1, attack fools with literary education and cultivate knowledge. There were a large number of illiterate people in China at that time. In order to solve the phenomenon of low national education level, the first thing to do is to eliminate illiteracy among young people, popularize their writing, and educate them in basic knowledge so that they can have a certain level of knowledge and culture.

2. Get rid of poverty through livelihood education and cultivate productivity. At that time, in China, especially in rural areas, people generally lived in dire straits, hovering on the edge of life and death. Therefore, Yan pointed out that people's living standards should be improved in many ways. For example, through education, farmers can have basic agricultural scientific knowledge, increase output value, develop the economy in various ways of cooperation, and advocate farmers to develop various sideline industries and handicrafts.

3, attack the weak with health education, cultivate the strong, and advocate paying attention to health and medical facilities and equipment.

4. Use civic education to combat self-interest and cultivate unity. Through education, citizens can have basic moral qualities and cultivate public interests and unity. In the "four major educations", Yan believes that civic education should be the foundation.

Yan is a famous civilian educator in China, and is known as the father of international and national civilian education. He not only took the lead in conducting civilian education experiments in Dingxian County, Hebei Province, but also carried out reform practices in Thailand, Cambodia and other places. Therefore, his thoughts have a far-reaching impact not only on the education in China, but also on the education in the world.