Promote the Spirit of the Educator, Cultivate Great Teachers for a Great Nation in the New Era

Recently, the conference celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions and commending national model workers and advanced workers was held in Beijing. Among the commendation list, there are outstanding educators from various regions: some are rooted in western universities, using scientific research achievements to serve regional industrial development; some devote themselves to rural education, using a skipping rope to light up the dreams of children in mountainous areas; some care for special-needs children, using love to hold up a clear sky for students’ growth… They stand firm on the three-foot podium [1]1 “Three-foot podium” is a traditional Chinese metaphor for a teacher’s lectern or teaching position., being both outstanding representatives of the hundreds of millions of working masses and inheritors and practitioners of the spirit of the educator in the New Era.

近日，庆祝中华全国总工会成立100周年暨全国劳动模范和先进工作者表彰大会在北京举行。表彰名单中，不乏来自各地的优秀教育工作者：他们有的扎根西部高校，用科研成果服务区域产业发展；有的投身乡村教育，用一根跳绳点亮山区孩子的梦想；有的呵护特殊儿童，用爱心为学生成长撑起一片晴空……他们坚守三尺讲台，既是亿万劳动群众的杰出代表，也是新时代教育家精神的传承者、践行者。

A strong nation must first strengthen education, and to strengthen education, teachers must first be strengthened. A high-quality teaching force is the foundational support for building a strong educational nation. The recently issued *Education Strong Nation Construction Plan Outline (2024–2035)* [2]2 The *Education Strong Nation Construction Plan Outline (2024–2035)* is a major policy document issued by the Chinese central government outlining strategic goals and measures for developing education in China over the next decade. makes systematic arrangements for building a high-quality professional teaching force, proposing to implement an action to strengthen teachers through the spirit of the educator, to integrate the spirit of the educator into the entire process of teacher training and development, to run it through all aspects of classroom teaching, scientific research, and social practice, and to build a good ecosystem for teacher development featuring daily immersion, project empowerment, and platform support. The spirit of the educator encompasses the political literacy, moral literacy, and professional literacy that outstanding teachers in the New Era should possess, reflects the inherent requirements of the professional mission and responsibility of teachers, and provides core value guidance for the construction of the teaching force.

强国必先强教，强教必先强师。高素质的教师队伍是教育强国建设的基础支撑。前不久印发的《教育强国建设规划纲要（2024—2035年）》就建设高素质专业化教师队伍作出系统部署，其中提出实施教育家精神铸魂强师行动，推动教育家精神融入教师培养培训全过程，贯穿课堂教学、科学研究、社会实践各环节，构建日常浸润、项目赋能、平台支撑的教师发展良好生态。教育家精神涵盖了新时代优秀教师所应具备的政治素养、道德素养、专业素养等各个方面的内容，体现了教师职业使命责任的内在要求，为教师队伍建设提供了核心价值引领。

Great teachers for a great nation must have great virtue. The ideals, convictions, and moral sentiments emphasized by the spirit of the educator relate to the essence and direction of education, highlighting the importance of establishing oneself, one’s scholarship, and one’s teaching through virtue. Education in the New Era serves the people, serves the governance of the country by the Communist Party of China, serves the consolidation and development of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics, and serves reform and opening up and socialist modernization. The Party and the people need to cultivate builders and successors for the socialist cause. Therefore, the vast majority of teachers should always remember the original aspiration and founding mission of educating people for the Party and cultivating talent for the country, and adhere to the ideal and conviction of having the greater self in mind and serving the country with utmost sincerity. Fostering virtue through education is the fundamental task of teachers, and those who cultivate others must first cultivate themselves. Teachers should always maintain the self-awareness that their words are the standard for scholars and their actions are the model for the world, strive to be the high standard of morality, the model of society, and the example of conduct, influence and drive students through words and deeds, and become role models for students in their conduct and endeavors.

大国良师要有大德。教育家精神所强调的理想信念和道德情操，关系教育的本质和方向，突出了对以德立身、以德立学、以德施教的重视。新时代的教育是坚持为人民服务，为中国共产党治国理政服务，为巩固和发展中国特色社会主义制度服务，为改革开放和社会主义现代化建设服务的，党和人民需要培养的是社会主义事业建设者和接班人。因此，广大教师应当始终牢记为党育人、为国育才的初心使命，坚持心有大我、至诚报国的理想信念。立德树人是教师的根本任务，而树人者必先树己。教师应时刻保有言为士则、行为世范的自觉，努力做道德的高标、社会的楷模、为人的示范，以言传身教影响和带动学生，成为学生做人做事的榜样。

Great teachers for a great nation must have great wisdom. The educational wisdom and diligent attitude emphasized by the spirit of the educator provide clear guidance for teachers’ professional character and educational ability. “A teacher of classics is easy to find, but a teacher of humanity is hard to find.” [3]3 “A teacher of classics is easy to find, but a teacher of humanity is hard to find” is a classical Chinese saying from the *Zizhi Tongjian* (Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government), emphasizing the rarity of teachers who cultivate moral character over those who merely transmit knowledge. Cultivating new generations capable of shouldering the heavy task of national rejuvenation requires teachers to become an organic unity of a teacher of classics and a teacher of humanity, possessing not only outstanding professional educational ability, being proficient in professional knowledge, and acting as a “teacher of classics” who imparts knowledge and resolves doubts, but also cultivating virtue, mastering educational methods that nourish oneself and benefit others, and becoming a “teacher of humanity” with educational wisdom. Teachers should use their unique wisdom, knowledge, and methods to guide students’ growth, inspire their intellect, nourish their souls, and enable each student to find their own stage in life. Achieving this requires teachers to respect the laws of education, follow the characteristics of student growth, continuously enrich and expand themselves, and constantly improve their ability to teach and educate.

大国良师要有大智慧。教育家精神所强调的育人智慧和躬耕态度，是对教师的从教品格、育人能力的明确指引。“经师易得，人师难得。”培养堪当民族复兴重任的时代新人，要求教师成为经师和人师的有机统一，不仅具备卓越的专业化教育能力，精通专业知识，做传道授业的“经师”；又涵养德行，掌握润己泽人的教育方法，做有教育智慧的“人师”。教师应以其独到的智慧、学识与方法为学生成长引路，启发才智、滋养心灵，让每个学生找到属于自己的人生舞台。做到这一点，需要教师尊重教育规律，遵循学生成长特点，持续充实自己、拓展自己，不断提升教书育人的本领。

Great teachers for a great nation must also have a great realm. The benevolence and pursuit of the great Way emphasized by the spirit of the educator demonstrate a reverence for educational sentiment. Education is a cause of “benevolence and loving others.” Love is the soul of education; without love, there is no education. Therefore, love is also the foundation of the spirit of the educator. “Lamplight principal” Zhang Guimei [4]4 Zhang Guimei is a renowned Chinese educator and principal of the Huaping Girls’ High School in Yunnan province, celebrated for her decades of dedication to educating girls from impoverished mountainous areas. devoted all her efforts to education in mountainous areas, lifting up the dreams of countless children there. The reason her deeds are so touching lies precisely in the selfless great love she displays. The vast majority of teachers should diligently cultivate this kind of benevolence that delights in teaching, loves students, and is willing to contribute, use genuine feelings, sincerity, and authenticity to move and transform people, use care and warmth to nourish students’ hearts, and become good teachers and helpful friends to students. Going a step further, teachers shoulder the important responsibility of cultivating the next generation. Correct ideals and convictions are the guiding lights for teaching and educating people and sowing the seeds of the future. This sense of mission should become the internal driving force for teachers to impart knowledge, resolve doubts, and transform customs through education. In the New Era, educator-type teachers should not only become great masters for students in learning, conduct, and character but also cultivate an educational pattern that embraces the world and promote the common values of all humanity.

大国良师还要有大境界。教育家精神所强调的仁爱之心和弘道追求，展现了对教育情怀的崇尚。教育是“仁而爱人”的事业，爱是教育的灵魂，没有爱就没有教育，因此热爱也是教育家精神的底色。“燃灯校长”张桂梅将全部心血奉献给山区教育事业，托举了一个又一个山区孩子的梦想，她的事迹之所以打动人心，正在于她身上展现出的无私大爱。广大教师应勤修这种乐教爱生、甘于奉献的仁爱之心，以真情、真心、真诚感人化人，用关爱温暖滋养学生心田，做学生的良师益友。更进一步说，老师肩负着培养下一代的重要责任。正确理想信念是教书育人、播种未来的指路明灯。这份使命感应该成为教师传道授业、成风化人的内在动力。身处新时代，教育家型的教师不仅要做学生为学、为事、为人的大先生，还要涵养胸怀天下的教育格局，弘扬全人类共同价值。

“When a nation is about to prosper, it must value teachers and respect education.” [5]5 “When a nation is about to prosper, it must value teachers and respect education” is a classical Chinese saying from the *Xunzi* (a foundational Confucian text), highlighting the importance of teachers for national strength. Implementing the action to strengthen teachers through the spirit of the educator, allowing the spirit of the educator to take root and grow in the hearts of the vast majority of teachers, and creating a good environment for them to engage in, enjoy, and love teaching will surely gather even more surging strength for building a strong educational nation.

“国将兴，必贵师而重傅”。实施好教育家精神铸魂强师行动，让教育家精神在广大教师心中扎根生长，为他们从教乐教爱教营造良好环境，必将为教育强国建设凝聚更加澎湃的力量。

(Author: Zhu Fengjuan, Lecturer at the School of Marxism, Shenyang Normal University)

（作者：朱凤娟，系沈阳师范大学马克思主义学院讲师）

Online Editor: Tongxin

网络编辑：同心