The Shadow of Great Britain

Chapter 1137: Chapter 112: Shared Faith_3

When they’re a bit older, they can read fashionable novels created by Great Dumas, Dickens, and others.

During their university years, various academic treatises await them.

This business has immense potential!

The thought of this made Arthur forget about his scheduled meeting with Gauss completely, and his face was filled with smiles.

A good mood also helped him quickly recall the speech he had prepared earlier.

He knew that at the University of Gottingen, both professors and students supported liberal reforms deep down, but professors were restricted by their positions, and thus many things couldn’t be openly expressed.

The task given to him by His Majesty the King and the Kingdom of Hanover government was simple; Sir Arthur Hastings was the Kingdom’s constitutional reform consultant.

The new constitution of the Kingdom was a liberal constitution close to the British system, but freedom for freedom’s sake couldn’t be too free.

Otherwise, the King wouldn’t have picked someone from Scotland Yard, sending Sir Arthur Hastings, this so-called executioner in the eyes of London citizens, to act as a police reform consultant.

Arthur cleared his throat and spoke with a smile: “Although the debate about philosophy and natural philosophy is not a pleasant topic, nonetheless, regarding the internal academic reforms, I support the philosophers’ views, as well as the natural philosophers’ views.”

This segment of Arthur’s speech made the professors furrow their brows, thinking the new Academic Director was mediating without taking sides.

But in the next moment, Arthur’s words altered their views.

“All things considered, in terms of education, I am a supporter of William von Humboldt. Perhaps many present here know that I graduated from the University of London, and although this institution’s founding was not long ago, its educational philosophy differs from that of England’s traditional church universities.

In admissions, the University of London doesn’t consider religious beliefs, lineage, nationality, or race; as long as one desires to study at the University of London, we welcome them without fail. In this regard, we refer to Humboldt’s reform measures from when he served as Director of the Cultural and Education Department of the Prussian Home Office.

Humboldt strongly opposed the class schools of that time, advocating for the abolition of all Knight and Warrior academies where only children of nobility could enroll. He wished for everyone to receive education, everyone to receive the same general education.

From this idea, he attempted to establish a unified school system from elementary education through secondary education to university education. However, during the reform process, Humboldt also recognized the vast development space for vocational education in society. Thus, Humboldt eventually established an education system based on vocational and general education.

All of you here are German, so you should know better than I. Since 1797, Prussia has mandated universal compulsory education, where urban elementary schools are rather formal, with a four-year system taught by formally educated teachers and rural elementary schools generally only having 1-2 grades.

The funding for elementary education comes from all the residents of cities or towns. Secondary education is divided into vocational and high academic secondary schools. The former is a type of five-year vocational school that children enter after completing four-year elementary school, with no Greek language teaching, but reinforced with mathematics, natural sciences, and other foreign language training.

The latter is a nine-year school that students enter after completing elementary school, and they can directly advance to university upon graduation. This type of school drew immense attention from Humboldt; he demanded the abolition of outdated, lifeless teaching methods focused on imitation and rote memorization, promoting independent inquiry and stimulating student interest…

Arthur paused briefly; he noticed the professors’ gaze had changed.

From initial skepticism, to sudden amazement, and slowly accepting, they seriously listened to his speech.

Thus, it was evident how extensive research truly can earn the respect of professionals.

Arthur continued: “Although from a short-term perspective, Prussia’s education system hasn’t yet produced sufficiently impressive results. Thirty years have passed, and still, Prussia’s industry and economy cannot be compared to Britain and France.

But we must also notice that if we compare vertically, we’ll see that compared to thirty years ago, most Prussian officials and politicians have received higher levels of education, and their scholars’ progress in academic fields is startling. This also indirectly shows that Humboldt’s educational reform was correct.

And Humboldt’s university-level education reform mainly focused on ‘academic freedom’ and ‘integration of education and research.’ Compared with secondary education aimed at training vocational workers and junior clerks, the university’s goal is not to create a cog within the societal machine, nor to train someone devoted to a particular profession, rather to cultivate a genuine ‘person.’

In this regard, the University of Gottingen has always performed excellently, serving as a benchmark for the Deutsch University in Humboldt’s eyes. During the more than a week since my arrival in Germany, I have already fully observed the diversity of Gottingen students. Among them, there’s the Austrian Prime Minister who proposed strengthening university control in the Confederal Parliament, and the younger students opposing senior decisions in taverns, as well as the neutral middle-ground representatives who are indifferent to all this and simply enjoy walking their dogs…”

Upon hearing this, the professors couldn’t help but laugh: “Indeed, we emphasize nurturing students into complete individuals, but specifically what they become, is beyond our control.”

Arthur laughed and nodded: “Maintaining species diversity in the campus is definitely necessary, for it indicates that the ecological environment at the University of Gottingen is excellent.”

Jacob Grimm jested: “How does it compare with the University of London?”

Arthur pondered for a moment and thoughtfully replied: “Though I am unwilling to critique my alma mater, the ecological environment at the University of London might be a bit too good, as bananas might start growing on the ground.”

William Grimm laughed and asked: “So, are you intending to change us to be like the University of London?”

“Not really, I wouldn’t want Gottingen to turn into a place with monkeys running around everywhere.”

Arthur jokingly said: “However, I believe: truth will inevitably be discovered, and the task of teaching is to equip students with the ability to discover truth, and encourage them to fulfill this mission. Therefore, to some extent, as educators, we should merely point them in the right direction, without imposing excessive constraints. Today, I wish to emphasize Humboldt’s declaration on ‘academic freedom,’

and ‘academic freedom’ encompasses: university autonomy, teaching freedom, and learning freedom. University autonomy means the nation should allow university leaders to manage independently, not presume the role of the owner just because they provide funds and resources, and refrain from interfering arbitrarily, which would counteract the university’s inherent development laws.

Teaching freedom means university leaders should allow professors to teach and research freely, ensuring scholars can work freely within universities, unaffected by any political or religious factions, unbound by curricula, and administrative regulations should not appear in university teaching.

Learning freedom means professors should allow students to freely choose what and how they want to learn in school. The knowledge professors impart shouldn’t be learned, but studied. They are no longer children, but mature, independent individuals; their thoughts and bodies are free.”

As soon as Arthur finished speaking, it brought about rounds of applause from the professors.

They indeed had hoped the new Academic Director would be an enlightened individual, but Arthur’s level of enlightenment still exceeded their most favorable expectations.

Professor Herbart heard this, his face changing color in surprise; he quickly stood to intervene: “But isn’t what you are doing opposed to the ‘Carlsbad Resolution’ amendment? They object to just these.”

When Arthur heard this, he merely shook his head with a smile and said: “Professor, do you remember what the amendment says?”

Professor Herbart replied strictly: “The responsibilities and duties of the National Special Representative lie in overseeing students and professors, removing professors with unsuitable radical thoughts, and strictly surveilling the Student Union, banning all suspicious university club activities.”

“Exactly.”

Arthur began to say: “Based on my one-week tight supervision, I believe that all professors at the University of Gottingen are dutiful, devoid of any unsuitable radical thoughts. Also, the students’ activities and demands are within the reasonable range. Thus, I, Arthur Hastings, National Special Representative and Academic Director of the University of Gottingen, hereby announce that starting today, the activities of the Gottingen Student Union will resume, and a student cadre election event will be held before next weekend.”