Education: New Edition

Author: Wang Daojun, Wang Hanlan
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2002-12-01
Features: This book was originally compiled based on the 1978 liberal arts textbook selection plan of the Ministry of Education, specifically the educational textbook jointly edited by five institutions including Central China Normal University. Since its publication in 1980, it has been reprinted and revised multiple times, with cumulative distribution exceeding two million copies, playing a certain positive role. However, with the development of the situation, the content has become outdated. The Ministry of Education's Liberal Arts Textbook Office tasked us with revising it and incorporating it into the new selection plan for 1985–1990. Under the supervision of the Ministry of Education's administrative department and the People's Education Press, we have rewritten the current edition... This book was originally compiled based on the 1978 liberal arts textbook selection plan of the Ministry of Education, specifically the educational textbook jointly edited by five institutions including Central China Normal University. Since its publication in 1980, it has been reprinted and revised multiple times, with cumulative distribution exceeding two million copies, playing a certain positive role. However, with the development of the situation, the content has become outdated. The Ministry of Education's Liberal Arts Textbook Office tasked us with revising it and incorporating it into the new selection plan for 1985–1990. The second edition was released in December 1989. Under the supervision of the Ministry of Education's administrative department and the People's Education Press, we have rewritten the current edition. In this revision, we made efforts in the following aspects:
First, we focused on grasping the research object of pedagogy, enriching specialized knowledge in pedagogy, highlighting the disciplinary characteristics of pedagogy, and striving to overcome the flaw of simply substituting knowledge from other disciplines for pedagogical discussions;
Second, we enriched the macro-level content of education, deepened the micro-level content, and paid attention to their intrinsic connections, avoiding one-sidedness such as seeing only the micro-level without the macro-level or vice versa;
Third, we respected practice, adhered to pragmatism, and explored the laws of education, elaborating on necessity based on the revelation of inevitability, discarding "utopian" or "empty talk," and overcoming the flaw of "prioritizing superiors or books";
Fourth, we fully affirmed the subjective status of learners in educational activities, focused on the development of learners' independent personalities and the cultivation of modern talent qualities, and avoided the mechanistic view of treating learners as passive objects;
Fifth, we actively and selectively absorbed recent research findings in educational science, ensuring the textbook had new ideas, arguments, materials, and a fresh appearance;
Sixth, we strengthened the targeted nature of the textbook, emphasized the study of educational thought, and discussed major issues in educational theory and practice, offering our own perspectives, without adopting a non-A or non-B attitude toward traditional or modern educational theories;
Seventh, while clarifying fundamental theories, we paid attention to enhancing the practicality and readability of the textbook, avoiding a bias toward neglecting theory or practicality in compilation. When finalizing the textbook, coinciding with the convening of the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, we studied the report titled "Advancing Along the Path of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics," striving to reflect the theory and spirit of the primary stage of socialism in the textbook. In terms of the textbook's system or logical structure, apart from adding, deleting, and adjusting certain chapters, the overall framework remained largely unchanged, for example, not listing "intellectual education" as a separate chapter. However, this does not mean we believe the original framework of the textbook is entirely reasonable, but rather that due to our lack of in-depth research on this issue, we could not propose a new system or logical structure that stands up to scrutiny. In terms of content selection, we still aimed for comprehensiveness and completeness. This undoubtedly adds weight to the public course teaching, but also provides more flexibility, allowing teachers to select and teach based on actual circumstances. The revision of this book was guided and assisted by Yuan Hua of the Ministry of Education and Hu Yinsheng of the People's Education Press. Two review and discussion sessions were held, and the research findings of some colleagues were referenced. We express our heartfelt gratitude. Due to our limitations, the current edition will still contain many shortcomings and errors, and we sincerely welcome criticism and corrections. This revision was led by Wang Daojun and Wang Hanlan as chief editors; the writing tasks were undertaken (in the order of chapters): Wang Hanlan (Introduction, , and Chapters 2–3), Wang Daojun (Chapter 4), Fu Ziyun (Chapters 5 and 17), Zhao Tiangang (Chapter 6), Guo Wen'an (Chapters 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, and 18), Kuang Ximu (Chapters 7, 8, and 9), Nan Guonong (Chapter 10), Ming Jian (Chapter 13), Zhang Yaoxian (Chapter 14), Yao Ximing (Chapter 15), Dong Xiangzhi (Chapter 16), Hu Zhongping and Chen Xiu (Chapter 19), Sun Mantao, Tao Chongming, and Xu Wenjie (Chapter 20). Guo Wenhong and Zhang Yaoxian participated in the final compilation. Additionally, Tu Yanguo, Xu Banguan, and Dong Ying assisted in collecting materials for some chapters. Editors, December 1987