Discussion on the Problems of Aesthetic Education and Solutions in Contemporary Colleges and Universities

Tianjin University Renai College,Tianjin,China Email:113549120@qq.com

[Abstract]The aesthetic education in colleges and universities in China has made a significant development in recent years,and a lot of practical experiences have been obtained.However owing to some subjective and objective conditions,some problems are exposed as well.In view of the existing problems in aesthetic education,this paper discusses the solutions from the understanding of aesthetic education,the curriculum,and improvement of the evaluation system of aesthetic education.

[Keywords]aesthetic education;aesthetic education in colleges and universities;problems;solutions

Introduction

People have never stopped the pursuit and exploration of beauty at all times.The cognition and understanding of beauty have an imperceptible influence on people’s mind and life.Beauty is not only shown in the field of art,but also contained in our daily life,from the beauty in form,like dressing up,to the right or wrong and the beauty and ugliness caused by the discussion of events in society,and then to the spiritual beauty in one’s spiritual world.All of them can encourage people to think.With the continuous understanding of beauty,aesthetic education has finally been brought into the education system.

In recent years,China has released a series of policies to promote aesthetic education.On the one hand,it is obvious that the important role of aesthetic education in the development of students has been recognized by the authority,and it is necessary to improve and reform the aesthetic education.The aesthetic education is not only the beauty appreciation in a narrow sense,but also plays the role of improving personality and creativity,and promoting people’s all-round development.The aesthetic education should never only be the tasks in the colleges and universities,it is also about everyone’s growth.As students in colleges and universities are in a critical period of understanding the world,the development of aesthetic education is of more practical significance.

Problems in the aesthetic education faced by the colleges and universities

According to the goals set in the Opinions on Comprehensively Strengthening and Improving the Aesthetic Education in Schools issued by the General Office of the State Council in 2015,the aesthetic education in colleges and universities in China has indeed made a breakthrough in recent years,and a lot of practical experiences have been gained.At the same time some problems are exposed as well.

1.Misunderstanding on aesthetic education.The aesthetic education is simply understood as the art education or as an accessory to the moral education.The confusion of concepts and the misunderstanding of aesthetic education will inevitably affect the realization of the goal of the aesthetic education in practice.(Wang,2005,p.184)

2.Differences in the teaching of the aesthetic education among colleges and universities.According to the Opinions on Strengthening the Aesthetic Education in Colleges and Universities in the New era issued by the Ministry of Education in 2019,colleges and universities should offer courses of the aesthetic education.In reality there are differences.Some schools implemented the policy and offered relevant courses,while some schools did not for a variety of reasons.

3.The evaluation system of the aesthetic education is in need of improvement.Up to now,the aesthetic education in China is still in the stage of the theory and practice.There is not an outline of aesthetic education with a unified standard of teaching and research,therefore it is difficult to carry out the nationwide aesthetic education of highquality and large-scale.The deficient evaluation system of aesthetic education leads to the fact that there are no standards and it is difficult for colleges and universities to practice.

Solutions to improve the aesthetic education in colleges and universities

1.Strengthening the understanding of the aesthetic education

In order to develop the aesthetic education,it is very fundamental to attach importance to the correct understanding of aesthetic education on ideology.Aesthetics itself is non-utilitarian.If people want to appreciate the beauty of something,the interest in the possession and use,and the utilitarian mind must be abandoned.(Li &Wang,2019)The purpose of the aesthetic education is to cultivate people's understanding of aesthetics.With the aesthetic knowledge and related practice,students improve their abilities to feel,appreciate,evaluate and create beauty,and set up correct aesthetic standards and values.Students can also well develop both in mind and body,and have sound personalities.The correct understanding of aesthetics is an internal belief and a redeeming force against instrumental rationality.(Gu,2019)The administrators and teachers in colleges and universities should correctly understand the educational reform that is“to and for whom to educate,and how to educate”.With continuous practice of the aesthetics and people's correct understanding,the ultimate goal is to encourage student to think the meaning of aesthetics and change the subordinate position of the aesthetic education.

Traditionally teachers take major part in the classroom teaching,therefore teachers should take the responsibility to solve the problem of insufficient understanding of aesthetic education.It is not only the tasks for the aesthetics teachers to carry out aesthetic education,but also the responsibility of all teachers.Teachers themselves are the communicators and practitioners of the aesthetics.In this way teachers should promote their own images,understanding of aesthetics and their psychological-improvement because teaching by example is better than teaching by words.To improve teachers’self-development on aesthetics,colleges and universities should organize various activities,like aesthetic lectures,experiencing and appreciation programs.In teaching,every teacher should explore beauty in all professional courses and conveying it to students,consequently create an environment for students to“enjoy aesthetic education and develop all-round”.

2.Strengthening the course construction of aesthetic education

(1)Curriculum setting

The development of aesthetic education cannot be accomplished simply by offering art education courses.On the one hand,the traditional aesthetic classes of high-quality should be offered to ensure that students learn the general knowledge of aesthetics systematically.On the other hand,the importance of the extracurricular activities of the aesthetics should not be ignored.The development of the aesthetic education should be in the daily lives instead of only in the classroom.The highest and most natural aesthetics is not to appreciate the beauty on the purpose of aesthetics.Like what sunshine and air to people,the aesthetics is born in and exerts influence on people's minds naturally.For this goal,the traditional teaching needs to be changed and the participation of students needs to be taken into consideration.The aesthetic education is vivid and focuses on the development of soul and the cultivation of personality,which requires colleges and universities to reform,innovate the teaching,and offer all the help,therefore students will develop their understanding of aesthetics and promote their abilities of active thinking and creating.

In addition,the importance should be attached to the practice of combining the aesthetics with other disciplines.It is profound to integrate the aesthetic education into the entire school education and to deeply explore the elements and connotation of the aesthetic education contained in professional courses.It is also important for teachers to cultivate students'understanding and abilities of the aesthetics when they teach professional classes.In this way the integration of aesthetic education will be achieved.The public art-class system should take the cultivation of the ability of the aesthetic theory and humanistic quality as the core,the art appreciation as the support,the creativity and imagination as the focus,and the excellent Chinese traditional culture as contents.Meanwhile teaching in class and practice out of class should be combined,and then students will apply what they learn into the daily lives.The aesthetic education is reflected not only in skills,but also in internal self-cultivation,including the aesthetic and humanistic manners.It exerts a subtle influence on one's emotion,interest and temperament and the principle of being a man.(Ding,2018)And such influence will accompany students forever even when they go out in the world.

(2)Internet+Aesthetic Education

In the new era of great collision and blending of Chinese and Western ideas,in order to grasp the minds of young people,the network is a major position for colleges and universities to take.“Internet +”is the trend of the times.What must be admitted is that the development of science and technology makes it very convenient for people to obtain all kinds of information,especially mobile phones and networks.Colleges and universities should strengthen the network teaching of the aesthetic education,so that when they get to know the aesthetics through the network,students can quickly find the authoritative platforms,which will help students form their aesthetic standards and keep off the bad information.The aesthetic courses and activities should keep up with the pace of the development and meet the demands of the times.Only in this way students interest can be aroused.

The novel coronavirus epidemic leads to the broad application of online teaching.Many colleges and universities roll out lots of excellent on line teaching resources,including some aesthetic courses,which provide convenience to promote students'in-depth understanding of the aesthetic education through the Internet in the future.At present,the resources of the aesthetic education on the network are relatively diverse.Many colleges and universities have set up online platforms for aesthetic education,while it is only for their own students respectively.Undoubtedly it results in a waste of resources and repeated construction.With the convenience of the Internet,it is urgent for the national education authority to set up a special platform and integrate aesthetic resources for on line classes sharing,so that it is more convenient to prevail the authoritative aesthetic knowledge and concepts.

3.Reform and improvement of the evaluation system of the aesthetic education

It is necessary and urgent for China to set the systematic standards of the aesthetic education in colleges and universities,so that there are the rules to follow in the implementation of aesthetic education.The education authorities,with related research projects,practices and experiences from teaching,should make concerted efforts to construct the evaluation system of aesthetic education.

Colleges and universities should strengthen the construction of the aesthetics system and govern the education process in accordance with the law.In terms of the difference of all majors and disciplines,colleges and universities should set the rules and regulations of the aesthetics to promote the development of each college and university.Therefore the rules and regulations may meet the needs of the development of the country,schools and students,and ensure the development and reform of the aesthetic education on the system.And it is the prerequisite for the evaluation of aesthetic education that the school administrators must acknowledge the concept of“Educating Five Domains Simultaneously”,and perform the top-level design together.

For better development of the aesthetic education,Colleges and universities should strengthen the construction of the teachers' team.The setting of full-time aesthetic teachers is the reflection that the aesthetics takes a place in the overall education.According to the number of students,colleges and universities should be equipped with fulltime and part-time teachers to ensure the development of the aesthetic education.Moreover the number of teachers should also be in line with the policy.

The construction of the evaluation system of aesthetic education is a systematic project,which needs to bring the aesthetic education into the talent training programs of colleges and universities.It may get students and administration authorities’attention to link the aesthetic education with students’performance,and the development of the aesthetic education with the performance of administrative departments at all levels and the performance of administers of colleges and universities.It is also necessary to evaluate the aesthetic quality of non-aesthetic teachers besides that of the professional aesthetic teachers.In addition it is of need to combine the aesthetic education with the campus culture construction,and the assessment should be carried out on the investment of relevant infrastructures and activities of the aesthetic education.

The aesthetic education in colleges and universities has an invaluable influence on the all-round growth of students.Colleges and universities must deeply realize the value and significance of the aesthetic education in the new era,so that the aesthetic education no longer stays in the talking but into practice.