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
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