| This is an era of rapid progress in science and technology with emerging knowledge-based economy and increasing competition of national powers among nations. The knowledge-based economy has entitled knowledge a fundamental role in social economy and it is becoming one of the most important resources and a special capital in some way, while the scientific and technological power acquired from knowledge is becoming the most competitive. The basic position of education in the forming of national power requires it of supplying human resources for China's economic development and its involvement in international competition.National power, which dominates the inter-state competition in an era of globalization and knowledge economy, needs full-sided grow, sufficient hard power, and continuous improvement in technology and human resources. On one hand, all the factors which form the national power needs a balanced development, on the other hand, full access to high-tech and superior industry in the global innovation system, whose influence to the development of a country and a nation are increasing remarkably, should also be stressed. Education, as an important activity to bring up human resources, creates, accumulates and passes on human morality, science, technology, knowledge, ideology, and other factors of civilization. In most of the theories on international politics, education is not considered a kind of power which directly forms the national power, but it does causes some important and direct change in the growth of national power in the aspects like knowledge, intelligence, human resources, economy, and defenses, so it is actually a "soft power" in form but a hard power in function. China's advantage in human resources lies on its abundant labors, sufficient capital, long-termed stable domestic environments, and reasonable but ambitious governmental policies, while its disadvantage covers the poor quality of the labors, the low-leveled technology and IT studies, the incomplete system, poor environment and infrastructures which support innovation. Education is the key to solve this series of problems and this has already been testified and proved by what USA, Japan, and Korea have experienced in the past decades. With a close study of many historical documentaries and references, a conclusion has been reached that the essential questions that China's education must answer covers that in the current political and social system, how a correct relationship should be established between the government and schools; in a market-oriented society, how to differ the expectations of the market and government to the development of education; how to balance the right and profit between the central and local governments in order to encourage the localization of education; how to improve the relationship between academic studies and politics in order to achieve academic freedom and democracy and thus to guarantee the creativity and innovation in academic research; and how to show humanitarianism in educational system construction for different sorts and levels. And furthermore, some solutions are suggested regarding understanding of education, educational system, the academic environment, the sustainable development of the educators' educational ability, the educational investment, fair education and international educational cooperation.This article is written mainly on a study of some theories including theories on new economic growth, knowledge economy, human resources study, international politics, education (both in history and comparison), and documents and files of relevant governments and and some world or international organizations.The innovation embodied in this article is that education is analyzed and discussed in the background of world politics, and a point is made that education plays a dual-functioned role as both asoft power and a hard power, and it functions to national security at different degree according to the different attitude of government to it.
|
PDF Full Text Request