The first part (chapter 1-5) discusses the purpose of life and the educatability of people.
Based on Genesis and traditional teleology, the author thinks that man should not only know himself, but also know God, because God is the root of eternal life, wisdom and happiness, and man is God's creation, love and image. He believes that strictly speaking, worldly life is not life, but a prelude to eternal life. The worldly life is only the preparation for eternal life, and its purpose is to let the soul take the body as the intermediary to prepare all kinds of useful things for the future life. The ultimate goal of man is to share eternal happiness with God. Therefore, man should be a rational animal, the master of all creation, and the image and love of the creator in tangible creation. Life achievement: I am familiar with everything and have the ability to control everything and myself; God who brings himself and everything to the source of all things. All the advantages of human beings are fully manifested in the three qualities of erudition, virtue and piety, which are the basis of this life and the next life and the main points of our life. At the same time, he believes that people can also be educated. "No one can be too wild to be tamed, as long as he listens patiently to teaching and knowledge."
The second part (Chapter 6-9) mainly discusses the purpose of education and its social function.
The author believes that the seeds of knowledge, virtue and piety are born in us, but they should be obtained from prayer, education and action. Only through proper education can a person become a person. The purpose of education is to develop people from four aspects: knowledge, morality, filial piety, art and physique. In addition, shaping and educating people should start from childhood, because at this time, desires are boiling, thoughts are fast, and memories are firm. Therefore, at a very young age, it is necessary to cultivate people who meet the wisdom standards and develop good habits.
The author believes that the emergence of schools creates the necessary conditions for children to receive education. Not only the children of rich and powerful people should go to school, but all boys and girls in the town, rich and poor, should go to school. He firmly believes in the possibility of human development through education and refutes the argument that "mentally retarded" children are not suitable for learning. "The more dull and weak a person's mind is, the more he needs help in order to get rid of rudeness and stupidity as much as possible"; There is no one in the world whose intelligence is too weak to be improved through education.
The third part (chapter 10- 14) demonstrates the necessity and possibility of reforming old education and establishing new schools.
The author believes that everyone should receive a comprehensive education, and should do it with the help of the school: "Cultivate our talents through scientific and artistic research; Learn Chinese; Form sincere virtue; Worship God devoutly. Schools should become workshops to train people and realize the real purpose of life. " But where there was no perfect school at that time, schools were established not for the whole society, but only for the rich; The method of teaching young people in schools is very harsh. Schools have become a place of terror for children and a slaughterhouse to show their talents. Most students hate study and books. Those who continue to study have not received serious or extensive education, but only an absurd and harmful education; Schools can't cultivate moral character, but only cultivate a hypocritical moral appearance, a boring, foreign cultural fur and some eyes and hands that specialize in secular vanity. Therefore, Comenius particularly emphasized the need to reform old education and build new schools. Its new education system mainly includes the following contents: (1) All young people can receive education; (2) They can learn everything that can make people wise, virtuous and pious; (3) Education is the preparation of life and can be completed before adulthood; (4) Education should adopt gentle, relaxed and natural methods, not harsh or compulsory methods; (5) This kind of education should be true and thorough; (6) Education is easy. Classroom teaching lasts only four hours a day. A teacher can teach hundreds of students at the same time, and the degree of hard work is less than that of teaching a student now 10 times. He believes that there is a universal natural order in the universe, and regards education conforming to nature as the leading principle of school reform. He asked teachers, like gardeners, painters and architects, to follow the footsteps of nature and seek the order of education from nature. Order is the first principle of teaching art, which teaches everything to all people. There are also five teaching principles: (1) the principle of prolonging life; (2) the principle of simplifying subjects in order to acquire knowledge more quickly; (3) the principle of seizing opportunities and ensuring the availability of knowledge; (4) the principle of developing the mind and making knowledge easy to obtain; (5) The principle of sharpening judgment and making knowledge thorough.
The fourth part (chapter 15- 19) demonstrates the basic laws and principles of teaching in detail.
The author points out that a good school organization mainly lies in the reasonable distribution of work and rest, but depends on the distribution of reading, relaxation, tension and entertainment. Teachers should guide children to abide by the three principles of moderate diet, physical exercise and attention to rest, and keep their lives healthy as long as possible. In order to make children grow sturdily, the author puts forward a series of requirements and suggestions for teaching and learning. For example, people's education should start from childhood; It is best to read books in the morning; All subjects should be arranged to suit the age of students. Comenius emphasized the principles of convenience, thoroughness and quickness in teaching, and put forward many valuable suggestions, such as canceling the method of compulsory indoctrination to stimulate children's consciousness and initiative in learning; Teaching should start with observation and use intuitive methods; The arrangement of teaching content should be from easy to difficult, from simple to complex, from near to far, from general to special, so as to clear the obstacles for learning before using; Arrange courses according to students' intellectual characteristics; Strengthen practice and practice to consolidate knowledge; Implement class teaching system, make detailed teaching plan and so on.
The fifth part (chapter 20-25) is devoted to educational methods.
The author thinks that science is knowledge about nature, and the following rules must be observed in science teaching: (1) Teach students everything they should know; (2) The content taught can be applied in daily life; (3) Teaching through the causes of things; (4) Teach the truth of things first, and then teach the details of things; (5) Everything should be taught in order; (6) Emphasize the differences between things, and make the knowledge acquired by students clearer.
Art is closely related to practice. To learn an art, students need three things besides preparing tools, materials and models: correct use of materials, skilled guidance and regular practice. Therefore, art teaching must emphasize imitation, practice and continuous practice.
Chinese is a means for us to acquire knowledge and pass it on to others. Chinese teaching should pay attention to three problems: mastering grammar rules, linking things with learning and practicing more.
On the method of moral education, he put forward the following suggestions: (1) First, we should cultivate the main virtues such as prudence, temperance, perseverance and integrity; (2) Prudence should be obtained by receiving good teaching and learning the real difference between things and the relative value of those things; (3) Cultivate temperance in children's diet, sleep and getting up, work and play; (4) Perseverance should learn self-restraint; (5) Virtue should be taught early before evil takes over the mind; Virtue is gained by doing the right thing often. In addition, regarding textbooks, he thinks that the Bible is the only real source of knowledge, and students should spend all their time seeking its true meaning.
The sixth part (Chapter 26-33) discusses school management.
Comenius believes that discipline is the driving force and driving force of the school. However, discipline education is not compulsory and flogging. We should use good examples and gentle words to care for students sincerely and frankly. Sudden anger can only be used in exceptional circumstances, and it is necessary to deliberately restore a good impression on the result.
He believes that the period from birth to the age of 24 is a period of youth and talent training. Learning should start from infancy and continue until adulthood. Twenty-four years can be divided into four distinct stages: infancy, childhood, adolescence and adolescence, each of which lasts for six years. Therefore, schools suitable for their age characteristics should be established. A mother-in-law school is set up in the family, and mothers provide preschool education to children aged 65,438+0-6, mainly to exercise various sensory organs, so that they can distinguish things around them and lay a foundation for their future growth. Every township has set up a Chinese language school to provide primary education for all children aged 6- 12, mainly using reading, writing and painting to train their imagination. Latin schools should be set up in larger cities, so that students can use dialectics, grammar, rhetoric and other sciences and arts to understand and judge the knowledge collected by the senses according to the law of causality. Set up universities in the country or province to provide higher education for the "wise men" in the 18-24 age group and study four subjects closely related to the will, namely, "theology teaches us to restore the harmony of the soul; Philosophy teaches us to restore spiritual harmony; Medicine teaches us to restore the harmony of the main functions of the body; The law teaches us to restore harmony in external affairs. " Comenius believes that these four schools are not only related but also different. Parenting schools and Putonghua schools accept all young men and women. Latin schools give more comprehensive education to students who have ambitions beyond the workshop; Universities train future teachers and scholars, so that churches, schools and countries will never lack suitable leaders. Finally, he discussed the conditions for realizing his educational ideal and called on teachers, scholars, theologians, emperors and officials to fully support and realize his educational ideal.