Practical pedagogy

Author: Editor-in-Chief: Bian Shouzheng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1999-09-01
Features: Excerpt: Chapter Introduction Learning Objectives 1. The evolution of educational theories; 2. The establishment of scientific pedagogy; 3. The status of Deng Xiaoping's educational theories; 4. The significance, methods, and principles of learning pedagogy. Practical Pedagogy, as a teaching book for higher vocational education, aims to integrate the basic theories of pedagogy and psychology. It focuses on solving practical problems in junior high school education, striving to provide a solid theoretical foundation and readability, enabling better integration of theoretical research and educational practice, and genuinely serving to improve the quality of educators. Section Overview of Pedagogy Pedagogy is a science that studies the social phenomenon of education—the cultivation of people—and its laws. As human society evolves, humanity's understanding of educational phenomena has gradually developed through exploration and research, gradually concentrating on issues such as the nature of education, educational goals, educational systems, educational management systems, educational content, and educational methods. As an independent science, it has gone through its initial stages of formation and development; as an important branch of social science, its development is inevitably constrained by and serves social and political systems, exhibiting a distinct political orientation, reflected in its tasks. As a science serving social educational phenomena, its research objects are first the social phenomena related to education, and second, the people engaged in this phenomenon.
I. The Formation and Development of Pedagogy In the course of human social development, people's understanding of transmitting knowledge and experience accumulated in production and life practices to the next generation has deepened. The social phenomenon of engaging in this activity has become increasingly complex, gradually leading to the emergence of specialized educational institutions and dedicated educators who required educational work to be implemented under a set plan. Different social formations selected specific educational content. To ensure the effective implementation of education, greater emphasis was placed on adopting effective educational methods. With the deepening of all these educational practices, experience was continuously accumulated. Through the refinement of this rich educational experience, educational thought and theory developed, giving rise to the emergence of pedagogy. As a social phenomenon, the experience of educational phenomena was summarized and refined in the writings of famous ancient thinkers, who integrated these insights into vast philosophical systems. Many insightful discussions on education were intertwined with other theoretical ideas, such as social politics, ethics, morality, the nature of good and evil, attitudes toward life, and academic methods. In ancient China, Confucius, Mencius, Xunzi, and Zhu Xi, and in ancient Western civilizations, Plato, Aristotle, and Quintilian, while elucidating other social phenomena, vividly and profoundly addressed educational phenomena, beginning to explain education as a distinct subject. The earliest specialized works on education include China's Records of Rites (Xueji) from the late Warring States period and The Great Learning, as well as Institutes of Oratory by the Roman Quintilian. Xueji, as far as is known, is the world's earliest specialized work on education. It extracts principles such as "teaching and learning mutually benefit each other, teach in a timely manner," "do not impose learning beyond one's capacity," "guide without forcing, encourage without suppressing," "cultivate strengths and correct weaknesses," "prevent problems before they arise," and "balance study and rest." These fully reflect the significant development of education in China over two thousand years ago and the level of understanding of its laws, some of which still hold universal guidance for educational work today. The experience summarized by ancient Chinese and Western thinkers through their long-term educational practices generalized the objective laws of educational development, laying the foundation for the subsequent emergence of scientific pedagogical theory. The development of pedagogical science has gone through the following three stages.