A. Dewey B. Liang Shuming C. Tao Xingzhi D. Rousseau

Analysis: This question examines Dewey's thoughts.

The main viewpoints of Dewey's pragmatic pedagogy are: (1) Education is life, education is growth, and education is the continuous transformation or reorganization of experience. (2) School is society. (3) Learn by doing. (4) Student-centered. (5) Curriculum organization centers on students' experience and interests. Therefore, item A is correct.

Item B Liang Shuming devoted himself to the theory and practice of rural education and put forward the theory of rural education. Item C Tao Xingzhi put forward the theory of life education: life is education, society is school, and teaching and learning are integrated. Item D Rousseau advocates naturalistic educational thought and thinks that the goal and fundamental principle of education is "returning to nature". Therefore, choose a in this question.

From the perspective of the relationship between education and social life, he put forward that the essence of education is life, children's instinctive growth always develops under certain circumstances, and life is development; Development and growth are life.

Education is life, which is one of Dewey's views on the essence of education.

He said that the word "life" is used to represent all human race experiences. It includes not only social production level and family economic conditions, but also social system, customs, people's beliefs, entertainment and occupation.

Life is the sum of people's experiences in these two aspects. Such human social life must be the process of human gaining experience, communicating and transmitting experience. Therefore, education is closely related to social life, and education must be integrated with children's life, which is one aspect of the essence of education.