Philosophy teaches us many things, but firstly, we don't understand them; secondly, we understand them but don't remember them; and thirdly, we understand and remember them but can't apply them.
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| Dr. Tran Thi Hanh |
4 reasons why students get bored
One reader commented: "Because they think those subjects are irrelevant, graduates don't know what to do after graduation, because they don't know who they are or where they stand in society..."
That's exactly right. In philosophy, the first questions are..."Who am I?", "What is the world?", "What am I in this world?", and "What do we need to do?"
Philosophy not only answers theoretical questions but also practical questions such as"How should we live?", "What should we do in the face of nature and society?".
And philosophy also provides answers to our relationships with family and society. For example, a woman cannot escape her family; we may be businesswomen, politicians, journalists, or teachers, but when we come home, we must know who we are. It sounds ridiculous, but that's philosophy.
So where does students' boredom with philosophy come from, Madam?
- I can say this: Philosophy, as a fundamental science of the country, has always received investment and development. However, for a long time, society has viewed philosophy as a field of study, and very few students have chosen it as their first choice, because they couldn't imagine what they would be studying or what jobs they could get after graduation. In recent years, thanks to the media, this field of study has become more widely known.
The second, and more difficult, task is teaching philosophical principles in universities. The reason students mostly study philosophy but remember nothing, lack enthusiasm, or even hate the subject, stems from the curriculum, the management of education, the teachers, and the students themselves.
Regarding the curriculum, due to integration, the amount of time allocated to each subject has decreased. Previously, philosophy had 90 hours, political economy 75 hours, and scientific socialism 60 hours. Since 2008, with the integration of these three subjects, philosophy has been reduced to 30 hours, and political economy and scientific socialism to 45 hours.
So, imagine teaching philosophy with a history spanning thousands of years; 30 class periods simply won't be enough to cover everything thoroughly. Many schools consider philosophy a secondary subject, teaching it merely to fulfill a mandate.
Regarding the lecturers, I can confirm that they are all very dedicated, qualified, and professional, and they receive annual training to update their knowledge.
However, with the current credit-based training system, classes at non-specialized schools now have hundreds of students crammed into a single auditorium, as schools prefer to consolidate them for easier management. Lecturers use projectors to teach.
I know that the lecturers are very unhappy about this teaching method, because philosophy classes should include discussions. With class sizes of up to a hundred people, discussion is impossible.
Some teachers confided in me that teaching is very depressing; teaching in a large lecture hall, there's little interaction between lecturers and students, and when it comes to essays, students copy from the internet or buy essays from online sources, doing it half-heartedly and without quality.
And what about the students, madam?
- Students are not enthusiastic about learning because, firstly, they are in high school, and the learning methods at university are completely different.
On the other hand, this is a theoretical subject, very abstract, so students are extremely confused. Furthermore, it's a subject closely related to practice, and students lack life experience, so when the professors use illustrative examples of socio-economic issues, they are almost completely clueless.
And philosophy is usually in the first semester. Naturally, when students haven't found a study method yet, coupled with the reasons mentioned above, low grades will only make them more discouraged, leading to retakes, repeated courses, and ultimately, a dislike of the subject.
There is also an opinion that the reason students dislike philosophy is because of the teaching content…
- I understand that this opinion refers to the fact that philosophy in schools mainly teaches Marxist-Leninist philosophy.
It must be affirmed that Marxist-Leninist philosophy is a very complete system, from dialectical materialism to historical materialism, and needs to be studied thoroughly, fundamentally, and firmly. In particular, the historical materialism component is the cornerstone for the social sciences and humanities.
But to understand it, we need historical insights so that students can thoroughly understand its origins, the conditions of its formation, how classical German philosophy developed, and how Western, Greek, Roman, and Renaissance philosophies evolved… When Marxist-Leninist philosophy entered Vietnam, it was necessary to understand Eastern philosophy.
The curriculum from before 2008 included a section on the history of philosophy, which students really enjoyed. There was also a section on epistemology and logic as a tool for cognition, which students also appreciated. However, when the integrated program was implemented, almost all of that was removed, leaving only the section on Marxist-Leninist philosophy. Therefore, as we understand it, only the superficial aspects are now taught.
To make the subject less "terrible and boring"
- I want to say that philosophy is very fascinating, very interesting. The only problem is that it's not so dazzling and brilliant that people recognize it immediately; it needs a guide, a teacher.
Current curricula allocate significant time to skills-based and specialized subjects, making it impossible to demand increased time for philosophy. What I desire is for philosophy to be recognized as an independent subject, as it has been a science for centuries.
In this way, we will restructure the Ministry of Education and Training's framework curriculum, and then universities will use that framework to create specific lectures for students in different fields such as arts and culture, technology, natural sciences, and social sciences and humanities. If there are specific lectures for each student group, the quality of teaching and the impact on the subject will certainly be improved.
But if we don't get cooperation from the students, then no matter how many changes we make, they will all fail?
- It's true that we need to create an engaging, lively, and interesting learning environment for students first, before guiding them towards science.
Science isn't something that easily captivates people. Therefore, it's crucial to change students' attitudes and perceptions. From the outset, if students already have a prejudiced and discriminatory attitude, if they've been told by seniors that the subject is terrible, awful, boring, and that many fail, then they will lack motivation to learn.
I've always said that love for philosophy, seeing the value of philosophy, doesn't come immediately; it requires time to sink in.
Therefore, we have this second phenomenon: Philosophy is also a common subject in graduate school, but students really enjoy it. This is because they have practical experience, life skills, and especially graduate students who have stumbled, faced setbacks, or encountered events they didn't know how to explain or find a way out of. It is only when they encounter such situations that they feel philosophy is very necessary, just like you.the chairman of that commune.
Thank you, ma'am!
According to Vietnamnet