Antiquities are ancient objects and artworks. Many people visit museums to view antiquities. They enjoy seeing these relics of the ancient world as a way of understanding past cultures and sometimes connecting with their own heritage.

Museums get works to show from many different sources. Sometimes they buy them. Other times they receive donations. Today there are strict guidelines forbidding art that has been stolen from other countries. However, antiquities that have been at museums for many years or even centuries may have arrived there by dishonest means. Now, some countries say that museums have a duty to return these antiquities to their original locations.

Should museums return the antiquities? Experts disagree. Malcolm Bell says yes. Bell is a professor of art at the University of Virginia. He says, “Many antiquities and works of art have special cultural value for a particular community or nation. When these works are taken from their original cultural setting, they lose their context and the culture loses a part of its history.”

According to Bell, a country’s request for the return of an antiquity “usually has a strong legal basis.” “It was exported (出口) illegally, probably also dug out illegally, and is now stolen property (财物).” He called the return of antiquities “an expression of justice”.

James Cuno says not always. Cuno is the president of the J. Paul Getty Trust, an art museum in Los Angeles. Cuno agrees that museums have a legal duty to return illegally exported antiquities. However, he doesn’t support the return of works which were got legally. “Land held today by a given nation-state in the past likely belonged to a different country...even if one wanted to return those stolen works of art, where would one do so? Which among the many countries, cities, and museums that own parts of a work of art should be the home of the returned work?” Cuno believes that museums should collect art from the world’s various cultures. This should be done “through buying or long-term loan (长期租借) and working together with museums and nations around the world.”

This debate is far from over. As a complex question with no easy answer, the issue requires more study.

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In the US only about 3% of early childhood teachers are male. Experts say this may have a great influence on young children whose understanding of gender roles and identity is rapidly forming. Research has found that getting access to different teachers is of benefit to children. This means the youngest learners are more likely to be exposed to a wide variety of games and communication. It can also help them develop healthy ideas about gender.

“In our society and world, we tend to have very specific stereotypes (刻板印象) of gender roles,” said Mindi Reich-Shapiro, an assistant professor in the Borough of Manhattan Community College, and one of the authors of a recent study. “It’s necessary for the kids to see other possibilities and paths they can choose.”

Although they largely felt supported by colleagues and families, many male teachers surveyed stated that in their career as early education teachers, they did face social and cultural resistance. Some even noted that the parents were surprised or concerned when they found a male teacher with their kids. Moreover, the male teachers were sometimes advised not to hug children.

Reich-Shapiro and other researchers have made some suggestions to increase the number of male early education teachers. Low wages have long been considered as a major problem in this field. More than 70% of male teachers said they intended to stay in the early education workforce, and pointed out that the major motivator for their commitment to their long-term career was an increased salary. Thus, the report recommended that all preschool educators be paid as much as the primary school teachers. The government should establish support groups and provide guidance and professional advice for male early education educators.

Reich-Shapiro said that traditional recruitment methods for early childhood teachers could not handle the gender gap in the field. He suggests providing young individuals with opportunities to stay and work with children either through training or voluntary programs, targeting groups of men who are considering changing their jobs, such as fathers and fathers-to-be.

In modern society there is a great deal of argument about competition. Some value it highly, believing that it is responsible for social progress and prosperity. Others say that competition is bad, that it sets one person against another and that it leads to unfriendly relationship between people.

I have taught many children who held the belief that their self-worth relied on how well they performed at tennis and other skills. For them, playing well and winning are often live-and-death affairs. In their single-minded pursuit of success, the development of many other human qualities is sadly forgotten.

However, while some seem to be lost in the desire to succeed, others take an opposite attitude. In a culture which only values the winner and pays no attention to the ordinary players, they strongly blame competition. Among the most vocal are youngsters who have suffered under competitive pressures from their parents or society.

Teaching these young people, I often observe in them a desire to fail. They seem to seek failure by not trying to win or achieve success. By not trying, they always have an excuse ,“I may have lost, but it doesn’t matter because I really didn’t try.” What is not usually admitted by them is the belief that if they had really tried and lost, that would mean a lot.

Such a loss would be a measure of their worth. Clearly, this belief is the same as that of true competitors who try to prove themselves. Both are based on the mistaken belief that one’s self-respect relies on how well one performs in comparison with others. Both are afraid of not being valued. Only as this basic and often troublesome fear begins to dissolve can we discover a new meaning in competition.