The Study On Derek Bok's Idea Of Higher Education

Derek Bok is a famous higher educationist, jurist and socialist of America. He studied on the theory of higher education as good as he practiced in the reality.He lived in the period of American higher education developing and changing dramatically. He has been the president of the Harvard University for twenty years. During those days, he done his best to lead the Harvard pulling through the crisis and step forward a splendid new era. He wrote a great number of articles and books on higher education, His idea of university serve for the society influenced the world deeply.Bok expounded his idea of higher education both in his books and his action, including:l.Of higher education: Including his opinion on the history and reality of American university; His arguments on the advantage and feature of American educational system; His analysis on the problem of undergraduate train, postgraduate train, moral education in the university.2. Of the responsibility for the society: Bok pointed out that serving for society is the most important responsibility of the university, but the university can only exert its effect in a proper way.3. Academic principle: The value and significance of keeping the tradition of the basic academic principle on modern society.Bok's idea of higher education take "serving for society" as the most important function of university, pay much attention to the reality but not cater for the taste of the masses. He is both an idealist and a realist, he persist or compromise according to different occasions. His style of dealing with problems was known as the Bok's style.Bok's idea of higher education is the product of American society and showed distinctive American style, but the regular of education is the same, different countries can learn from each other, and certainly we can learn something from Bok's idea of higher education. And I'm sure it will do good to our economic development and social progress.