"The Purpose of Education" by Whitehead, translated by Zhuang Lianping and Wang Li, Wenhui Publishing House, October 2012 edition

"What is education? When you come out of school In the future, all the content you have learned is forgotten, and the remaining content is education." Understanding Whitehead begins with his famous saying about education as quoted by Einstein. Later, I read Russell's "History of Western Philosophy" and learned that "Principles of Mathematics" co-authored by Whitehead and Russell marked a huge progress in human logical thinking and is one of the great academic works of eternity.

Teachers are often called "engineers of the human soul", but when we face the ultimate questions of education such as "What is real education?" "What is the ultimate purpose of education?" , can we answer it more clearly and rationally? In our professional lives, can we create lives in which our children are well educated? During the summer vacation, I was finally fortunate enough to read the wonderful book "The Purpose of Education". After reading it, I felt a lot of emotions.

What exactly is the goal of education? Is it for imparting knowledge or cultivating healthy personality? What does a well-rounded worker look like? "We must remember that knowledge that cannot be used is quite harmful." Regarding knowledge education, Whitehead warned educators. This view is exactly the same as that of the famous Dutch scholar Fang Long. Fang Long once said: "Whenever knowledge puts on the expert's slippers, hides in its 'monastery', and shakes off the soil and fertilizer from its shoes, it declares that it is ready to die." People's isolated intellectual life will lead to destruction." (Quoted from "About Fang Long and His Works" p404 in the September 1985 edition of "Tolerance" by Fang Long).

I was at that time. After reading it, I was shocked and immediately thought of our current school education that attaches great importance to knowledge. We are teaching children a lot of knowledge, but what is the purpose? Has the child's understanding improved, or is it just a mechanical memory of knowledge? Does this knowledge have anything to do with the child's life? Russell once said, "Indeed, if it is just reading, no matter how much you read, a person's understanding of anything will not improve on its own. In addition to gaining knowledge, you also need to understand the various issues collected Conduct serious reflection." (See "The Wisdom of the West", author, Russell, translator: Cui Quanli, published by Culture and Art Publishing House in January 2005. "Conclusion" page 337.)

Indeed, only Only by constantly thinking deeply about our educational life and constantly reflecting on our educational practices can we continue to innovate ourselves. Teachers' self-innovation is the key to the success or failure of educational reform.

(Appendix) Whitehead’s educational famous sayings - "The Purpose of Education"

1. We must remember that knowledge that cannot be used is quite harmful.

2. ? By the utilization of knowledge, I mean connecting it with human perceptions, emotions, desires, hopes, and spiritual activities that can regulate thoughts. That is our life.

3. ? If you just blindly shape your spiritual life by passively memorizing some fragmented knowledge, it is simply unimaginable. Human nature is not like this, and life should not be like this. Perhaps the editors of some newspapers and magazines It needs to be this way.

4. ? Students are flesh-and-blood people, and the purpose of education is to inspire and guide their self-development.

5. ? If a person is only well-informed, then he is the most boring person in God's world.

6. ? If differentiation is excluded in education, it is destroying life.

7. ? A knowledgeable and imaginative life is a way of survival.

8. ? The essence of education is its pious religious nature. … Ignorance becomes a sin when acquired knowledge can change the outcome.

9. ? Unless students can continue to be stimulated by interest, continue to acquire certain skills, and continue to be motivated by success, they will never make progress and are destined to lose confidence. By and large, for the last thirty years, British secondary schools have been sending to universities a horde of disappointing young people, inoculated against the spread of intellectual enthusiasm and refusing any spark of intelligence. University education further strengthens secondary school education and aggravates this failure. As a result, the enthusiasm of young people turned elsewhere, and educated Britain was no longer receptive to new ideas. ——"The Rhythm of Freedom and Training"

10.? One of the ways to transcend yourself is to understand value. Various forms of doubt, curiosity, respect or adoration, as well as various forms of intense desire, give you an incredible power to view life. And people's aesthetic taste is the kind of power that can help you understand value and break away from crude utilitarianism.

——"The Rhythm of Freedom and Training"