JOURNAL OF ETHNOLOGY, VOL. 15, NO.03, 73-80, 2024 (CN51-1731/C, in Chinese)
DOI:10.3969/j.issn.1674-9391.2024.03.009
Abstract:
Culture can be defined as the root and soul of a country and a nation, and as a consequence the construction of the modern civilization of the Chinese nation should not be separated from the preservation, protection, innovation, and development of Chinese excellent traditional culture, which is a mission entrusted by the new era. In addition, the traditional culture of China’s ethnic minorities is a vital part of the entire traditional Chinese heritage, and its preservation, protection, innovation, and development therefore have significant meaning. For example and as a research object of this study, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region is a multi-ethnic settlement with the largest ethnic population in China, and has rich ethnic cultural resources. This has laid an important foundation for better exerting the effect of cultural education through creative transformation and innovative development of ethnic minority traditional culture.Within this context, colleges and universities should not only serve as bastions of knowledge and education but also as hubs for the spreading of culture and fostering development. Therefore, colleges and universities in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region should spearhead the transmission of traditional ethnic minority culture through education. To effectively fulfill this mission, this paper proposes that it is necessary to clarify the issues of foundations, foothold and focus of traditional ethnic culture education in colleges and universities of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
The foundations can be defined as the unique advantages of these academic institutions in carrying out traditional ethnic minority culture education, which mainly include geographic positioning, academic expertise, and disciplinary focus and rigor. Findings indicate that the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region’s geographic location is in an area where ethnic minorities gather, and the local universities seem to have abundant educational and teaching resources. The academic expertise advantage mainly refers to the large number of ethnic minority teachers in the colleges and universities of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. These educators have integrated the traditional cultures of ethnic groups, yielding a wealth of teaching and scientific research results. This has significantly contributed to the theoretical and intellectual foundation of ethnic traditional culture education, thereby enhancing the teaching content. The disciplinary focus and rigor advantage mainly refers to the fact that the academic disciplines or specialties that highlight the characteristics of national cultural education have already actively engaged in the preservation and promotion of high Chinese traditional culture. With a focused approach to educational reform, these disciplines aim to bolster cultural self-confidence and awareness. The advantage of “foothold” refers to the objectives and responsibilities of traditional ethnic minority culture education in Guangxi colleges and universities. Research reveals these include enhancing a sense of identity among university students towards traditional ethnic minority culture, deepening the integration of traditional ethnic minority culture and professional education, and enhancing the effectiveness of traditional ethnic minority culture education through successful outcomes in transformation . The “focus” refers to charting a course for ethnic minority culture education within Guangxi’s universities and colleges. This would involve integrating ethnic minority traditional culture into the ideological and political theory course teaching, and organically incorporating these ethnic cultural elements into the curriculum of professional courses. These initiatives would aim to organize and carry out ethnic cultural education activities, making full use of the local social resources of traditional ethnic minority culture, and innovating an education model of “Internet + Traditional Ethnic Minority Culture”.
Key Words:
traditional ethnic minority culture; education; Guangxi universities; responsibility of education