INTERVIEW 專 訪 程海東：人的品格更重要 Haydn Chen: Character Is More Important 傳統的系與所開授的課堂學習，重點在於教授 學生專業知識，由於專業知識培養學生特殊能 力，因此更容易受重視，而課堂外亦即學生事 務領域則恰恰相反。課堂外的學習是開放式 的，時間長、空間大，內容豐富多樣，方法也 千變萬化。它不一定有現成課本，難以量化， 似乎缺乏一定的衡量標準。但微妙之處卻在 於，社會卻對之極為重視，比如很多著名跨國 機構聘請見習生，非常重視申請人的語文溝 通、分析與解決問題、人際關係、團隊合作、 國際視野、自我學習與激勵、情緒管理以及領 導潛能等多方面的軟硬實力。 明年澳大新校區啟用後，將設立8至12所亞洲 最大規模的住宿式書院，屆時學生可享受更多 校園生活。書院與學院制度相輔相成，每所書 院由約500人組成，不同學科、不同年級、不 同族群的學生一起學習、生活和娛樂，互相學 習，互相激勵，共同成長。在書院裡，師生將 同宿共膳經常交流，形成一個跨學科的學習共 同體。那麼，對於澳大學生軟實力的培養，以 及推行在即的書院制度，澳大首任專責學生事 務的副校長程海東教授又有何看法和規劃呢？ 程：程海東教授 記：記者 記： 您認為21世紀最需要的是甚麼人才？澳 大又如何配合社會發展的需要？ 程、 21世紀的人才應具備以下能力、一、 學習能力；二、服務熱忱；三、國際 視野；四、實踐能力；五、多元智慧； 六、人文素養；七、正向的人生觀。現 在我們經常聽到說大學生態度不好，熱 情不夠，行動力不足，合作性不強，抗 壓力不大等責備之聲，其實這些與專業 無關，屬於人格特質，而博雅教育的目 的正是培養這些特質。20世紀的大學教 育偏重於專業知識，科技重於人文，專 業重於通才，但博雅教育注重培養學生 成為知識的自由人而非知識的奴隸，因 為若學生具備知識卻不懂獨立分析，那 不過是個機械人而已。20世紀末的大學 教育開始意識到，教育應以學生的學習 成效為目的，於是開始關注人文與科技 Conventional classroom education, which focuses on imparting specialty knowledge, tends to be valued more readily, partly because knowledge is quanti!able and is aimed at educating students in speci!c skills. Education outside the classroom in the domain of general or whole person education, however, is a totally different matter, in that it is open-ended, requires more time and space, deals with a diverse range of issues, and has no!xed teaching methods or textbooks. The lack of a textbook and examinations makes it dif!cult to quantify and measure the outcome of this kind of education. But the tricky thing is that skills which normally can only be acquired through such education are greatly valued by society. For instance, many multinational companies hiring interns look for communication skills, analytical and problemsolving ability, interpersonal effectiveness, team spirit, a global mindset, selfeducation and motivation, mood management, and leadership potential. After the new campus is put into use next year, between eight and twelve RCs will be established, forming the largest RC system in Asia. When that happens, students will be able to enjoy a richer campus life. The RC system will be a perfect complement to the faculty system. Each RC will be inhabited by approximately !ve hundred people. Students of different majors, years of study and ethnicity will live and learn together and from one another. Living and dining together in the same RCs will give staff and students ample opportunities to interact and make each RC into a multi-disciplinary learning community. What’s Prof. Haydn Chen’s opinion on soft skills acquisition and the RC system to be implemented on the new UM campus in the near future? And what plans does he have in these two areas? C: Prof. Haydn Chen J: Journalist J: What kinds of people are most needed in the twenty-!rst century? How can UM meet the needs of the developing society? C: People most needed by the twenty-!rst century should possess the following skills and traits: (1) excellent learning ability, (2) passion for service, (3) a global mindset, (4) practical ability, (5) multifaceted intelligence, (6) internalised liberal arts knowledge and caring about humanity, and (7) a positive outlook on life. Nowadays we often hear complaints about university students’ poor attitude as well as their lack of passion, action, cooperativeness and stress-handling skills. These actually have little to do with which major subject they chose to study at college. These are personality traits, and the development of these traits is exactly the purpose of liberal arts education. In the last century, universities tended to focus on imparting professional expertise, with greater emphasis on science subjects than on the humanities, with priority on training specialists instead of generalists. But liberal arts education aims to help every student become an independent agent of 16 umagazine | issue 07
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