One of the inspirations of anthropological research to the innovation research of educational theory is to pay attention to observing and analyzing the practical activities of grassroots people. The study of cultural anthropology standardizes the observation and research methods of mass cultural practice activities, and becomes an indispensable basic research stage and operational research method in the research process, which is called "field work". Field work means that anthropologists integrate themselves into the lives of local people in order to truly understand human behavior in a certain place. Therefore, "the process of knowledge construction in anthropology is not from books to books, but from field work to study, and then the new knowledge gained from life is written into books".
In contrast, today's research on some topics of education often seems to be full of research. In the research of these topics, how many researchers start from the long-term observation and in-depth analysis of grass-roots educational activities, and how many are not from the theoretical framework set by educational experts in advance? Experts in anthropology and sociology involved in the field investigation of educational issues in their research, which can be said to provide a research paradigm worthy of reference for educational researchers. As the basic research concept and method of anthropology, "field work" provides a broad foundation and power source for anthropological research. In fact, the innovation of theoretical research in all disciplines should be based on serious practical activities. Educational theory research is no exception.
The second enlightenment of cultural anthropology research to the innovation research of educational theory is that it makes a comprehensive and in-depth study of a certain culture from a "holistic perspective" and tries to give a comprehensive observation and a comprehensive conclusion. This kind of research emphasizes the relationship between things and the analysis of cultural background, thus linking the cultural phenomena observed from field work with a wide range of backgrounds, thus better explaining and understanding the observed characteristics of human social life in this area.
The study of educational problems should draw lessons from the "holistic perspective" and various "background analysis" in anthropological research, and pay attention to using a wider range of background materials. For many educational phenomena or problems, if we can observe and analyze them from a multi-dimensional perspective, we will get more convincing conclusions or effects. In addition, in the past, when we studied some educational problems, although we also paid attention to tracing their history, we often simply sorted out and quoted the clues of historical development, lacking profound and concrete historical analysis and cultural perspective. Anthropological research tells us that when we look at some educational problems, we should deeply study the long-term effect and influence of China's traditional cultural concepts on education and human nature transformation, and combine economic and political factors to carry out research.
Another enlightenment of cultural anthropology research to the innovation research of educational theory is its "cross-cultural research perspective" or "cross-cultural analysis". Like many other social sciences, anthropologists must cross a specific cultural research boundary to conduct comparative anthropological research, just like "comparative education" in educational research. However, it is worth noting that anthropological comparative methods or cross-cultural studies have their own characteristics compared with other social sciences. It is particularly noteworthy that the guiding ideology behind the "cross-cultural perspective" in anthropological research is so-called "cultural universalism" and "cultural relativism". Anthropologists who insist on this "two theories" believe that people all over the world belong to the same genus in biology, and there is no difference between good and bad cultures, but each has its own originality and unique value. Therefore, all cultures should respect each other, understand each other and adopt a tolerant attitude. Anthropological research should observe and analyze social and human behaviors from two aspects: the measurement of theme culture and the measurement of object culture. Only by opposing "ethnocentrism" or "cultural chauvinism" and adhering to this view to guide anthropological research can we ensure the scientific and correct research, because if we think that our own culture is superior, it will inevitably lead to prejudice in the understanding of other national cultures, so it is difficult to obtain real field survey data and fail to achieve the expected objective and fair theoretical research results.
The methods of statistics and comparison are increasingly used in contemporary educational research in China, which should be said to be a great progress in educational research methods. However, due to the lack of concrete and practical first-hand information obtained through long-term in-depth education research, this statistical result often has some errors. At the same time, the so-called educational comparison by scholars can only focus on the macro or sub-macro comparison between countries. It can be said that there are few achievements in educational comparative research based on the observation and investigation of educational researchers. The viewpoints of "cultural universalism" and "cultural relativism" are helpful for us to correctly analyze foreign educational systems and ideas, so as to overcome and reduce some prejudices and shortsightedness that we may have.
/kloc-More than 0/00 years ago, edward tylor, who is known as the "father of anthropology" in the west, pointed out that, just like adding a pole when carrying heavy objects, the addition of anthropology will "quickly reduce the research burden without aggravating it ... it will combine scattered subjects in daily education into an easy-to-master whole". Indeed, although anthropological viewpoints and research methods are not perfect, the comprehensive study of all aspects of human beings contained in anthropological research still has many inspirations for the innovation of our educational theory. In addition to the above aspects, anthropological research has important reference significance for educational research, such as the concern for human subjectivity, the view of cultural adaptation, and the division of three cultural inheritance modes between two generations (so-called "three-figurative culture"). It is precisely because of the close relationship between anthropology and pedagogy that "educational anthropology" combining the two has emerged. With the deepening of anthropological research in China, anthropology will have more and more influence on the whole social science, including pedagogy.