1, for educational purposes
He established the goal of cultivating talents with different levels and specifications, such as benevolence, gentleman and scholar, and then put forward the idea of "being an official with excellent learning" (Chapter 19 of Subchapter), which is of great significance to breaking the aristocratic hereditary system.
2. As far as educational function is concerned.
Confucius put forward the idea of "ruling the country by virtue" and "enriching the people with education", fully affirmed the great influence of education on social, political and economic development, and regarded education as one of the important factors of "governing the country safely". In addition, he also believes that education has a positive impact on the development and perfection of human nature. His simple materialistic proposition that "people are similar in sex, but far in learning" (Chapter 17 of Yang Huo) affirms that people's innate qualities are similar, while personality differences are the result of acquired learning.
3. As far as educational goals are concerned.
He not only put forward "education can't be divided into classes" (Chapter 15 of Ling Wei), but also put forward the generous enrollment conditions of "self-discipline and above, I can't teach anything" (Chapter 7 of Shure). This shows that on the question of who can go to school for education, he advocates that it is not limited by race, region and grade. Actually, it's the same. In Confucius' private school, pure noble disciples are few and far between. Most of them come from all walks of life and from different vassal States. It can be said that the private school he founded expanded the enrollment scope, broke through the shackles of "learning in the official", adapted to the requirements of "culture moving down" and was historically progressive.
4. On the teaching content.
Confucius attached great importance to moral education, putting moral education at the top of the whole education, and advocated "taking Tao as the purpose, relying on morality, relying on benevolence and taking art as a tour" (Chapter VII) and "learning literature if you have spare capacity" (Chapter I on learning). Confucius regards "benevolence" as the core of moral education, emphasizing the combination of "benevolence" and "ceremony", which embodies the spirit of the times. Especially in the specific cultivation methods, Confucius put forward the principles of perseverance, peace of mind, cautious words and actions, introspection and external inspection, being strict with self-discipline, turning good into good, and helping others, which basically conforms to the law of moral education process with the integration of knowledge and action, and has many reasonable factors and merits.
5. As far as how teachers teach.
He first put forward the teaching attitude of "never tire of learning, never tire of teaching" (Chapter VII narration). On the one hand, teachers are required to constantly strive for self-improvement and improve their knowledge level; On the other hand, teachers are required to be highly responsible and selfless to students. Secondly, Confucius attached great importance to heuristic teaching and asked teachers to be good at grasping the opportunity when imparting knowledge. "Don't be angry, don't start work, don't worry, don't make a fuss" (the seventh part of the book), and pay attention to mobilizing students' subjective initiative. Confucius also believes that the purpose of heuristic teaching is to make students "draw inferences from others" and draw inferences from others, so as to achieve "knowing one but two" or even "knowing ten from one". Thirdly, Confucius emphasized teaching students in accordance with their aptitude, that is, adopting different educational methods to achieve pertinence.
6. As far as how students learn.
Confucius also put forward many valuable opinions. To sum up, there are mainly the following points: First, a thoughtful attitude, that is, "knowing is knowing, and not knowing is knowing" (Chapter II is politics). The second is the combination of knowledge, which advocates listening more and asking more questions, "not ashamed to ask questions" (Ye Gong's fifth novel), and regards asking questions as a sign of being good at learning. The third is the combination of learning and thinking, which holds that "learning without thinking is useless, and thinking without learning is dangerous" (Chapter 2 for Politics). Fourthly, we advocate the combination of "learning" and "learning", advocate "learning from time to time" ("learning from time to time", first), and advocate "reviewing old things and learning new things" ("writing for politics", second).
Confucius' educational thought has become a valuable legacy in the history of education in China, and it still has important practical significance even today.