Education is growth.
Dewey believes that children's psychological development is basically a process of continuous development and growth of natural functions such as emotion, impulse and wisdom with instinct as the core, and the purpose of education is to promote the growth of this instinct. On this basis, Dewey put forward the famous "child-centered" educational principle.
2. Education is life
In Dewey's view, people can't be divorced from the environment, and schools can't be divorced from the immediate life. Therefore, education is life itself, not preparation for future life. He believes that education must be combined with children's direct life, and children must be taught to adapt to the direct living environment, which is the essence of education. According to "education is life", Dewey put forward a basic educational principle-"school is society". It is intended to make school life a selected, purified and ideal social life, and make the school a society that conforms to the embryonic form of children's development.
3. Education is the continuous transformation of experience.
Experience is the core concept in Dewey's pragmatic philosophy and pragmatic education system. He believes that education is a continuous process from known experience to unknown experience. This process is not to teach children existing scientific knowledge, but to let children constantly increase their experience in activities. The acquisition of experience is inseparable from children's personal activities, so Dewey put forward another basic principle of education-"learning by doing", which he believes is the central principle of teaching.
Fourthly, about the purpose of education.
1. "education without purpose" (that is, "education without purpose")
Based on the theory that education is growth and life, that is, the continuous transformation of experience, Dewey proposed that education is a process, and education has no purpose except its own development. Dewey is not a general teleology of education. He opposes the universal ultimate goal and emphasizes the specific goal in the minds of educators and educatees in the process of education. Of course, it is one-sided to emphasize only the educational process and talk about the educational purpose without social influence.
2. The social purpose of education
The social purpose of education is to serve social progress and the perfection of democratic system. Dewey believes that the purpose in the process does not deny the social function and social purpose of education. On the contrary, education is the basic method of social progress and social reform, and school is the most basic and effective tool of social progress and reform. Dewey demanded that education serve social progress and the perfection of democratic system.
Verb (abbreviation of verb) on curriculum and teaching materials
1. Criticize traditional curriculum
Dewey strongly opposes the existing knowledge-centered curriculum and textbooks used in traditional education. He thinks that traditional courses are extremely poor in intellectual education, and textbooks are full of boring things. He proposed that "teaching materials should be psychological". Children should estimate their psychological level when acquiring knowledge, and various forms of activity homework should occupy a central position in the curriculum, so that children can learn by doing.
2. Learning by doing
For teaching and curriculum, Dewey's basic principle is "learning by doing". Traditional teaching materials and teaching methods are divorced from children's own needs and do not consider children's personal life and experience. We should provide students with a "well-equipped environment", so that students can learn by doing and gain experience by doing, so as to master knowledge and develop their thinking ability.
Six, about thinking and teaching methods
1. Thinking method
Thinking includes five steps: sensory suggestion; Clarify the problem; Propose a solution hypothesis; Inferring the result; Test hypothesis.
2. Teaching steps
On the basis of thinking theory, Dewey developed five steps of thinking in the teaching process and formed five steps of teaching: first, there must be a real experience situation; Second, there is a real problem; Third, he should have knowledge and materials; Fourth, formulate methods to solve problems; Fifth, test methods. It can also be simply summarized as: situation-problem-data-method-test.
Seven, about moral education
Dewey believes that the task of moral education is to coordinate the relationship between individuals and society. He put forward the new individualism: (1) The new individualism emphasizes the cooperation between people rather than ruthless competition, which is implemented in education, while Dewey especially emphasizes the cultivation of children's cooperative spirit and requires schools to cultivate citizens for a truly cooperative society; (2) Neo-individualism attaches importance to the role of rationality.
Eight, the influence of Dewey's educational thought
Dewey is the representative of western modern educational thought and a giant in the history of world educational thought. His educational theory is not only systematic and comprehensive, but also full of modern flavor, which laid the cornerstone of modern educational thought.