their students, which crosses the line between education and indoctrination.
Indoctrination is a process of forcing someone else to accept certain ideas, which is at odds with education’s emphasis on forming value judgements through independent thinking.
Ou’s pronouncements are deeply suspect, as she falsely accuses the government of destroying Chinese culture, while falsely supposing that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is protecting that culture. In reality, ever since China’s Cultural Revolution, the CCP has been the biggest offender against Chinese culture, gravely damaging its ethics and morals, and ruthlessly attacking the kindness of human nature.
Of course, anyone is free to identify however they wish, but they should not inflict it on innocent students who have not yet reached adulthood. Anyone who claims that the CCP regime preserves traditional culture is raising the banner of freedom to assert something that is patently false.
Chen Chi-nung is the principal of a junior high school.
Translated by Julian Clegg
The White House’s decision to take a 9.9 percent stake in Intel Corp is looking like very shrewd business indeed. Since the government bought in at US$20.47 a share last August, the US chipmaker’s surging stock price has delivered the US a US$43 billion return. One of the reasons the investment has so far proved so sound is that the White House has made sure of it. According to The Wall Street Journal, Howard personally pushed deals on Intel’s behalf with some of the most lucrative clients imaginable. They include Nvidia Corp, the company at the heart of the AI
In a Taiwanese university classroom, a lecturer asks in English: “Can anyone give me an example from Taiwan?” Students look down. No one answers. After class, one student writes on the course platform in Mandarin: “I understood the concept, but I didn’t know how to answer in English.” That moment highlights a key issue in Taiwan’s English-medium instruction (EMI) reform: It is not just about more English-taught courses, but whether students can learn, participate and belong. EMI expansion is part of the Bilingual 2030 policy and the Ministry of Education’s BEST Program, aiming to improve English ability, support EMI teaching
The Ministry of the Interior, working with the navy and coast guard, is organizing Taiwan’s first joint exercise simulating escort tankers carrying liquefied natural gas (LNG) and oil through a Chinese blockade. The drills simulate fuel transport along three maritime corridors leading toward Japan, the Philippines and the US. Deputy Minister of the Interior Sawyer Mars (馬士元) said that a blockade of the Taiwan Strait would amount to “almost a 100 percent blockade of the regional energy supply.” Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo said planning to counter a blockade is standard practice in Taipei. While the exercise is limited in
A single photograph can cut through a lot of noise, but it can also be used to misrepresent the truth. At the very least, it can concentrate the mind on something that requires further investigation. On Monday last week, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation CEO Tai Hsia-ling (戴遐齡) and former National Security Council secretary-general King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) held a news conference in which they showed a photograph of former foundation CEO Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑), now Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) deputy chairman. In the image Hsiao is seated next to Xiamen Taiwan Businessmen Association chairman Han Ying-huan (韓螢煥). The two men were holding
RSS