Mo Zhai (about 468-376 BC) was a thinker, politician and the founder of Mohism. He represented the handicraft industry and working people in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period (see illustration 1 for Mo Zhai). Most Mohist members come from the front line of production, and The Book of Mohism is their work on Mo Zhai Thought. Among them, some influential expositions on educational thoughts deserve our attention.
1. The purpose and content of education
The purpose of education in Mo Zhai is to cultivate a "saint" or "person who helps the world" who has practical knowledge and skills, has the moral quality of "universal love" and can "love and benefit all people". Therefore, in terms of educational content, in addition to poetry and books, we also pay attention to the teaching of production knowledge and skills and military knowledge and skills.
2. Thinking about the cognitive process
Mo Zhai divides knowledge into three types: knowledge learned through hearing (knowledge learned through teaching), knowledge learned through speaking (knowledge learned through analogy) and knowledge learned through personal experience. He pays special attention to personal experience, which is very enlightening to pay attention to observation and experiment in physics teaching.
Mo Zhai also studied the process of cognition, among which his "four elements of knowledge and three forms of knowledge" is the most distinctive and representative.
Mo Zhai believes that there are four elements in the formation of human cognition: this is what the classic says: "Knowledge is also material." "Knowledge" refers to people's cognitive ability, which is the subjective condition of cognition. "worry, ask for it." "Thinking and seeking" is people's desire for knowledge. "I see, take it." "Knowledge" here only refers to the feeling formed by people's contact with the outside world. At the same time, Mozi also called all kinds of sensory organs "five ways", that is, through "communication", which is a perceptual knowledge formed by five sensory organs: "(ancient wisdom), Ming also." "Meiji" refers to people's profound and clear understanding of things, from "understanding things" to "discussing things", that is, from perceptual understanding to rational understanding. Obviously, the starting point of Mozi's understanding of things here is to admit the existence of objective things and that they are primary things, and human consciousness is the reflection of objective existence and secondary.
So, is people's understanding correct? He put forward that "what you say must be done", that is, he still thinks that standards are needed to measure it. He wrote in Undestiny: "There must be three tables (that is, three marks) in words. What are three tables? Mozi said: "those who have a foundation, those who have a foundation and those who are beneficial." "(2) That is to say, it should be based on the indirect knowledge of the ancients in historical records and verified by the actual experience of the people's eyes and ears, and it should be used in practice to observe whether it is beneficial to the people of the country. Mozi put forward these three standards to test whether cognition is correct in education, and used them to teach students to acquire knowledge and judge right and wrong, which is still of great positive significance to today's physics education.
3. Teaching theory
Mohist school expounds teaching theory according to Mozi's teaching thought and his own knowledge and experience, which is mainly reflected in their incomplete but distinctive teaching principles, mainly including:
(1) Teaching students in accordance with their aptitude means "ring if you don't knock". As for teaching students in accordance with their aptitude, Mohism believes that "children are deep, shallow, beneficial and respectful." In other words, different textbooks and different teaching methods should be adopted according to the different levels of students. "Ring if you don't knock" is the attitude of Confucianism. When Mencius, a disciple of Confucianism, said to Mozi, "A gentleman should be respectful to himself, ask and answer, and stop if he doesn't ask, such as ringing a bell, ringing if he doesn't knock", Mozi clearly stated that "although he doesn't knock, he will ring". Mozi advocated that those who come for advice should of course teach, and those who don't should take the initiative to teach, that is, teachers should have the spirit of taking teaching as their own responsibility. Because students, especially those with learning difficulties, often don't ask questions themselves, it should be said that this spirit is especially necessary for physics teachers.
(2) Cite facts by name and make it clear in the exam. This is the dialectics of Mohism in the relationship between name and reality. What is more valuable is that they put forward the view of "taking the test name", and "taking it" will do. People have realized that action can test knowledge.
(3) At the end of this contract, do what you can. This is the requirement of Mohism for teaching, which can be summarized as follows: First, I have profound knowledge of Taoism and have no miscellaneous studies. Second, the depth is moderate and the complexity is appropriate. Third, take it from the same side and don't choose the flow.
(4) Match words with deeds and their aspirations. Mozi said: "Although a scholar keeps learning, his behavior is internal." In his teaching, he emphasized the unity of knowledge and action and the unity of ambition and merit, that is, to examine the effect of words and deeds, we should not only look at subjective ambition, but also look at the merits of the results. Therefore, he proposed that "words must be kept, and actions must bear fruit; Go strong and don't dare to get tired; Exercise the will and strengthen the will; Combine your ambitions and distinguish your ambitions. " Ask the students to speak, if not, don't say more. Students are also required to strictly exercise themselves and cultivate a strong will. He said, "Without will, there will be no wisdom." "If you are brave and don't practice, you will be lazy afterwards." These teaching theories have certain positive significance for paying attention to the development of students' non-intelligence factors and emphasizing the unity of theory and practice in physics education.
In addition, Mozi also attached importance to the role of social environment in education. For example, he took dyeing silk as an example to describe the change of personality under the influence of the environment. He said: "If it is dyed lightly, it will be faded, and if it is dyed yellow, it will be yellow. If you enter, you will change color. " So he advocates choosing a good environment and benevolent friends.
Second, Wang Chong's educational thought
Wang Chong (AD 27-97) was a great materialist thinker and educator in China during the Han Dynasty (see Figure 2 for the image of Wang Chong). He likes reading a lot, but he doesn't obey the rules and studies hard, so he can "learn from others". The book Lun Heng written by Wang Chong is very rich in content and can be called an encyclopedia of medieval China. In terms of educational thoughts, he boldly and profoundly exposed and criticized the false, tedious and rigid disadvantages in neo-Confucianism education, and put forward some valuable expositions.
1. The value of education
Wang Chong believes that the value of education lies in cultivating children's nature and developing people's talents. Through education, people can "learn more, simplify their nature and carve their talents." To cultivate talents who can not only "know the meaning of the Great Sage" but also "know the people's feelings", such talents should still "be concise, understand the light, judge right and wrong based on profit". It can be seen that the purpose of his education is to cultivate a virtuous gentleman who "works for the country".
2. Teaching principles
Wang Chong has his unique views on teaching and learning, which shows his unique vision.
(1) "take the heart as the original". Wang Chong realized that feeling alone can't reveal the essence of things, and may produce illusions or illusions. He said: "When a husband talks about eyes and ears, he will talk about virtual images. If the virtual image is valid, he will take the fact as a mistake. So those who are right and wrong are not only eyes and ears, but also happy. " It shows that Wang Chong has realized that there is a limit to what he can hear and see due to the limitation of human physiological conditions, and many things cannot be directly experienced. Even if he experiences it directly, he often produces illusions and distortions. Therefore, it is necessary to go through deductive reasoning, that is, the process of rational thinking, which Wang Chong called "taking the heart as the original thing". On this basis, Wang Chong put forward the viewpoint of "effective evidence". He said: "Nothing can be proved unless it is clear that it is effective." It is believed that judging right or wrong, true or false, must be verified by facts before it can be believed.
(2) advocate gradual progress and "never give up studying hard". Wang Chong advocates that learning must be determined to work hard and never stop, so that there is hope for success. He said: "The combination of river and ice was not built in a day, and the accumulated soil became a mountain." He also pointed out that "learning does not stop learning" and "those who are keen will slow down." Ask people not to be exposed to the cold at once, but to study step by step in a down-to-earth manner.
(3) Oppose "loyalty to the past" and advocate "extreme questioning". Wang Chong believes that learning should be creative, innovative and traceable to understand.
(4) Advocating "broadness and sparseness" and advocating "learning to be an excellent official". Wang Chong said, "All rivers run into the sea, so it's famous? A wife has a hundred words, which is still like Hai Huai. " People who are good at learning should be "Taoism is all-encompassing." Only in this way can we be highly intelligent. He said, "People with knowledge and learning have power." "Sages write scriptures, sages write biographies, help the poor, and drive the people back to the truth." It can be seen that he has not only realized the power of knowledge, but also believed that the purpose of acquiring knowledge is to save the world and people. In physics teaching, there is a certain inheritance and development in expanding knowledge, helping to transform society and educating students.
Third, the educational thought of the Tang Dynasty.
The Tang Dynasty was the most prosperous period of feudal economy in the history of China, and also the heyday of feudal education development. Therefore, the valuable experience accumulated and created by the Tang Dynasty in cultivating scientific and technological talents once made China shine in the ancient talent groups. Therefore, the educational thought of the Tang Dynasty has unique significance and certain universality, which deserves our attention.
1. Educational thoughts
(1) specification of scientific and technological talents. Many scientists in the Tang Dynasty attached great importance to the specifications of scientific and technological talents in scientific and technological education. For example, on the basis of summarizing medical practice, Sun Simiao, a medical scientist, solemnly pointed out to later scholars that to master the way of medicine, it is necessary to "dare without desire and be wise without desire". Here, "wisdom" means that you are knowledgeable and resourceful, and you can "play it by ear instead of waiting all day." "Doing the right thing" refers to the integrity of the actor, that is, not deviating from the right path for the benefit, nor worrying about upholding justice. Another example is historian Liu Zhiji, who pointed out in his exposition on historical talents that "there are three strengths in history, namely, talents, knowledge and knowledge, both of which are rare, so there are few historians. A husband has learning but no talent, a fool can't cultivate loans, a talented man has no learning, a skillful craftsman has no axe, and good and evil must be written, so that a proud monarch, a thief and a minister know fear. This is the best. " This thought was regarded as "dogmatism theory" at that time, which echoed Sun Simiao's demand for talents and had a great influence on later generations. It can be described as an important exposition on the talent structure.
(2) Moral education in science and technology. While imparting scientific knowledge and skills, most successful scientists and craftsmen in the Tang Dynasty attached great importance to the education of scientific and technological ethics and the cultivation of professional ethics of scientific and technological talents. At that time, they have realized that high-tech scientific and technological workers can benefit the people, and if they are inferior in morality and superb in technology, they may cause great harm. Therefore, it is an important content in science and technology education to set up the ideal of devoting oneself to the scientific cause and serving the country, which requires learning to "help the poor and help the poor", "not pity the rich and hate the poor", "keep quiet" and "reconcile one's mind and be happy without anger". Today, this is to cultivate students in physics education and let them establish a correct and scientific outlook on life.
(3) Professional education of science and technology. The education of science and technology specialty in Tang Dynasty is mainly manifested in two aspects: on the one hand, it attaches great importance to the cultivation of students' intelligence, puts forward the requirement of "wisdom and roundness", emphasizes the requirement that knowledge can be integrated and applied flexibly in practice, opposes "molecules are ignorant of images and possessors are obsessed with numbers", and pays attention to cultivating scholars' ability to think independently and dare to create; On the other hand, it advocates making the past serve the present, drawing on the strengths of many families, and boldly breaking through the restrictions of Confucianism on attaching importance to learning from the law and guarding the family law. With regard to the importance of integrating the great achievements, Sun Simiao put forward in the Preface to Thousand Gold Prescriptions that "at the beginning of the book, there was the Sui Dynasty, or the classics or the prescriptions, all of which were adopted." Set the secret of home and go to places where people don't say anything. "He also said," one thing is inferior to another, not far away, and in accordance with it. "In other words, his experience and requirements for post-scholars are not only to learn from others, but also to conduct in-depth research, select the best from the rough and have a clear conscience at the same time.
The current physics education in our country requires students to have the lofty ideal of communism, the spirit of serving the people wholeheartedly and a reasonable intelligent structure. In the compilation of teaching materials, it is emphasized that it is beneficial for students to further master physical knowledge and understand the application of physical knowledge, and also pays attention to reflecting the frontier of physics and the latest scientific and technological achievements; Professionally, we attach importance to making students have extensive knowledge and the ability to analyze and solve problems; In terms of teaching methods, the cultivation of physical experiment and practical ability is strengthened, which is the inheritance and development of the spirit of science and technology education in Tang Dynasty.
2. Science and technology teaching materials
The unified textbooks for science and engineering majors in China were issued by the state, starting from the Tang Dynasty. The textbooks for science and engineering majors awarded by it have four characteristics:
(1) integral.
(2) The combination of textbook compilation and research. In the Tang Dynasty, textbooks were compiled for science and technology majors, first-class scientists were selected, and the combination of textbook compilation and scientific research made the textbooks themselves the latest scientific research achievements.
(3) Unique style. Textbooks issued in the Tang Dynasty are all annotated books, which enable students to know their origins and learn new knowledge. Some concentrate on taking notes, so that students can understand the views of various schools, broaden their horizons and enliven their academic thoughts. So this system is convenient for students to learn by themselves.
(4) Illustrated and vivid. In addition, it is also common to describe scientific knowledge with poems and rhymes in the Tang Dynasty, which makes it have a certain sense of rhythm and catchy to read. These are all worth learning from when we are writing physics textbooks at present.