Since the mid-20th century, some countries in the world (Japan, the Soviet Union, the United States, Britain) and China have set off a wave of development of subject pedagogy in the field of educational science. Geography pedagogy and pedagogy of other disciplines came into being at the same time. Almost without exception, all these subject pedagogy have experienced a development process of subject pedagogy-subject pedagogy-subject textbook pedagogy. The birth and development of pedagogy, an international discipline, is not an accidental phenomenon, but has its objective basis: since the middle of the 20th century, the international educational science has developed rapidly, and the analysis and synthesis of educational science have also been significantly improved. The results of studying the general education law from a macro perspective can no longer meet the needs of the development of education and the cultivation of modern talents. Therefore, at the same time, it has become an urgent task and pioneering direction for the development of educational science today to carry out concrete and in-depth exploration and research from the microscopic aspect and from the knowledge of various disciplines, give full play to the educational functions of various disciplines and accelerate the cultivation of modern new people in an all-round way; At the same time, the teaching of subject education must also have the systematic structure and theory of the subject and build a scientific method system. Therefore, the study of teaching and learning in specialized subjects, rather than general pedagogy courses, makes the discipline of modern educational theory, that is, the evolution and development of subject pedagogy to pedagogy in various disciplines, an inevitable trend. The birth of geography pedagogy is no exception, which is the common need of social progress for talent cultivation and scientific development.
Second, geography pedagogy must be sublimated into geography education philosophy.
The development of geography pedagogy should be sublimated into the philosophy of geography education, which is also the inevitable trend of the development of geography pedagogy. The history of scientific cognition shows that people's scientific cognition always tends to be universal. The so-called generalization (taking natural science as an example) means that scientists should rise from their own understanding of science to a comprehensive understanding of the overall law of nature, and then form a correct view of the objective development law of nature. This process of knowledge rising is what people call the process of scientific sublimation. Scientific sublimation is the necessity of the development of human scientific understanding. Mr. Gao Xinghua elaborated this very well in the article "On the Necessity of Scientific Sublimation". The main arguments are as follows:
1. Major natural science theories should be upgraded to a correct view of nature.
On the one hand, scientists spread scientific achievements and methods from one science to another, and from one field to another, in order to gain more understanding of the specific laws of nature; On the other hand, scientists, especially those engaged in theoretical research on important topics, always build a picture of the scientific world with their own scientific theories as the core, in an attempt to reflect their overall views on the nature of contemporary science, so as to sum up the correct explanation of the laws of unity and universality of nature.
2. Scientific understanding should force the general conclusion of the theory to be tested.
In order to get scientific laws or theoretical achievements in line with objective reality in the exploration of scientific understanding, or to make a correct explanation of the scientific achievements already made, scientists must also understand and think about the overall laws of nature. As early as the19th century, Engels pointed out: "Today's natural scientists, whether they like it or not, are irresistibly forced to examine the general conclusions of the theory."
It is particularly important to emphasize that scientific research will experience more difficulties, obstacles, setbacks and failures besides the normal discussion channels. At this time, scientists are forced to think on the level of natural view, trying to find a reasonable understanding picture and method, correct their own thinking and operation, clarify the confusion in understanding and operation, so as to get rid of the predicament they face and promote the progress of research work.
At the turn of the 20th century, many new facts and phenomena appeared in physics, which made the original classical explanation invalid and caused the "crisis" of physics. Some physicists are depressed, hesitant and sad because they can't find a way out. Einstein made a general thinking about this and reached a scientific conclusion-relativity, which promoted the progress and development of physical science. He said with deep feelings: "The current difficulties in physics force physicists to master philosophical problems more deeply than their predecessors."
3. Generalization of scientific knowledge should be considered.
At present, science is constantly being divided and synthesized, and the great synthesis on the basis of great differentiation is not only the synthesis of scientific theories and empirical facts in this discipline, but also the implementation of large-span synthesis in a wider scope. This synthesis is a universal form for human beings to understand the interrelation and interaction between various fields of nature, and it is a universal view of nature. Therefore, there is intersection and integration between them and philosophy, and the boundary between them becomes blurred, even difficult to distinguish and demarcate. In other words, synthesis endows scientific philosophy with attributes to a certain extent.
Therefore, at present, the general view is that the development of science has the trend of scientific philosophy and scientific philosophy. The scientization of philosophy shows that philosophers study hard and absorb many achievements of modern science more consciously in order to create and lay a more solid scientific foundation for their own philosophy; At the same time, philosophers try their best to study scientific problems under the premise of certain philosophical thoughts, and use their own philosophical advantages as the theoretical reference system of scientific thinking, thus forming their own unique opinions on some important and complex scientific issues; Philosophization of science is a research trend for scientists to move towards a broader field with philosophical significance on the basis of existing science. This trend has its corresponding manifestations in all stages of scientific development, but it is more prominent in contemporary times. This is because of the high differentiation of contemporary science and the new synthesis of science. This trend is an inevitable phenomenon with the revelation of the internal relationship between scientific research objects.
Science sublimates into philosophy. Philosophy of science is the general law of scientific development, and geography education is also inseparable from this objective law. Sublimation to the philosophy of geography education has become an inevitable trend of its future development. Moreover, more importantly, geography education is in a difficult and even crisis period, and the guidance of philosophy is more important.
Since the founding of New China, geography education in China has experienced various twists and turns: from the end of 1949 to the end of 1957, geography education has made great breakthroughs and progress; 1958 ~ 1966 is the shrinking period of geography education; From 1966 to 1976, the "Cultural Revolution" movement brought the whole geography education to a complete halt, the geography department of middle schools was suspended, and the geography research institute was dissolved. From 1977 to 1994, geography education has resumed and undergone major reforms. From 1994 to 1998, geography education was once again in trouble because of the cancellation of geography subjects in the college entrance examination. 1998 geography resumed the college entrance examination, and geography education took a turn for the better, but the shadow of that dilemma in the past is not easy to disappear. It should be said that the main reason why geography education is facing difficulties lies in geography science and geography education itself, and in the backwardness and poverty of its own theory. Mr. Jin Baocai said that the current geographical science gives people the impression of "staying in the stage of explaining and explaining geographical phenomena"; Mr. Zhang Weibang said that "the lack of theory makes geography often lack the depth and persuasiveness it deserves when solving practical problems"; Mr. Wang also believes that "geography is not theoretical enough, which always makes people feel that the conceptual conditions are not strict enough, the causal relationship is not clear enough, and the quantitative and qualitative relationship is not accurate enough. In particular, the theoretical expression lacks concise formulas. Once we return to practice to test, it is often a similar and inaccurate phenomenon due to the influence of many different factors. Learning is therefore difficult to master. " In this case, in order to change the present situation of geography education and get rid of the predicament, we must turn to philosophy, as Engels said: "Only dialectics can help natural science overcome theoretical difficulties." At present, it is necessary to combine the concept of geography education with practice to answer the fundamental question of the times: for example, why is the development of geography education so difficult? The relationship between geography education and the development of productive forces, socialist modernization and economic globalization: the position and role of geography education in scientific development; the significance of geography education in cultivating people's quality; the characteristics and laws of the development of geography pedagogy; Geography education, teaching methods and systems, etc. We need comprehensive philosophical knowledge to answer these fundamental questions and give people rational thinking.
In the mid-1990s, when the national college entrance examination cancelled the geography subject, which led to the plight of geography education, many colleagues in the geography field, including the author, tried to express their views from various aspects and discussed them. Now it seems necessary to summarize these discussions from a philosophical point of view in order to deepen the understanding of geography education and promote the development of geography education.
Third, the construction of the concept of geography education.
The philosophy of geography education is the intermediary and bridge between philosophy and geography pedagogy. In essence, it is an interdisciplinary subject produced by the fusion of the above two kinds of knowledge. From the philosophical point of view, it is a sub-philosophy; From the perspective of geography education, it is the sublimation of geography education and belongs to a higher theoretical level.
Specifically, the philosophy of geography education can be understood as clarifying the philosophical problems in the field of geography education from the inside of geography education and teaching activities, giving a bird's eye view of all important aspects of geography education and focusing on rational thinking on the most common problems in geography education and teaching. According to Mr. Tian Yumin, the author of Contemporary Philosophy of Education, the research object of philosophy of geography education should be the universal law of geography education and its application. According to this research object, the philosophy system of geography education focuses on the ontology of the basic laws of geography education and the philosophical methodology of geography education to study the general application of the basic laws. In order to strengthen the research on the value of geography education, clarify people's vague understanding of the value of geography education, emphasize the role of geography education in social development (including political, economic, cultural, humanities and talent development), and create a good atmosphere for truly attaching importance to, supporting and developing geography education. The axiology of geography education can be separated from the ontology of geography education, forming a theoretical system of geography education philosophy with ontology, axiology and methodology juxtaposed.
In this way, ontology mainly studies the law of the development of geography education and discusses the influence and role of other social factors on geography education, specifically:
1. The process and essence of geography education
2. The origin and historical development of geography education
3. The relationship between educators and educatees in the process of geography education and teaching.
4. The purpose of geography education
5. Structure, system and management of geography education
6. The realistic conditions that restrict the development of geography education mainly discuss the social and historical basis (including politics, economy, productivity and educational tradition), scientific and cultural basis and physiological and psychological basis of geography education.
The Theory of Geographical Education studies the role and function of geographical education, discusses the role of geographical education in the development of social phenomena such as human beings, talents, science and technology, culture, politics and economy, and discusses the role of geographical education in solving social problems.
The methodology of geography education is a general application problem of studying the laws of geography education, and it is the application of the laws of geography education in education management, education practice and education research.
Studying the philosophy of geography education is of great significance in many aspects:
1. provides theoretical support for geography pedagogy, provides basic ideas and methods for geography pedagogy, and guides geography pedagogy to develop in the right direction.
2. It is conducive to improving the theoretical level of the vast number of geography educators, so as to have a deeper understanding of the objective laws of geography education and the significance of developing geography education, enhance the sense of responsibility and self-confidence of geography education, improve the enthusiasm of engaging in geography education, organize teaching activities more scientifically by using the laws of education and teaching, and improve the quality of education.