The study of educational history is a very active field in educational science research in recent years, and has also achieved fruitful research results. The purpose of studying the history of education is to explain the real educational problems, and the real purpose of explanation is to correct the reality. The practical significance of the study of educational history is becoming more and more prominent: guiding the practice of educational and teaching reform; Enrich and develop the theory of educational science; Distinguish between right and wrong in education and solve practical problems in education; Predict the future development trend of education, and take fewer or no detours.
Keywords: to realize the practical significance of the study of educational history
Since 1904, the Constitution of Conservatory of Music stipulated that "university halls, Jinshi halls and normal schools must set up educational history", China has paid attention to and studied educational history for a hundred years. In the past century, the research on the history of education has achieved fruitful results, the theoretical research framework of the history of education itself has begun to take shape, and the discipline system of the history of education has gradually matured. However, there are still obvious defects in the study of educational history, such as narcissism, participation in educational practice, and insufficient strength and breadth to serve the real educational reform. Even in some people's minds, the history of education is something that has happened, and it is not directly related to the educational phenomenon that is happening or will happen. Researchers of educational history only need to pay attention to the past and sort out historical facts in a pile of old papers, not to the reality, let alone the future. This is a very narrow question. Because the history of education is not limited to recording yesterday, the in-depth study of it will lead us to foresee tomorrow. As Jaspers, a German historian and educator, said, "From history, we can see that we seem to be standing at a point in time, staring at the past and the future in surprise. The more clearly we see the past, the greater the possibility of future development. " [1] So, what is the practical significance of studying the history of education? How to achieve it? Here are some superficial views.
First of all, guide the practice of education and teaching reform. Since the study of educational history is a kind of human social practice, its purpose also requires realism. Few educational historians are satisfied with describing pure "objective facts", while most think that the study of educational history has practical purposes. On the one hand, people gradually realize that it is a complicated process for educational history to serve reality. For example, studying the modern educational history of European and American countries can provide many beneficial results for the educational modernization process of our society, and this utilization should not be simply copied, but must be combined with China's national conditions. Only by effective use can the practical purpose of educational history be realized. However, people think too much about how to study their subjects, but seldom about how to get the practical significance of their achievements. Many educational historians have ideas to solve practical problems, but it is difficult to take a key step from abstract to concrete, which leads to the abortion of subjective good wishes because they can't combine the results with reality in an effective way, and finally can't complete the task of educational historiography, which is regrettable.
On the other hand, people clearly realize that the practice of educational reform and development can run scientifically and healthily, and it can't be separated from the full reference to the experience and lessons of educational history. In this sense, the discipline of educational history plays an important guiding role in the practice of educational reform and development. However, the full play of this guiding role depends not only on efforts to improve the research level of educational heritage and educational theory based on it, but also on the attention and participation of educational history researchers in educational reform and development practice. In the 1920s and 1930s, educational historians paid attention to the practice of educational reform and development, but they did not do enough to personally participate in and promote the practice of educational reform and development. Educational historians in the new century should strive to play an important role in guiding educational reform and development practice. That is to say, the researchers of educational history in the new century should not only study the past educational history, but also go out of the study room, go deep into the practice of educational reform and development, study the reality of educational reform and development, and make suggestions for the reform of schools and other educational institutions at all levels to guide the practice of educational reform and development. If all researchers of educational history confine themselves to lifelong learning and ignore the practice of educational reform and development, I am afraid that the real significance of educational history research will be lost. [2]
Second, enrich and develop the theory of educational science. Today's educational science is not a personal invention, but a summary of educational practice experience at home and abroad, which is the crystallization of many pioneers' educational theory thinking. Educational science is formed and perfected in the historical development of education. Educational history is an important source of educational science. Without the continuous accumulation of tens of thousands of years of educational practical experience and the rich materials of educators' thousands of years of educational theoretical thinking, it is unthinkable to create a high-level educational science. [3] Therefore, when successful educators understand and solve the educational problems in contemporary society, they often need to make use of the achievements created by previous educators' theoretical thinking and the educational ideological materials handed down, and combine them with contemporary practical needs to be transformed and developed. The educational thought of the new era can't start from scratch, and it has an inheritance relationship with the education of the old times. Education must be innovated on the basis of inheritance. In fact, education, a unique phenomenon of human society, has been accompanied by human beings. Before exploring the law of education, people have done a lot of work, conducted countless experiments and put forward many educational ideas and theories. There are countless successes and failures. If you don't know anything, how can you boast that you have created a new theory and a new model? [4]
Objectively speaking, a fundamental reason for the progress and development of educational science theory lies in the positive critical spirit and innovative spirit of educators in history. They neither fully affirm nor completely deny the existing pedagogy theory, but maintain and criticize it, inherit and develop it, synthesize on the basis of criticism and innovate on the basis of synthesis; Do not be superstitious or dogmatic about any authoritative and existing theories, dare to question and challenge the traditional theoretical framework of pedagogy, and actively and boldly put forward new concepts, assumptions and viewpoints; Give full play to creativity, create new educational theories and theories, and innovate the educational science system. On the basis of enriching Confucius' determination to be happy, Mencius put forward "preserving ambition and nourishing qi"; Dong Zhongshu creatively put forward the principle of "sanctification" on the basis of inheriting the "inspiration induction" of pre-Qin Confucianism; In the process of criticizing Wang Yangming's thought of "unity of knowledge and action", Wang Fuzhi put forward "mutual capital between knowledge and action". During the French Enlightenment, Rousseau put forward naturalistic education thought on the basis of criticizing feudal education thought. Diderot and helvetius criticized genetic determinism and put forward "the theory of intellectual equality" and "the theory of universal education". On the basis of criticizing the traditional school of education represented by Herbart, Dewey put forward a series of educational ideas and principles such as "education is growth", "education is life", "school is society" and "child-centered". Without Dewey's "education is life", how can there be Tao Xingzhi's "life is education"? zankov reformed Kailov's teaching principle system and put forward teaching principles of high difficulty and high speed. Bloom denied the traditional view that students' learning effects are normally distributed and founded the theory of "mastering learning". Wait a minute. These are all examples of criticism and innovation in the history of education. Not only that, they not only criticize and question other people's educational thoughts and theories, but also profoundly review and criticize their own thoughts and theories. They not only dare to question other people's theories, but also dare to criticize and deny themselves, and revise and update their own theories in the process of criticizing and denying themselves. In this case, why do researchers of educational history lock themselves up and only study educational historical facts, without making full use of the research results of educational history, especially the essence of educational heritage to enrich and develop educational theory? Educational historians should have a sense of historical responsibility and mission. It should be the responsibility of educational historians to develop the theory of educational science in the 2 1 century. [5]
Third, judge the right and wrong of education and solve the practical problems of education. "If you want to understand the present, you must be a prophet." The distinction between history and reality is only relative, and the past, present and future of human society belong to the broad sense of historical science. All aspects of educational science belong to the broad sense of educational history. Because of the strong inheritance of education, the history of education and the present situation of education have always been closely combined. Li Dazhao once pointed out clearly: "Society and history are homogeneous, but their faces are different. If we look at them vertically, it will be history, and if we look at them horizontally, it will be society. " "All historical studies are not Fauci, skeletons, or compilations, but all human life in the past, present, future and eternal existence". [6] The educational phenomenon in China today is the continuation and development of the educational history in China yesterday. The purpose of studying history is to guide today, and the historicity and reality of research must be unified. We are committed to the exploration of educational historical facts, and the mission of restoring educational history is to explore the development law of education itself, so as to explain the current conclusion of education in China. The purpose of studying the history of education is to explain the real educational problems, and the real purpose of explanation is to correct the reality. Hadro Perkin, a British educational historian, said: "Real history is not a subject of blindly digging up historical materials in chronological order, but a subject of solving problems. It asks various questions to the real world and tries to find the answers to these questions. " [7] Therefore, the historicity and sociality of educational history must be unified, and researchers must use sociological methods to socialize their research thinking. In addition, the problem of realistic education will not only make researchers discover the combination of history and reality, but also prompt us to change our thinking and promote the theoretical level of educational history and its integration with sociology to a greater extent. [8] Any kind of educational thought is put forward due to the needs of educational practice, and some are summarized in solving practical problems in education. Therefore, without educational practice, educational thoughts will become passive water and trees without roots. If the educational theory cannot solve the practical problems of education, it is not only empty, but also meaningless. Of course, over time, it will die out on its own. Historically, such educational theories are not uncommon. Therefore, when studying the history of education, we must analyze and judge those parts that are reasonable, regular and available, and give full play to their functions in order to remain unchanged and adapt to changes. Only when the study of educational history plays a great role in guiding educational reform, solving practical educational problems and building educational disciplines can the value of educational history be truly realized.
Finally, predict the future development trend of education, and take fewer or no detours. Studying and studying the history of education seems to be facing the past and incompatible with facing the future. Summing up historical experience and lessons is actually to provide reference for future development, so as to compare gains and losses, so as to avoid detours or not, just like Sima Guang said, "the past should not forget the future." A contemporary western scholar put it more concretely: "History can make people make a reasonable explanation of the past and the present, and can also make a reasonable speculation about the future." [9] Of course, the study of educational history should look forward, not backward. However, it is inevitable to "review" the study of history, but "review" is to better "look forward" and to better advance.
In fact, the perfection of the theoretical system and method system of each branch of educational science can not be separated from the inspection of educational practice, especially from the summary of historical experience and lessons of educational practice or the reference to the essence of educational heritage. The highest realm of educational history research should be to make the past serve the present and apply what you have learned, that is, we should not only be familiar with the educational history of ancient and modern China and foreign countries, but also predict the future development and changes of education according to the past educational history, and grasp the law of educational development through complex and changeable educational phenomena. Therefore, as long as it reaches a certain level, the study of educational history can be integrated with the general educational theory, and there is no difference. [10] The organic combination of educational history and pedagogy will be the inevitable way of educational research. Only in this way can we predict the future and grasp the general trend of education development.
refer to
[1][ Germany] Jaspers, translated by Zou Jin: What is education [M]. Sanlian Bookstore, 199 1.58.
[2][5][ 10] Liao Qifa: On the development direction and tasks of China's educational history in the 2 1 century [J]. Journal of Southwest Normal University (Humanities and Sociology Edition), 200 1, (3): 8 1-85.
[3] Sun Peiqing. History of education in China [M]. Shanghai: East China Normal University Press, 1992. 1.
[4] Lv Xingwei: History of Learning and Education [J]. Curriculum, Teaching Materials and Teaching Methods, 2003, (1 1): 1.
[6] Li Dazhao: Historical view [A]. Selected works of Li Dazhao [c]. Beijing: Beijing People's Publishing House, 1954. 129.
[7][ English] Burton Clark. New theory of higher education [M]. Hangzhou: Zhejiang Education Press, 2000+07.
[8] Li Tao. Review and reflection on the climax of educational history research in China in the past century [J]. Journal of Northeast Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), 2003, (2): 1 12.
[9] Shan Zhonghui. History of foreign educational thought [M]. Beijing: Higher Education Press, April 2002.
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