First, the guiding ideology of education. Confucius advocated "education without class" (Wei Linggong), that is, the educated should have equal opportunities, not the distinction between noble and low. This thought broke the hierarchy of education, expanded the object of education and extended education to the general public, which was undoubtedly of great progressive significance at that time.
Second, about the basic methods of education. Confucius advocated "teaching students in accordance with their aptitude". Confucius said, "If you are above an China person, you can also talk orally; Below China people, you can't say it orally. " That is to say, for people with above average intelligence, you can talk to him about profound truth; People with below-average intelligence should not talk to him about profound truth. In order to carry out this thought, Confucius attached great importance to students' observation and understanding, such as "visiting Guo Ye", "giving to others" and "seeking Ye Yi". On this basis, he adopted different ways of education, such as Ran Qiu's timidity, so we should encourage him; Lutz is bold and self-righteous, so we should restrain him deliberately. Namely: "Seek retreat, so advance; Because I am also a person, I retired. " (Advanced) Confucius also attached importance to the induced enlightenment education. Instead of studying for life and death, it is more important to draw inferences from others, that is, the so-called "telling the past and knowing who will come" (Xueji). Xia Zi talked about the poem "Smiling skillfully, looking forward to Xi with beautiful eyes, always thinking it is gorgeous", thus realizing that "ceremony" should be based on loyalty, benevolence and righteousness, so Confucius praised him: "Giving is also business! It is enough to believe in "poetry". " The person who can inspire me is Xia Zi! Now I can talk to you about the Book of Songs. After listening to the teacher's lecture, Yan Yuan was "rich enough" (politics), and Zi Gong also said that he was "knowledgeable when he heard one thing" (Gong Yechang), so Confucius especially praised Yan Yuan for his cleverness and eagerness to learn. This is the inevitable result of enlightening and inducing education. Confucius particularly emphasized that "if you don't get angry, you won't get angry, you won't get angry, you won't get angry, and you won't get angry if you don't take one corner to top three corners." I won't enlighten him until he thinks hard and can't figure it out, and I won't enlighten him until he wants to talk, but he doesn't understand. If he can't give three examples, I won't teach him any more. Confucius also stressed that on the basis of enlightenment and induction, we must pay attention to gradual progress, that is, "Confucius is good and charming, knowledgeable and polite, and can't stop, not only exhausting my talents, but also surprising." Although I also want to follow, but in the end there is no reason! "(Zi Han) This situation, which makes students study hard but can't stop, is a portrayal of persuasion education and occupies an important position in the history of education in China.
Third, the basic content of education. Confucius has been engaged in education for a long time, with a wide range of educational contents, but the teaching materials he used mostly followed the six arts used in aristocratic schools in Zhou Dynasty, namely, poetry, calligraphy, ceremony, music, Yi, Spring and Autumn. "Zi Suoya said that Poems, Books and Rites." ("Shu Er") "Prosperity, success in music." (Taber) "If you don't learn poetry, you can't speak." "If you don't learn etiquette, you can't stand." (Ji Shi) It can be seen that Confucius used poetry, books, rites and music as common teaching materials to educate students. As for the content of the Book of Changes, it was only in his later years that Confucius studied and put it into teaching. Confucius said, "Learn the Book of Changes in fifty years (Book II). It may also be because the Book of Changes and The Spring and Autumn Annals are relatively advanced subjects, and only a few elite students can study them, so it is said that "two out of seventy people are proficient in the six arts" (Confucius' home). So, among these teaching contents, what does Confucius attach most importance to? From many ideas in The Analects of Confucius, we can see that poetry and etiquette are the main courses of Confucius' teaching. Confucius said, "If you don't learn poetry, you have nothing to say." ("Ji's") "Recite 300 Poems and teach them to be political." ("Lutz") "Three hundred poems. In a word, it is' naive thinking'. " ("Politics") and said: "Li Xia, I can say that it is not enough; Li Yin, what I can say is not enough in the Song Dynasty. Lack of literature. That's enough, then we can collect it. " ("Bashu") "Yin gains and loses, because, so you can know; Zhou's gains and losses are also well known. "These thoughts show that Confucius not only attaches importance to the education of poetic rites, but also attaches importance to the summary, excavation and research of these contents, which has played an important role in enriching and perfecting the content of ancient Chinese education.
Fourth, the training goal of education. In Confucius' view, the purpose of education is not only to purify people's soul and coordinate people's social behavior with benevolence and righteousness, but also to cultivate "officials" and "gentlemen" with benevolence and righteousness, thus serving the society at that time. This is his famous thought of "being an official and learning" (Zhang Ziyu). Because of this, when Ji Kangzi asked his disciples Zhong You, Zi Gong and Ran Qiu if they could "go into politics", Confucius readily promised them that they could "go into politics". In fact, 72% of Confucius' favorite students are politicians, and Confucius himself is not opposed to participating in politics. This shows that Confucius' educational thought and training goal are unified with the social needs at that time, which embodies the social value of education. Of course, Confucius' educational thought inevitably embodies the class attribute, but as a social person, many ideas advocated by Confucius under the historical conditions at that time all have their elements in line with human commonness and are an indispensable part of the traditional virtues of the Chinese nation, which should be dialectically analyzed and discarded.