What advanced educational ideas and thoughts are put forward in Shi Shuo?

An analysis of Confucius' educational thought

As a great educator in ancient China, Confucius accumulated rich teaching experience, created effective teaching methods, summarized and advocated many valuable educational ideas and principles, and formed a relatively complete educational ideological system in the long-term educational practice. His educational experience and principles are the precious legacy of China's traditional educational thought, which still has effective guiding significance for our educational practice.

An analysis of Confucius' educational thought

Poplar Shusong from Xiamen No.6 Middle School

As a great educator in ancient China, Confucius accumulated rich teaching experience, created effective teaching methods, summarized and advocated many valuable educational ideas and principles, and formed a relatively complete educational ideological system in the long-term educational practice. His educational experience and principles are the precious legacy of China's traditional educational thought, which still has effective guiding significance for our educational practice.

1. Teach without distinction, and teach tirelessly.

Among Confucius' educational thoughts, the most epoch-making and brilliant thought should be "teaching without distinction". Before Confucius, the aristocratic class monopolized the rights of culture and education, and the civilian class had no possibility of education. Education is limited to the highest ruling class, and the purpose of education is only to train successors for the rulers. The aristocratization of schools hinders the popularization and development of civilization, and also stifles the curiosity of ordinary people.

From the age of 30, Confucius broke the historical convention, founded private schools, and clearly put forward the idea of "teaching without discrimination" (The Analects of Confucius, Wei Linggong). He believes that all mortals can be educated, can do good, should be educated equally, and education cannot be monopolized by nobles. The proposal of this educational thought has opened up a new way for the downward movement of culture and the popularization of education. It is an epoch-making revolutionary pioneering work in the history of Chinese education and a revolutionary breakthrough in the history of human education. The private school founded by Confucius has also become an epoch-making symbol of the "study immigration room" in the history of education in China.

"Teaching without class" is an important content of Confucius' educational thought and a summary of his lifelong educational practice. He has no distinction between class, rank, region, virtue and stupidity. As long as you study with an open mind and "cultivate yourself (more than ten pieces of dried meat)", you will be educated (The Analects of Confucius). Most of the students enrolled by Confucius were from poor families except Uncle Nangong and Sima Niu.

From the beginning of running a school to his death at the age of 73, Confucius never stopped his beloved education career even during his ten years in politics (as general manager) and traveling around the world. He persevered in overcoming all kinds of difficulties and obstacles, developed private schools, and used his whole life's hard work and life to compose a song of triumph of excellent education, which made great contributions to the history of the Chinese nation and even the whole mankind. According to "Historical Records Confucius Family", "Confucius taught poetry, calligraphy, ceremony and music, and his disciple Gai Qianyan was proficient in six arts, with 70 people." A person spends almost all his adult time on education and has trained so many useful talents, which can really be called tireless teaching.

"Never tire of learning and never tire of teaching" has been praised by people since ancient times, and it is also the main content of Confucius' noble morality. Confucius often asked himself this question. When his students praised him with "holiness" and "benevolence", he said, "If it is holiness and benevolence, how dare I?" If you take pains to suppress it and teach others, it can be said to be a cloud. "Confucius not only tirelessly teaches students, but also does not hide anything, thus winning students' infinite respect and admiration for him. When Confucius died, the students lived in a built house next to the tomb of Confucius, just like their parents died, and they kept their filial piety for three years. Zigong is highly valued by teachers, and the affection between teachers and students is better than that between father and son. He kept the tomb of Confucius for six years. Only with such tireless teachers can such students stay in Shandong for three or six years.

2. Teach students in accordance with their aptitude and follow instructions.

Confucius made many inventions in education and teaching. Even today, more than 2000 years later, some of these ideas still have their real significance. Teaching students in accordance with their aptitude and step by step is one of the most valuable things.

Because Confucius advocated "teaching without distinction" in education policy, he also accepted all students. In this way, there are great differences among students in age, personality, hobbies, intelligence, ability, morality, knowledge base, learning attitude and willpower. Confucius once commented on some students:

Chai is also a fool, he is also a teacher, and he is also a teacher. (The Analects of Confucius)

Return to its ordinary, repeated emptiness; Give orders or not, so what about Huo Zhi? Billions are shameless. (same as above)

This shows his understanding of students. In order to make different students learn things well, he "teaches students in accordance with their aptitude" according to their different characteristics.

Take Confucius' different answers to students' questions about "benevolence" in The Analects of Confucius as an example to illustrate this problem:

Yan Yuan asked Ren. Confucius said, "Self-denial and courtesy are benevolence. On the day of self-denial, the world will return to benevolence. " Treat yourself well, but treat others well? "Yan Yuan said," may I ask its purpose? "Confucius said," see no evil, don't listen to evil, don't say evil, and don't move if you are evil. " ("Yanyuan" Volume 12)

Nakamiya wenren. Confucius said, "When you go out, you will meet the distinguished guests, making the people like big sacrifices. Don't do what you don't want, don't do it in the state, and don't complain at home. " (same as above)

Sima Niu asked Ren. Confucius said, "Benevolent people are also dishonest." He said: "His words are also false. Is it enough to say that he is kind? " Confucius said, "Why is it so difficult?" (same as above)

Ask Ren. Confucius said, "Love." (same as above)

Zhang Ziwen is with Confucius. Confucius said, "It is a benevolent person to be able to do five things for the world." "Excuse me?" Say: "public, tolerant, trustworthy, people, and benefit." Courtesy is not for prisoners, forgiveness is not for people, sincerity is considerate, sensitivity is meritorious, and goodness is enough to make people. "("Yang Huo "volume 17)

Benevolence is the core of Confucius' ethical thought and the highest moral standard in his mind. Five students ask the same question, and Confucius' answer is different according to each person's characteristics. Yan Yuan is Confucius' student who knows his thoughts best, so Confucius' answer to him is profound and abstract, involving the relationship between courtesy and benevolence. Zhong Gong and ran yong were very talented in politics. Confucius thought that he could "make the south" (The Analects of Confucius Yong Ye, meaning that he could be a local governor), so when Zhong Gong asked Ren De, Confucius' answer focused on the political application of Ren De. Sima Niu is "talkative and impetuous" (Biography of Disciples of Zhong Ni in Historical Records). Confucius warned him that kind and virtuous people don't talk much, and their words seem dull, so as to correct his deviation in character. Fan Chi's understanding ability is relatively poor, so Confucius gave him a more specific answer, telling him that benevolence means loving others. Zhang Zi sometimes goes to extremes, and it is easy to go to extremes when doing things. This kind of person is not kind in the process of getting along with others. So when he asked Rende, Confucius spoke in detail and told him how to get along with others.

Look at another example:

Lutz asked, "What did Sven do?" Confucius said, "With my father and brother around, how can I smell and act?" You Ran said, "What will you do when you hear about it?" Confucius said, "Si Wen must do it." Gong Xihua said: "You asked' Steven Zhu Xing' again, and Confucius said:' Father and brother'; Autumn asked again, and Confucius said, "Do it." Red was also confused, and dared to ask Confucius with a big smile: "I retreated after planning, so I entered; Because I am also a person, I retired. " (Advanced Analects of Confucius)

This chapter expounds the principle of Confucius teaching students in accordance with their aptitude. Song Zhuxi commented on this: "Confucius taught students in accordance with their aptitude." The same question was put forward by different students. According to the different personality characteristics of You Ran and Lutz, Confucius improved their moral cultivation and provided a vivid demonstration class for future generations to teach students in accordance with their aptitude.

The characteristic of Confucius' teaching activities is that he can "teach students in accordance with their aptitude" according to their actual situation. According to this principle, he deeply understands students' different interests, wisdom and abilities, grasps everyone's characteristics and gives different education. He divided excellent students into four majors:

Virtue: Yan Yuan, Min Zikai, Ran Boniu, Zhong Gong; Word: slay me, Zigong; Politics: You Ran, Lu Ji; Literature: Freedom in Xia Zi. (Advanced Analects of Confucius)

Confucius taught students in accordance with their aptitude, so his disciples had their own strengths. He divided education into majors and disciplines, which was a pioneering work in the history of education development in China.

In the long-term teaching practice, Confucius explored and summarized how to impart knowledge to achieve better teaching results.

Traditional education pays attention to memory and understanding, so it pays attention to cramming and ignores heuristic guidance in educational methods. It puts students in a passive acceptance position, and can't fully mobilize their enthusiasm and cultivate their creative spirit. This kind of education goes against the nature that people have the ability to create and hope to realize their talents. Over time, students' enthusiasm will be hit and suppressed, and students who can't keep up will lose their confidence and interest in learning, feel that learning is a heavy burden, and even lose the quality of being eager to learn and make progress. In fact, this tendency is quite different from Confucius' educational proposition and practice. "The master is kind and charming. He writes me articles and asks me for gifts, but he can't stop." (The Analects of Confucius Zi Han) This is Yan Hui's personal experience of studying with Confucius for many years. He summed up Confucius' persuasive teaching methods.

The teaching effect pursued by Confucius is that students have the ability to use knowledge flexibly. He said, "No anger, no anger, no anger." If you don't take one corner, use three corners to contradict it, and it's gone. "This is a summary of Confucius' long-term educational practice. His key point is to fully mobilize the initiative and enthusiasm of students and cultivate their independent thinking ability under the leading role of teachers. For students, it is necessary to have "understanding" in order to draw inferences from others. Everyone has an understanding, but at different levels. Yan Hui can "know everything from one smell", while Zi Gong can only "know everything from one smell" (The Analects of Gongye Chang). The teacher's duty is to inspire students' understanding. When understanding develops, there will be a "miracle". Zhu's "Random Thoughts on Reading" says: "Last night, the riverside was full of spring water and the ship was light." It has always been in vain, but today it is a free roaming. "This is a process from quantitative change to qualitative change. Modern education pays attention to developing students' intelligence, and its leading ideology is consistent with the heuristic teaching principle of "drawing inferences from others".

This idea of Confucius was reflected in a conversation with Xia Zi:

Xia Zi asked, "I'm smart and smiling. I'm looking forward to it with beautiful eyes. I always thought it was gorgeous. " What is it? Confucius said, "Painting is afterwards." "After the ceremony? Confucius said: "The person who gives is also a businessman! "It's enough to talk about that poem." ("The Analects of Confucius Eight Shu")

Xia Zi didn't quite understand the profound meaning of several poems in The Book of Songs Feng Wei Tells People, so he asked Confucius. After listening to the teacher's explanation, Xia Zi thought of the relationship between courtesy and benevolence through "painting Monday morning quarterback". In Confucius' theory, the function of ceremony is a kind of decoration and an external form; Benevolence is an inner feeling and a deeper thing. Benevolence is more important than courtesy.

If Xia Zi associates the truth of books with the truth of society, then Zigong associates the truth of books with the truth of society:

Zi Gong said, "Poor but not flattering, rich but not arrogant?" Confucius said, "Yes. If you are not poor, you will be happy, and if you are rich, you will be good at giving gifts. " Zi Gong said, "The Book of Songs says,' If it is incisive, it will be polished. What does this mean? Confucius said, "If you give it, you can tell me that the Book of Songs is finished and tell people who have known it in the past. "("The Analects of Confucius Learning ")

Inspired by Confucius, Zi Gong realized that learning must be improved, and quoted this poem from The Book of Songs, Feng Wei's Seven Prides, as an example, which was praised by the teacher. Being able to know one thing and two things, knowing the past and knowing the future, has already possessed the conditions for learning the Book of Songs, and is full of associations.

Confucius said, "Knowing is not as good as being kind, and being kind is not as good as being happy." The basic idea of heuristic teaching is that teachers should use situations to guide students to learn and be willing to learn, so that people with different degrees, different personalities and different intelligence levels can start step by step from their own starting points. This is good guidance.

In a word, persuasion is an important principle in Confucius' educational thought. If separated, it consists of three parts: personalized education, interesting education and step-by-step education.

3. Pay equal attention to learning and thinking, and combine teaching with learning.

Confucius spent most of his life on education. He understood "teaching" and "learning" as a whole and advocated paying equal attention to "teaching" and "learning". He not only summarized a series of educational principles and teaching methods, but also put forward some learning principles and methods. Pay equal attention to learning and thinking, and the combination of teaching and learning is one of the important contents.

Confucius advocated paying equal attention to learning and thinking, and put forward an incisive opinion that "learning without thinking is useless, and thinking without learning is dangerous" (The Analects of Confucius is politics). Bao Xian's Annotation to the Analects of Confucius in the Eastern Han Dynasty said: "If you don't think about the meaning of learning, you will get nothing;" If you don't study and think, you will die, which will only make people tired. " Confucius himself attached great importance to learning. He once said:

In a city with ten rooms, there must be faithful people, so it is better to learn mountains. ("The Analects of Confucius Gongye Chang")

I was not born knowing, so old, so eager to seek. (The Analects of Confucius)

Confucius became a great thinker and educator because of his spirit of "never getting tired of learning".

The so-called "learning without thinking" means reading without thinking, completely believing what the book says, and being easily bullied by the book. That's what Mencius meant when he said, "It's better to believe in books than to have no books" (Mencius devoted himself to it). Confucius pointed out: "A gentleman has Jiu Si: he thinks clearly, listens attentively, looks gentle, looks respectful, speaks faithfully, respects things, doubts and feels resentful and embarrassed. This is what he sees." (The Analects of Confucius Ji Shi) He thinks that "hearsay without independent thinking" means "abandoning morality". ("The Analects of Confucius Yang Huo")

On the contrary, if you just think hard, don't study, and don't inherit the knowledge of predecessors through reading, then you are "almost" and you are doubtful. As Han Yu said, "It's confusing, but I can't understand it." Confucius said with his own personal experience: "I try not to eat for a day and stay up all night." It's useless to think, it's better to learn. " ("The Analects of Confucius Wei Linggong")

When the Analects of Confucius is opened, the first sentence is: "Confucius said,' Why not keep pace with the times? "("The Analects of Confucius ") This is also the way that Confucius taught people to learn. Su Shi, the king of Wei in the Three Kingdoms, said, "It's also the time when scholars recite. When you recite learning, you will learn without wasting it, so it is pleasant. " (Notes to Thirteen Classics, learning is the first) Or Ask says: "When learning is unknown, learning is the time when you fail to seek talents." (The Analects of Confucius II) Whether learning or thinking is a cognitive activity that stays in the mind, Confucius' learning is a process of mastering knowledge and acquiring ability in the process of learning, and it is a link of education.

The combination of teaching and learning is the combination of teaching and practice in the teaching process; For students, it is necessary to combine knowledge with practice and internship. To acquire knowledge, we must study; Consolidate knowledge and apply it in practice. Only by reviewing and practicing from time to time can we deduce new knowledge, expand our knowledge and feel the joy of acquiring new knowledge in our hearts. Only through review and practice can we turn the learned knowledge into ability.

The Doctrine of the Mean divides the learning process put forward by Confucius into five stages, namely, "erudition, questioning, deep thinking, discernment and perseverance". These five stages are actually three links of "learning-thinking-doing" characterized by "thinking". Learning to enter the profession requires combining book knowledge with life practice to apply what you have learned. Taking learning poetry as an example, Confucius said: "Recite poetry three hundred times, and teach it to be political, but not up to standard;" Make it everywhere, not just right; " Even if there are many, what do you think? "("The Analects of Confucius ") The knowledge taught by Confucius at that time, such as moral norms, etiquette knowledge and the truth of being a man, needs to be translated into action; Rites, music, shooting, defense, books, etc. , all need to practice again and again. To master the above skills skillfully, teaching and practice need to be closely combined.

From the perspective of educational theory, most disciplines of modern knowledge need hands-on practice, experiment and doing. It can be seen that learning is not only to master book knowledge, but also to improve the quality of education is not only to learn cultural lessons well, but also to cultivate students' practical ability, practical ability and creative ability. Confucius put forward the idea of combining teaching with practice and practice more than two thousand years ago, which is far-sighted.

Confucius said, "Reviewing the past and learning the new can be a teacher." ("The Analects of Confucius for Politics") Yan Yuan said that the teacher "the higher he lifts, the stronger he drills." (The Analects of Confucius, Zi Han) Although Confucius' educational thought will be out of date with the development of the times, its basic principles will never be out of date. Looking back on several classics, Confucius' educational thought is a rich treasure house in the ancient history of education in China, and Confucius' contribution to the history of education in China and his influence on later generations are indelible.