Excerpts from "Where Does Educational Wisdom Come From"

1. We must develop the habit of studying children, not education, because the so-called "educators" are also critics. Yet criticism is not a way of doing research. Have you ever seen a meteorologist who "criticizes" the weather? Criticism is at best an emotional management method. When you don't know the truth about something, criticizing it will only further cover up its truth without revealing its truth. Criticizing something does not deepen your understanding of it, and even if you criticize it for a long time, you will not learn anything. Education without research is blind and emotional education, which is the biggest obstacle to improving the quality of teachers.

2. To do a good job in education, the premise is that teachers themselves must be mentally healthy. You also need to have a scientific spirit and a research mentality. Experience tells us that if a person has a research mentality, he will not lose his temper with the research subjects. Geologists don't yell at fossils: "How can you appear in this place?" When you treat the other person as a research object, you will not imagine that the other person will adapt to your requirements. On the contrary, you have to find a way to make the other person adapt to your requirements. One's own understanding can significantly reflect the reality of the other party. This is the scientific way of thinking.

3. Many naughty behaviors of children often stem from a simple reason. If we criticize and accuse indiscriminately, what we will destroy is not the child's shortcomings, but the child's trust in us. We only love students and love education. More importantly, only by loving life can you turn trouble into happiness.

4. When we stand from the perspective of students and put ourselves in their shoes, education will be full of wisdom.

5. We should respect students as living people, not as machines to manipulate. Respect does not mean accommodating, and understanding does not mean total denial. There should be guidance. Both "guidance" and "guidance" have a prerequisite, that is, you must face the same direction as the leader. If you are "face to face" with the other party, there is no such thing as "guiding", it can only be "blocking", that is, standing opposite the child. The teacher's education does not directly affect the students, but acts through the students' self-education. This is called guidance.

6. The students' ideas are very simple and simple, but if the teacher's mind is not complicated, he will not be able to discover this simplicity and simplicity. Because children have their own thinking logic, they do not think like adults.

7. The key to success is not knowing the answer, but knowing how to find the answer. In order to solve a certain problem, we must first understand the situation as comprehensively as possible and possess the data (otherwise it is impossible to research at all, because research is thinking, and thinking requires materials, and the human brain cannot idle), and then propose various suggestions based on these materials. Attributive hypothesis (hypothesis), i.e. preliminary diagnosis. Once a diagnosis is made, medication can be prescribed and measures can be taken to intervene with students and parents. Then based on the feedback of the intervention results, we adjust the hypothesis, adjust the diagnosis, adjust the prescription... In this way, the understanding continues to deepen, and the problem is gradually solved.

8. I found that when teachers encounter student problems, they are generally not used to tracing the child’s growth history and do not pay attention to the characteristics of their family education. This is not acceptable. This way you can't figure out the real cause of your child's problems. This shows that many of our teachers lack basic knowledge of psychology. Anyone with common sense in psychology will not fail to pay attention to a person's childhood experience and childhood growth environment, because this is so important, and in a certain sense, it can even be said to be far more important than school education.

9. Mao Zedong once said: Investigation is to solve problems. In fact, it is impossible for us not to think about it when investigating, so often by the time the investigation is over, our countermeasures will be roughly formed.

10. Without changing the upstream family education of children, the problems of children cannot be stopped downstream (school). You block ten points here, and they create ten points for you there. You can only deal with it and be in a hurry.

11. Discovering problems - analyzing problems - prompting students to grow, so specific analysis and specific research on specific problems is the real professional work of teachers.

12. If you encounter difficulties in education, blindly attributing them to the students and their families will not promote the improvement of their own quality. They will only be trapped in the problem and keep spinning. Therefore, when the class teacher encounters When attributing a problem, you must be objective and comprehensive and have the courage to face the problem.

13. Be a reflective teacher. Teachers who can examine their own way of thinking are reflective teachers. "Examination" is not "criticism". Examination emphasizes thinking, while criticism emphasizes rejection. The emphasis is different. We do not need self-condemnation. What we need is calm observation and analysis of ourselves.

14. "If you treat a child as a child, you are still a child." This is Mr. Tao Xingzhi's famous saying. Always treating students as children, accommodating their current situation, not seeing their rapid growth, and even guiding them to look back. This is true adult thinking and adult prejudice. This kind of thing manifests itself in families as doting and over-protection; manifests itself in schools as teachers’ education lagging behind students’ development.

To a certain extent, treat children as adults and speak adult words to them equally (of course, they must be able to roughly understand the meaning), rather than "coaxing children". This is a very important way of education and can promote children's socialization. . Why do Chinese children often appear more naive than foreign children? One of the reasons is that Chinese parents and teachers always think they are small. In such an atmosphere, children will "take advantage of small things to sell their children" and act coquettishly, which seriously hinders their growth. When a student treats himself as a child, his expectations for himself, his sense of responsibility, and his willpower can all be legitimately lowered, and the consequences can be imagined.

15. Family education is the upstream of school education. There is a constant heavy rain of "weariness of learning" in the upper reaches. Isn't it difficult for teachers in the lower reaches to block the raging flood of "weariness of learning" with their own bodies? I'm afraid it's just a heroic sacrifice. Therefore, teachers must learn to trace things back to their roots, which means research, inquiry, and scientific research. Therefore, teachers must learn to guide tutors and help parents become understanding people.

16. Many teachers have a misunderstanding. They think that if someone does not do homework and does not do homework, he must be happy. If he does not go to school and does not go to school, he must be happy. In fact, this is not the case. When a child becomes an alien, he will feel lonely. So when the teacher "withdraws the fight", the child "rebells" and loses the target. Only then can his heart calm down, and he can reflect on himself more calmly, and realize that not doing homework is a painful thing. (p122)

17. "Birdcage tactics". Giving a student a birdcage is equivalent to telling him: It's time for you to raise a bird. You already have the conditions to raise a bird. So the student really raised a bird (his grades improved). In psychology, this is called "positive reinforcement", also called "appreciation education."

18. Teachers who lack the spirit of research and awareness of reflection will often put the responsibility entirely on the parents when encountering this kind of situation. Little do they know that "the master can only make the guest drunk, and he does not know where he is in a foreign country." For any problem, we must have a correct sense of attribution and constantly improve our professional capabilities. (P132)

19. Only when the teacher has a research mentality will he dilute your moral indignation and you will be calm, and this calmness can actually "suppress" the other party. The "troublemaker" is not afraid of your anger, he just wants you to be angry! He is not afraid that you will rebuke him, nor is he afraid that you will "control" or "punish" him. He is just afraid that you will study him calmly. (P147)

20. Excellent parents do not rely mainly on "words" to educate their children, but rely on situations and actions. When a child changes, you must carefully analyze what kind of situation and what kind of motivation caused his behavior to change. By understanding this, parents can create similar situations, which will gradually change their children. Children should be regarded as "scientific research" objects, not just "management" objects. (P151)

21. Psychological problems cannot be solved by "strengthening management" alone, but apology and compensation are indispensable for wrongdoing because it harms the interests of others. Children often treat their friends the way their parents punished them. (P156)

22. For all moral problems, teachers must let students "shoot themselves in the foot" to help them correct themselves. Talking about a lot of big principles is of little use. As long as a child with moral problems can take advantage, he will do the same thing next time. Therefore, when a class teacher encounters a problem, the first task is to understand the situation, analyze it, and identify the nature of the problem, and then intervene according to the nature. You must not "take care" of it right away, as it is easy to "give the wrong medicine." You can judge from the purpose, object, and situation whether the student has a moral problem.

As an educator, when encountering a problem (except for emergencies), the most important thing is to investigate and think logically, rather than rushing to ask "what to do". Diagnosis precedes treatment. (P157)

23. The best way to identify psychological problems is to ask the child about his childhood experiences, first memories and dreams, which is more accurate. (P157)

24. Ask parents, ask children, ask classmates, and the teacher’s own careful observation must find out what the child likes most and what is most afraid of. This information is of great significance. Knowing what he likes can help teachers and students communicate emotionally, and knowing what he is afraid of can stop him from messing around at critical moments.

For particularly difficult children, we need to use a large scale to measure them. As long as we look at his performance, this month is better than the previous month, which is a big achievement. Never compare today with yesterday, or this week with last week. Using such a small scale will only increase teachers' anxiety. (P161)

25. As a teacher, you should focus on investigating, understanding and analyzing problems (diagnosis), rather than solving problems (treatment)

26. The movie "The Tin Drum" The nicknamed "subculture" is described in this way: This world has its own language. This language comes from the slang in Hong Kong and Taiwan police movies, from the lines in TV series, from the swear words on the streets, from martial arts and romance. dialogue in the novel. This world has its own leader, usually determined by muscles, money, or face, but its influence far exceeds that of the teacher. This world has its own punishments, its own way of dealing with problems, and its own brokers who specialize in mediating disputes.

(P170)

27. In fact, campus bullying is brewing in small rivers and lakes with "subcultures". The best way for the class teacher is to enter this "jianghu" and find out their values, their language and Action methods, relationships between members, and then use special means to change children who are bullied. In fact, this special method requires teachers to adapt to changes. These doormats look very pitiful, but the teacher can't support him no matter what, because you can only support him in "regular" situations, and once he returns to the "civilian", without the teacher, he becomes unlucky again. I used to have a headache about this kind of thing, but now it seems that maybe my thinking is wrong. I want to solve all "civilian" problems through "official" channels, which may not work. My weapons are not enough. This is a very interesting research topic. If someone can delve into it, accumulate a large number of cases, and sort out their thoughts, they may be able to write a book called "The Psychology of Doormats." In our educational research, there are too many general topics and too few special studies. (P171)

28. What makes our students so vulnerable? You must know that whether a person wants it or not depends not on others' evaluation of his quality of life, but on his own feelings. For children who have lived a joyless life for a long time, they are "carriers", but they do not get sick. Excessive setbacks, willfulness, and socialization barriers are all very likely to cause a child's personality to become fragile. Therefore, as a teacher today, when dealing with problems, you must estimate the child's personality and endurance, and must not be reckless. Parents should also be given guidance. If families cannot cultivate good character in their children, the burden of school education will be too heavy. (P177)

29. In fact, many times the "puppy love" of primary school students is essentially a battle for interpersonal relationships. Love is robbing people, and winning is victory. Only people who have no confidence in "self" and "love" can have such a mentality. As a teacher, the first concern should not be about "impacting learning", but why children's feelings are so shallow, why they "auction" themselves so cheaply, and why they lack self-esteem and self-confidence. Love letters like this sometimes don't need to be presented to parents, because some parents will just make things get out of hand. (P189)

30. Regarding gratitude, teachers should cultivate students' healthy gratitude mentality. In addition to doing their own work well, they should also guide family education and correct parents' educational concepts. All students' problems have their roots in the family. Teachers who cannot guide family education will have an increasingly difficult time in the future.

If the teacher's "love" for the students will eventually be implemented as the child's test scores, the students will definitely be indifferent to this love; if the "love" becomes a kind of coercion, I love you, So you can't let me down. Students should avoid this kind of "love". And the "love" that many teachers have for their students is exactly like this. "Love" has been quantified and indexed. Don’t we already view test scores as “rewards”? I'm afraid we can't just blame the "love" in the children's minds for changing. Our "teacher love" as educators may also change. (P497)

31. Losing your temper is just a form of criticism with strong emotions. People only lose their temper after making a conclusion first. Before reaching a conclusion, people always tend to explore rather than get angry. Don't be too hasty to draw conclusions when something happens, put yourself in someone else's shoes and estimate several possibilities, and you won't lose your temper easily. It can be seen that a good attitude and good self-cultivation are predicated on the correct way of thinking. Without the correct way of thinking, there will be no "good temper". Only by thinking openly can you have a peaceful mind. (P205)

32. Gods know everything and are omnipotent, so in my opinion, the life of gods is the most boring. Isn’t that just endless self-repetition? fear. The unknown is a friend of mankind. It can refresh the mind, invigorate the spirit, and improve the quality of life. When scientists encounter problems in practice, they are used to doubting and improving their theories. This is their way of thinking. The same cannot be said for teachers. When teachers encounter problems in practice, most people are not used to reflecting on themselves, but only blame their children and parents. Then you will understand why the professional quality of many teachers cannot be improved - they lack the scientific attitude and reflective spirit of scientists. Constantly changing the unknown into knowledge while expanding one's own ignorance, this is life. (P210)

Part 4 The relationship between teachers and parents

33. Teachers in the new era cannot specifically guide family education and are not qualified teachers. Nowadays, there are so many books and TV programs about home education, and there are so many home education experts that sometimes you don’t even know where they come from. However, what parents listen to with open ears is the words of the class teacher, because the class teacher controls the fate of their children to a certain extent. Therefore, it is more efficient for teachers to guide family education. As teachers, we should focus on improving our own quality. Otherwise, when the quality of parents improves, we will be laid off. The low quality of parents has made many teachers successful. Teachers cannot guide family education well, not mainly because of lack of time, but because they lack necessary knowledge and abilities and have done a lot of useless work. Therefore, teachers need to be trained in family education guidance.

(P220)

34. The main task of primary and secondary school students is not "learning", but "growing". "Growth" includes not only intellectual development and academic improvement, but also physical, mental and moral health. , including profound enrichment and perfection of personality. When we elevate learning to the supreme position and use grades as the standard to measure everything, we actually dehumanize children and education, which is also a loss of humanity. (P222)

35. Individuality should not be promoted to the extent of "disobeying the rules". The child's behavior should generally follow the crowd and not be too idiosyncratic. Failure to abide by even the basic behavioral norms for students is not a "personality" but a "socialization disorder." We cannot call being different as "personality", we must distinguish right from wrong, otherwise we can call running a red light as "personality".

36. People’s basic personality and thinking patterns have begun to take shape before the age of six. Some scientists even believe that they have been basically finalized. The key to cultivating good habits is not after school, but before school, not at school, but at home. Good study habits are just an extension of good living habits. If parents make their children lazy, willful, undisciplined, self-centered and irresponsible, if the teacher wants to cultivate his good habits, it is like facing a piece of colorfully painted paper. It is not white paper at all. You have to wipe it first. Clean and then paint again, you can imagine how laborious it is for you.

Smart teachers should devote a lot of energy to guiding parents, so that they can overcome doting and overprotection, and let their children have tutoring and behave like children. When this kind of child is sent to school, although it is not a blank slate, the picture is not messy and has a foundation, so the teacher can save a lot of trouble. With a few modifications, it can be a good painting and get twice the result with half the effort. Otherwise, teachers will have a hard time cultivating some good habits in school, but they will be "digested" at home. Parents will not stick to the "roots" (the "roots" are in the family, not in the school) and the school will focus on the "standards", which will achieve twice the result with half the effort. (P257)

Part 5 Management Issues

37. Busyness that lacks professional thinking has very low value. What do you rely on to maintain classroom discipline: First, rely on cultivating students' awareness of rules. That is to say, our class helps students formulate some rules that they think are necessary and good for themselves. It is better to start with less and gradually increase. Then let them realize that with these rules, they can live better. Without these rules, not only will they hinder others, but they will also be unlucky in the end. "Rules are my own needs, not the constraints imposed on me by others." When students realize this, conscious discipline can be formed. It's not enough to just talk about it, you have to let them experience it. Take your time. Rule-conscious students value rules more than the teacher's face. Only students who have no rules will "take advantage of the situation." People who are aware of rules cross the road to see if there is a red light, and people who are not aware of rules cross the road to see if there is a police officer. This is the difference between the rule of law and the rule of man. Second, rely on the teacher’s lectures to attract students. Classroom discipline serves teaching, but teaching in turn has a great impact on discipline. Teachers with high teaching standards will naturally have fewer discipline problems. Only teachers whose lectures do not attract students resort to strict discipline. Because you don't like to listen, so I have to force you to listen. This is really helpless and incompetent. As for improving your teaching attractiveness, this is not something that happens overnight, it requires hard work. (P314)

The biggest feeling after reading this book is: facing children, I feel more peaceful. I hope that I can become a research-oriented teacher instead of an emotional teacher. Only by constantly improving my professional level, analyzing problems, collecting information, investigating problems and prescribing remedies can I continuously improve my professional level in managing classes instead of blindly relying on If you love to shine, you can only move yourself in the end. Busyness that lacks professional thinking has very low gold content. Therefore, we must use the way of thinking of scientists to manage the class, trace the root cause, inquire into the root cause, and find out the crux of the problem while verifying the hypothesis, and then talk about love and power. Work hard and practice diligently to achieve perfection.