Enlightenment of Confucianism and Mohism on the Purpose of Keyword Education
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China has a vast territory and a long history, and its culture has a very important influence on education in China and even the world. The pre-Qin era is an era of ideological emancipation and a hundred schools of thought contend. The thought of educational purpose produced in this era has a very important influence on contemporary education in China and has many inspirations for contemporary education in China.
In the pre-Qin period, a hundred schools of thought contended to promote private schools, forming a scene of "a hundred schools of thought contending" and "a hundred flowers blooming", which is exactly the same as the policy of "a hundred flowers blooming" put forward by Chinese people. The difference between the two periods is more than 2000 years, but it is such a tacit unity. Therefore, we must look back, carefully examine our traditional culture, absorb its essence, and serve modern society and contemporary education.
Professor Ye Lan defines education as a conscious social activity, whose direct goal is to influence people's physical and mental development. Professor Ye Lan's view is simply that education is a social activity, which is quite similar to Dewey's "education is life". Therefore, education is divided into broad education and narrow education. I want to highlight narrow education, that is, its influence on school education.
The competition in contemporary society is fierce, and the competition in school education is no exception. Under the pressure of the enrollment rate and the baton of the college entrance examination, the purpose of education has been deformed. The purpose of students' learning is no longer individual development, but a learning machine. Students study for further study, and teachers are no longer purely for educating people, but a knowledge transfer machine, teaching for the rate of enrollment. The subject and object of education have been alienated. This situation is particularly prominent in the primary education stage, especially in the high school education stage.
As early as 1979, an internationally renowned academic group, the Club of Rome, published a research report "Meeting the Challenges of the Future", which divided learning into maintenance learning and innovative learning, and now it is called receptive learning and research learning. Education characterized by maintenance learning and receptive learning is a complete education, while on the contrary, it is a developmental education characterized by innovative learning and research learning. The latter is the real purpose of education. However, contemporary education in China has fallen into the trap of completing sex education, and corresponding educational problems are constantly emerging.
In the pre-Qin period, until Confucius started private schools, education was always "official learning", that is, it was often said in later generations that "learning was in the official". The education in this period was mainly for slave owners, educating the ruling class, such as emperors, princes, ministers, doctors, scholars, etc., and the learning content was also very rich. Schools in the Zhou Dynasty mainly offered courses-etiquette, music, archery, imperial art, calligraphy and scholar.
At the end of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, with the development of productive forces, the monopoly of "learning in the official" was broken, and private learning came into being.
There were many important schools in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, which were complicated. There are six schools (Confucianism, Mohism, Ming, Fa, Yin and Yang, and De) and nine schools (Confucianism, Mohism, De, Ming, Fa, Yin and Yang, Zongheng, Nong and Za). No matter which statement is more scientific and comprehensive, it reflects the contention of ideas and the prosperity of education from the side. The educational thoughts produced in this atmosphere will surely have fresh vitality and have a lasting impact on future generations.
In education, all factions have more or less influence, but their influence is different. Monk thinks that Confucianism and Mohism are two outstanding schools, and they are also the most representative in terms of educational influence, among which Confucianism is in the first place, followed by Mohism.
Confucianism has influenced the educational thought of the Chinese nation for more than two thousand years, and the pre-Qin Confucian school left us with very rich educational resources. Confucius, Mencius and Xunzi are the representatives of Theory of Three Represents.
Confucius, the founder of Confucianism, believes that the purpose of education is "benevolent" and says that "benevolent people are also people." "Sage, gentleman, adult and wise man" was put forward by Confucius on the basis of "benevolence", which represents the purpose of education and the quality that talents should have. As Confucius said, "a gentleman is benevolent, and evil is as good as his name." ("The Analects of Confucius-Establishing Man") Another example is Confucius: "A man with lofty ideals, a benevolent person, does not harm benevolence, but kills himself." (The Analects of Confucius-Wei Linggong) Confucius expounded the relationship between "benevolence" and "sage, gentleman, adult and wise man", and further explained that the purpose of education is to cultivate the individual quality of the educational subject in order to achieve the social effect of "loving others". "Love" means "serving the people" today, but the premise of "serving the people" is that individuals must have certain qualities. Contemporary education is too utilitarian, which only highlights the social effect of "serving the people" and ignores the cultivation of personal qualities, leading to putting the cart before the horse and making it difficult for social effects to fully play their roles. Reflecting on the ancients' "benevolence" before "love", from thick to thin, we should gain something.
Mencius, a master of Confucianism, is also called "Confucius and Mencius" with Confucius, which has had a far-reaching influence on the thinking of the Chinese nation. Mencius' view of educational purpose is the development of Confucius' theory. Confucius advocated the harmony and order of "Jun Jun, minister, father and son", and his thought was backward, defending the exploiting class. However, the harmony between individuals and between individuals and groups is of great guiding significance to China's modern harmonious society. Mencius put forward that "the teaching of itch orders should be based on the meaning of filial piety, and those who teach white are not worthy of Tao." ("Mencius-Liang") highlights the purpose of running a school in ancient times-"Ming Ren Lun". On the premise of understanding the necessary moral standards of ethics, only when everyone loves each other can the society be harmonious, the people be rich and the politics be stable. Isn't this what a harmonious society expects?
Xunzi carried forward the Confucian representative of simple materialism in Confucius thought, saying: "Heaven always exists, not for the existence of Yao, not for the death of Jie". In education, he attaches great importance to the subjective efforts of the educated. In Xunzi's persuasion, "the accumulation of soil is a mountain, and the wind and rain are proud." The water drops merged into the ocean and the dragon was born. Accumulate goodness into virtue, the gods are complacent and the sacred heart is prepared. Xunzi believes that the purpose of education is to persuade students to learn, so that learners "start as scholars and eventually become saints." "As long as the school education in contemporary China can cultivate a group of' saints', the modernization of the country and the promotion of comprehensive national strength are just around the corner.
Confucianism has its own unique view on the all-round development of the educated subject, "resolute and dull, dull and close to benevolence." The all-round development of human beings was very influential at that time and today, which is the purpose of education.
Of course, due to its own era and class, the pre-Qin Confucian theory must have some shortcomings. There is a story in The Analects of Confucius-Lutz:
Fan Chi, please learn about crops. Confucius said, "I am not as good as an old farmer." Please learn to be a nursery and say, "I am not as good as the old nursery." Leave Fan Chi. Confucius said, "There are many villains! So is Fan Chi. If you give a good gift, the people will not dare to be disrespectful; If you are just, then the people dare not refuse; If you keep the letter, people will not dare to be heartless. If the husband is like this, then people in all directions are tired of their children. How to use crops. "
From this story, we can see that Confucianism despises labor and does not attach importance to participating in labor practice. It is really "four bodies are not diligent, regardless of grain." The all-round development of morality, intelligence, physique, beauty and labor put forward by the Ministry of Education is a very wise formulation. However, the "revival" of contemporary education in China has begun to surface. The dross of "everything is inferior, only reading is high" has been regarded as a wise saying by some educators. Learning and practice are seriously out of touch, and only the cultivation of learning intelligence is emphasized, while the development of practical intelligence is ignored, so that students can't reach high and low. From a psychological point of view, this will hinder the normal development of individuals.
Another influential school-Mohism. The founder Mozi is represented by Zhai.
The main idea of the school is "universal love, mutual non-aggression and Shang Xian", and its class foundation is the independent producer at that time, so it represents the viewpoint of independent producers in education.
Mohism put forward "universal love" and advocated indiscriminate education, which is very different from Confucianism's "love is equal, giving is a pro-envoy". It further expanded the class of education popularization and laid the ideological foundation for future national construction. The "Nine-year Compulsory Education" in contemporary China has been implemented for several years and has achieved fruitful results. However, in the face of the fact that the "nine-year compulsory education" has not been completed in poverty-stricken areas, the state has implemented the policy of "free tuition and miscellaneous fees during compulsory education" this year, which is the "universal love" of contemporary education in China, and everyone has the right and opportunity to receive education.
Mohism also has a more influential view-training a large number of talents for society. The so-called "righteousness" means to engage in labor production as much as possible under the principle of division of labor and cooperation, and finally achieve the goal of "mutual benefit." "Part-time" is equivalent to junior college students who graduated from vocational schools today.
Today, with the expansion of undergraduate colleges, people from all walks of life flock to undergraduate colleges for education, but undergraduate education is not vocational education, so many students are structurally unemployed after graduation. At the same time, the recruitment sources of colleges and universities is poor, the society needs a large number of professionals, and the market is broad. Cause the imbalance between human resources and posts. China should pay attention to the cultivation and development of "part-time scholars" to meet the needs of society.
Throughout the pre-Qin Confucian and Mohist educational thoughts, the purpose of education can be simply summarized as two: promoting the all-round development of individuals and social progress. The educational thoughts of Confucianism and Mohism in the pre-Qin period fully reflected this point, and they also put forward the order of talent training, that is, to be benevolent first, then to love others, first to be righteous and then to be a scholar. For individuals, that is to say, the purpose of education has priority, first of all, all-round development, and then the ability to promote social progress. This is a wake-up call for educators who try to take shortcuts and "let students eat fat at one breath" in contemporary education.
The Chinese nation is good at summing up, so we should inherit and develop the precious wealth left by tradition. Only by constantly reviewing and summarizing the advanced experience of predecessors, combining with the contemporary reality and constantly innovating, can the purpose of contemporary education in China be put in the right direction, there will be "breaking the waves" development, and there will be an era of "seeing the sun through the clouds and bridging the deep sea".