This evening while I was flipping through the old newspapers, I came across the following article. The first part of the title "Who Has Seen the Wind?" caught my eye and touched my heart. It is the title of a short poem by Christina Rossetti, a 19th-century British poet. Mr. Huang compared education to the wind. Very poetic.
http://udn.com/NEWS/NATIONAL/NATS3/6916381.shtml
觀察站／「誰見過風？」 教養如風無形
「誰見過風？」 一代醫學人文教育大師黃崑巖這麼為「教養」下定義。
二○○四年第一場總統大選電視辯論會，黃崑巖問連戰、陳水扁：「何謂教養？」這問題顯然難倒了兩人。黃崑巖說，「我想聽的，他們都沒說出來」。之後他以「談教養」為題出書，獲廣大迴響。
黃崑巖引用英國詩人克利斯蒂納‧羅塞蒂的詩《誰見過風？》來形容教養。「當樹葉顫動、樹低下頭時，你才會知道風正吹過。」( Who has seen the wind？Neither I nor you: But when the leaves hang trembling,The wind is passing through.Who has seen the wind?Neither you nor I:But when the trees bow down their heads,The wind is passing by.）
My comments: See http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/171952#poem
這論述像風一樣難捉摸嗎？黃崑巖這麼說，「我才不相信這世上有對教養毫無概念的人。我也不相信每個人的心裡沒有一把尺，來衡量自己或別人的涵養。」
所以他認為，如同風一樣，教養無形存在，須從他的言行去察覺、推測及判斷，不斷的省思與探討。不做這種省思，就很難提煉出它的真面目，因為它是無形的概念。如果沒有經常省思，驟然被問起教養指的是何物，要三言兩語下定義，絕非易事。
My comments: The other day I told my students that what they said and what they did are good indicators of their family education.
黃崑巖認為，教養的要素非常多，難的是，它平常難以窺見，只有在特殊情況下才會呈現出來，換言之，也只有在面對狀況時，缺乏教養才會露出馬腳，顯露貧乏的內涵。
黃崑巖對教養、教育的重視，也展現在他看待邱小妹、八掌溪等一連串事件上。黃把原因歸咎於人性教育失敗，造就一個庸俗且生命價值觀不健全的社會。
他認為，升學競爭排擠了做人處世的課程，大專通識教育淪落為營養學分，學生只急於為專業人而求近利，學校及教育當局看到問題，卻拿不出對策。黃崑巖疾呼，教育要教人先學做人、再學做專業人。愈長得不好看，千萬不要怪鏡子，要怪我們自己不懂人性與道德。
My comments: Human beings should be the embodiment of humanity, which is defined as "kindness, respect, and sympathy towards others." All the three qualities stem from "empathy." By putting ourselves in others' shoes, we know how to behave. How I hope all my students learn and practice empathy!
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