To be a Person to Love and a Person to Know
Tao Wenhao
1st September, 2019
Dear students, faculty members, ladies and gentlemen,
Good morning!
We are here today to witness one of the most significant moments in your life. First of all, congratulations to you all and welcome to this campus, which is acclaimed as the most beautiful valley campus in Asia. My dear students, I know you are from 22 provinces of the country, some as far as Heilongjiang and Inner Mongolia. I am sure you will soon fit into the big family of the School of Foreign Languages and Literature and embark on an extraordinary academic journey here at BNUZ.
Back in 2012, the first cohort of 20 postgraduates in English Teaching were enrolled to study at BNUZ. Up to now, 6 cohorts of about 150 students have graduated. Most of them work in high schools as English teachers. Some of them have joined the core team of excellent teachers in their high schools; others have pursued a PhD and now work at universities. For you, with the better platform of the School of Foreign Languages and Literature of BNU, you will certainly make even greater achievements both in academics and profession. And in the two years during your stay here, we will be delighted to witness your growth from a first year postgraduate to a confident would-be teacher ready to make contributions to foreign language teaching in China.
As an alumnus of the SFLL, I would like to share with you how to make the best of your postgraduate studies and pave the way for your future career as an outstanding teacher or educator.
First, truly love teaching and your students.
Think about a question, “Why do you want to be a teacher?” Some of you might say, because a teacher is entitled to two long vacations. Others might say, because it is an increasingly well-paid job to be a teacher. It is true that all of us have to think about our livelihood, but if you just perceive teaching as a means for survival, I am afraid you will miss out on the opportunity to become a great teacher or educator. After all, life goes beyond enjoying long holidays and getting a decent pay. So I hope you can love teaching from within and regard it as your life long commitment.
Just as you love teaching from within, I hope you will truly love your students. In fact, when I interviewed applicants for a teaching position in the School of Foreign Languages, I would ask a question, “What do you think is the most important element for a teacher?” Some answered, “Adequate knowledge”; others mentioned “teaching skills”. But few gave an answer I expected to hear, which is, “love”. As a saying goes, “Students don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Indeed, students are fully aware who really cares about them. I believe “love” is of paramount importance. If you don’t want to be a mediocre teacher, please love your students and care about them.
Secondly, stay hungry for knowledge.
Socrates observed, “The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.” The more you learn, the less you think you know. Before knowledge, we are all humble, so I hope you will always stay hungry for knowledge. When you “empty yourself”, and get ready to learn, you can actually acquire beyond what you expect.
You might then ask, “What should I learn?”To stay hungry for knowledge means that you don’t merely confine yourself to a narrow field of study, but step out of your comfort zone and explore as much as you can. It could be anything new that intrigues you, language, literature, culture, translation, even science and technology. When you immerse yourself in knowledge, particularly in the mind of research, you will be happier and have a stronger sense of fulfillment. Upon your graduation 2 years later, you might exclaim, “Luckily, I haven’t let the two years slip by idly.”
All in all, keep the two key words in mind--“love” and “knowledge”. We hope you are a person to love, to be loved and in love, a person to know and to be well-known.
Thank you!
2019年研究生新生开学典礼致辞
做一个博文博爱之人
陶文好
2019年9月1日
亲爱的同学们、老师们、女士们、先生们：
早上好！
今天我们欢聚一堂见证各位新生生命中最重要的时刻之一。首先，我要祝贺大家，欢迎大家来到这被誉为亚洲最美丽的山谷大学。亲爱的学生们，你们来自全国22个省份，有的甚至来自遥远的黑龙江和内蒙古。我相信你们很快会融入外文学院这个大家庭，并在此开启一段非凡的学术之旅。
早在2012年，首届英语学科教学研究生20人开始在珠海学习。到目前为止，已有6届共约150名学生毕业。他们中的大多数人在中学担任英语教师，其中一些毕业生已成为其所在中学优秀的教师骨干，也有毕业生已获得了博士学位，在高校工作。对大家而言，你们有了北师大外文学院这一更好的平台，我相信大家一定会在学术上和工作上取得更大的成就。能在未来两年里见证大家从一年级研究生成长为自信的、随时准备为中国外语教学做出贡献的准教师，我们倍感高兴。
作为外文学院的校友，我想和大家谈谈如何充分利用研究生这一阶段，为今后成为优秀的教师或教育工作者铺平道路。
首先，希望大家真正热爱教学，热爱学生。
请大家思考这样一个问题：“为什么你想当老师？”有些人会说，因为老师有两个长假，也有人可能会说，因为教师这一职业待遇越来越好。诚然，每个人都得考虑自己的生计，但如果你只是把教师这个职业视为生存的手段，恐怕你难以成为一名伟大的教师或伟大的教育工作者。毕竟，生活不仅仅是享受长假或获得体面的薪水。所以我希望你能从内心热爱教学，并将其视为一种终身热爱和承诺。
正如你从内心喜欢教学一样，我希望你真正地爱你的学生。我在面试外国语学院教师职位的应聘者时，经常问一个问题：“你认为什么要素对教师最重要？”有的应聘者回答“要有足够的知识”，有的则提到“教学技能”。但很少有人能说出我希望听到的答案，那就是“爱/博爱”。俗话说：“学生不在乎你懂得多少，他们更在乎你在不在乎他们。”事实上，你关不关心学生，他们心理很清楚。我相信“博爱”至关重要，如果你不想成为一位平庸的老师，请爱你的学生，关心你的学生。
第二，希望大家求知若渴，做到博文博学。
苏格拉底说：“唯一真正的智慧在于你知道你什么都不知道。”的确，你学得越多，越觉得自己知道的太少。在知识面前，我们都是谦卑的，所以我希望你永远求知若渴，做到博文博学。带着“清空自己”的心态去学习时，你的收获会无限的。
大家可能会问，“我该学什么？”求知若渴意味着你不仅仅局限于自己狭隘的学习领域，而是走出自己的舒适区，尽可能地去探索。探索的可以是让你着迷的任何新东西，语言、文学、文化、翻译，甚至是科学技术。当你沉浸在知识中，带着研究的视角，你会非常快乐，才有更强的获得感。两年后你毕业的时候，你可能会感叹：“幸运的是，我没让这两年白白溜走。”
总之，记住这两个关键词——“博爱”和“博文”，我们希望你成为一个博文博爱之人，一个名垂千古之士！
谢谢大家！
