This book is divided into two parts, describing the general purpose of education, various interests and the cultivation of students' character. Herbart proposed that teaching can be divided into four stages: clarity, association, system, method or application. Later generations divided clarity into preparation and prompt, which became a five-stage teaching method with great influence.

Based on psychology, the book requires teachers to carry out teaching activities according to children's psychological status and its laws, which is of great significance to the development of modern western teaching theory.

Herbart pointed out that the theoretical system of education has two theoretical foundations, namely ethics and psychology. Among them, ethics explains the purpose of education-morality is the highest purpose of people and education; Psychology determines the method of education-in order to achieve the highest goal of education, it is necessary to study the psychological activities and laws of the educated in order to find reasonable and effective educational methods.