ThetextbookinquestionhasastoryaboutThomasEdison,thegreatU.S.inventor.In1854whenEdisonwasonlyseven,hismotherneededemergencysurgeryforacuteappendicitis.However,alackofsufficientlightingmadeitdifficultforthedoctortobegintheprocedure.Thiscriticalmomentgavebirthtoapioneeringsolution.Edisonusedmirrorstoamplifythedimlightofcandlessothatthedoctorcouldstartthesurgery.Hismotherwassaved.
However,thetruthisthefirstappendectomywasconductedin1886.ItwouldhavebeenimpossibletocureEdison鈥檚motherofappendicitis32yearspriortotherequiredmedicalprocedurebeingavailable.
Thepublicaredividedonwhetherofficialtextbooksthatareregardedasauthoritativesourcesofknowledgeshoulduseuntrueinformationtoteachprimaryschoolstudents.SupporterssayChinesetextbooksarenotabouthistorybutliteratureandshouldbepermittedtocontainsomefabricationsothatyoungstudentscanbetterunderstandlessons.However,othersmaintainthatthenegativeinfluencecausedbyallowingfalsehoodtoremainintextbooksisfar-reaching.Itwillleadstudentstoquestionvaluesofhonestyandintegrity,thusunderminingtheauthorityofthewholeeducationsystem.
ProLianZhongguoResearcheroneducation
Educationisacomprehensiveprojectinwhichinteractionbetweenteachersandstudentswillenlightenmindsandarousecriticalthinking.Textbooksarejusttoolsofthisprocess.Donotbeoverlyconcernedwithfabricatedcontent.Thereareenoughgoodarticlesinschooltextbooksthatwillbeofgreathelpandaresufficientforenlightenmentbyexploringtheeducationalvalueofthesegoodones.
Whenmychildwasyoung,Ireadhimastoryinatextbook.Itwasaboutaconversationbetweenducksandeagles-shortbutinspiring.Thebabyducksaidtohermother,鈥淢ommy,canyoupleasetakemetoswim?鈥滺ermotherreplied,鈥淭hestreamisshallow,goandswimbyyourself.鈥漇everaldayslater,thebabyducklearnedhowtoswim.
Ayoungeagleaskedhismother,鈥淢ommy,Iwanttoseethelandscapeoverthemountain.Takemetofly,please.鈥滺ismotherresponded,鈥淚tisreallybeautifulupthere,goandseebyyourself.鈥漇everaldayslater,theyoungeaglelearnedhowtofly.
Ourkidsknowthesetwoconversationsneverhappenedasanimalscannotspeak.However,whattheyconveyistrueandbeautiful:aslongasparentsandteachersemployappropriateapproachestoguideandinspirechildren,theyaregivingtheirchildrenandstudentsachancetolearnandgrowindependently.CA
ConYanYangNewscommentator
Seemingly,theargumentthatChineselanguagetextbooksarenotabouthistorybutliteratureandshouldallowroomforsomefabricationislogicalandreasonable.Butdon鈥檛forgetabasicfactthatithasbeenwidelyacknowledgedthatliteratureandhistoryarecloselyinterrelated.Literaryworksallowimaginaryelements;butwhenitcomestohistoricalfiguresorevents,fictionalizationofrealhistoryshouldnotbeallowed.Onlyminordetailsoreventsnotattributedtohistoricalfactscanbechangedorfictionalized.
Edisonisatruehistoricalfigure,notoneinafairytaleorfable.Storiesabouthimcannotbetotallyreimaginedorcontradicthistoricalfacts.Thisistheprincipleusedfornotonlycreatingliteraryworks,butalsoeducatingpeople.Wecannottrickstudentswithfabricatedstoriesinthenameofconveyingso-calledpositiveenergy.WhenstudentsfindoutthatEdisoncouldnothelphissufferingmother,willtheybeimpressedwithhisgenius?Idon鈥檛thinkso.Suchcontentwillonlyleavestudentsdisillusionedorbelievingthattheyhavelicensetofabricateinformationwhenwritingacompositionforteachers.CA
ConYuDangxuTeacher
Ifthematerialsintextbooksareselectedfromhistoricalevents,theyshouldbefaithfultobasicfacts.ItisfinetoteachstudentstoberesourcefulinthefaceofcriticalsituationsthroughananecdotalstoryofinventorThomasEdison.ButIdon鈥檛thinkthewholestoryshouldbebasedonfabricatedevents.Whenusinghistoricalmaterial,personality,emotionandotherpsychologicalcharacteristicsshouldnotcontradictrealhistory.
Nowadays,studentsofprimaryandmiddleschoolshavemoreandconvenientaccesstoinformationandareveryopen-minded.Whenchoosinglearningmaterialsforthem,weadultsshouldcarefullychecknotonlythevaluestheycon-veybutalsothebasicfactsinthem.Ittakestimeforchildrentoacceptcertainvaluesthatlaterformconviction.Iftheyfindfactssupportingthevaluetheyweretaughtwerefabricatedtheywillquestionthevalueitself.CA
ProLinChunTeacher
IthinkweshouldshowtoleranceforsuchcontentinChinesetextbooks.Theyarejustliteraryworks,whoseeducationalfunctioninsteadofauthenticityshouldbethemostimportantconsiderationwhenbeingused.Whattheteachersshoulddoistofindpotentialvalueineachtexttoinspireandeducatestudentsratherthanbeparticularaboutwhetherthestoriesarefactualornot.CA
ProLiuYunxiMediacommentator
IsitnecessarytobesostrictwithsuchfalsestoriesinChineselanguagetextbooks?Afterall,Chineselanguagetextbooksarenotusedtoteachnewsorhistory,butaseducationaltoolsorablueprintforteaching.Sucharticlesarejusttopicsforinteractionbetweenteachersandstudentsinclass.Therefore,thereisnoneedtobeoverlycriticalabouttheirauthenticity.Whatmattersiswhetherthearticlesselectedhavepositiveenergyandareeducationalandinspirational,whethertheypromotetraditionalvirtuesandintegrity,andwhethertheyareenlighteningtokids.
Asamatteroffact,itisimpossibleforeveryarticleintextbookstocomefromreallifeeventsoraperson鈥檚personalexperience.Fairytales,folktalesandnovelsaregenerallyadoptedbytextbooksforkidsofallages.Weallknowtheyarenottrue,butnoonequestionsthembeingused.Takenovelsforexample,theyderivefromreallifeeventsbuthavebeenmodifiedsomehowforliterarypurposestomakecharactersmoretypicalandprovokeinterestfromreadersorcreateconflict.CA
ConShiLibinAssociateEditorinChiefofBeijingLiteraturemagazine
Thediscussionaboutuntruestoriesintextbooksmirrorsconcernsoverhonestyproblemsincurrentsociety.Ascorevaluesofoursociety,honestyandintegrityarenotemptytalkingpoints;everyoneisexpectedtobehonestinourdailylives.Textbooksarethemostimportantpartofachild鈥檚education,andshouldbebasedonfactsandrealhistorysothatthequalitiesofhonestyandintegritycanbeupheld.
Childrenareinnocent,likeblanksheetsofpaper.Forexample,ifachild鈥檚parentsareindulgedingambling,thelikelihoodofthatchilddevelopingthatbadhabitwouldberelativelyhigh.Whatinfluenceswillfalsetextsbringtoourkidsiftheyareexposedtothemforalongtime?Thedamagewilldefinitelybefar-reaching.Whenchildrengrowupanddiscoverthattheheroicdeedsorintellectofapublicfiguretheylearnedaboutwerefabricated,theywillquestionthevalueslearntfromthem.Theauthorityofoureducationsystemwillalsobecompromised.Likecounterfeitproducts,textsthatarenotfact-basedorcontainincorrecthistoricaldetailsshouldbeeliminated.CA