The discussion on the origin of education involves two issues. First, at which stage of biological evolution did education originate? Secondly, what kind of foundation is education rooted in?
Several representative theories about the origin of education;
(1) Biological Origin of Education This is the first representative view on the origin of education in modern western countries, which was initiated by the French philosopher and sociologist Little. He regarded education as a biological phenomenon and attributed the educational process to instinctive teaching activities in accordance with biological laws. In Li's view, people inherit the ready-made education form after birth. The education of human society is just a constant change and speech, and it has just gained some new attributes, but it is no different from the animal kingdom in essence.
② On the psychological origin of education, the representative figure is American educational historian Luo. According to the fact that the primitive society has not yet formed a systematic knowledge, teaching materials, teaching forms and teaching methods, Meng Lu came to the conclusion that the education process of primitive people never showed a conscious process. Children learn how to use bows and arrows and shoot only by observing and trying successful methods. Almost all skills are learned through repeated imitation and less and less failure. According to Meng Lu's viewpoint, the origin of education is attributed to psychological phenomenon.
(3) The theory of labor origin of education was first put forward by Soviet scholars and was generally accepted by China academic circles. According to this, labor origin theorists believe that labor practice is the main source of people's knowledge and knowledge, and it is the necessary condition for the progress and perfection of physiological structures such as hands and brains to be passed on to future generations; In order to maintain and continue the life of primitive commune, people in primitive society must be taught by experienced elders the knowledge and experience of making and using tools, that is, the experience accumulated gradually in the process of labor. Education is produced under the condition of imparting labor experience, so education originated from labor.
(4) Regarding the origin of educational needs, they do not deny that labor is the essential feature that distinguishes people from animals, and that labor is the first basic need of human life as a whole, but they point out that the content of social life is diverse. In addition to labor experience, some collective habits, codes of conduct, rituals and customs formed in primitive society also need to be passed on to the next generation through educational activities, but these contents cannot, at least, be completely incorporated into the labor category. Therefore, they think the more accurate formulation is: education.
It can be roughly divided into two categories. The first two (that is, biological and psychological origin theory) are representative in the west and can be regarded as one class; What is popular in socialist countries is mostly the variation of the theory of labor origin of education, which can be regarded as another category.
Comparison: In the first category, no matter whether education is interpreted as a biological phenomenon or a psychological phenomenon, education is actually regarded as an unconscious and aimless activity. The biological origin theory of education emphasizes the connection between man and animals, which has its reasonable side, because man evolved from animals; However, it is biased to deny the essential difference between humans and animals. The psychological origin theory of education pays attention to the significance of imitation in children's learning, which is reasonable. Modern psychological theory still emphasizes this view. But this theory further denies the guiding role of adults in children's education, which is also biased.
The second theory of the origin of education regards education as a conscious and purposeful activity unique to human beings; In the primitive stage, education was integrated with material production activities and the whole social life. Its purpose is to transmit the experience of social life and promote the formation, development and perfection of individuals and the formation of social relations. Education is the process of individual socialization. We believe that this view is generally in line with Marxist historical materialism and dialectics, thus laying a foundation for scientifically and reasonably revealing the origin of education.