Difference:

First, educational purposes are different. Herbart emphasized that education is the preparation for people's future life; Dewey put forward the theory of aimless education. He opposes the external, fixed and ultimate educational purpose. In Dewey's view, the external educational purpose is imposed, and children's instincts and needs cannot be fully considered; The fixed educational purpose lacks flexibility and cannot adapt to the changing specific situation; The ultimate goal of education is a theoretical fiction and hypothesis, because the world is constantly changing. "There is no purpose outside the educational process itself; It is its own purpose. " "Education is growth; There is no other purpose outside itself. " This is Dewey's most famous teleology of education.

Second, the status of teachers and students is different. Herbart emphasizes that teachers are the center, teachers are the main body and students are in a passive position; Dewey put forward the child-centered theory, demanding that the whole education process be child-centered and respect children's nature;

Third, the curriculum is different. Herbart emphasizes taking systematic knowledge as the center, attaching importance to subject learning and ignoring students' life experience. Based on his empiricism philosophy, Dewey put forward the curriculum theory of "learning by doing" and learning from experience. Dewey has always opposed taking textbooks written by adults and experts as the important content of education, and advocated taking children's direct experience as the starting point of education. He emphasized the organization, abstraction and generalization of direct experience.

Fourth, the teaching methods are different. Herbart emphasizes teachers' teaching, and Dewey attaches great importance to this teaching method of learning by doing or learning from experience. This method emphasizes that teaching must consider the characteristics of children's natural development, children's acceptance ability and individual differences, children's needs and demands in teaching, and let children learn actively.

Fifth, the teaching emphasis is different. Herbart emphasizes students' mastery of knowledge. Dewey is very concerned about the cultivation and training of students' thinking ability. He requires students to master scientific thinking methods.

Sixth, the teaching process is different. In the teaching process, Dewey put forward a five-stage process according to the cognitive development of students in learning by doing: finding problems from situations; Ask questions from difficulties; Make various assumptions to solve the problem; Infer which hypothesis can solve the problem; After testing, the hypothesis is revised and the conclusion is drawn. It can be summarized as five steps: difficulty, question, hypothesis, verification and conclusion. Some people call it five-step teaching method. Herbart tried to explain the teaching process according to psychology, put forward four stages: clarity, association, system and method, and revealed some laws of classroom teaching. This theory has played a positive role in guiding and improving teaching practice, and also marks the formation of teaching process theory. Herbart's teaching process theory was later developed by his students. Herbart's teaching process theory pays attention to the application of psychology in teaching, attaches importance to the teaching of systematic knowledge and skills, gives full play to teachers' leading role in teaching, strengthens classroom teaching and standardizes classroom, all of which improve teaching and quality.

Similarities:

Herbart and Dewey lived in different times, so there must be many differences in their educational thoughts. Education itself has historical inheritance, so their educational thoughts are similar.

First, it is emphasized that people trained by education serve social development;

Second, everyone attaches importance to students' moral education;

Third, emphasize the teaching stage and analyze the teaching process. Herbart put forward the three-stage theory, and Dewey put forward the five-step method of thinking or exploring.