Educational truths

Author: Chen Guisheng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-01-01
Features: What is the "concept system of pedagogy"? The traditional concept system of pedagogy includes two sets of basic concepts: one set is related to "teaching content," including teaching plans, subjects, teaching syllabi, and textbooks; the other set is the "teaching" concepts, such as "classroom teaching," "teaching methods," and "teaching organizational forms." This concept system revolves around "teaching," interpreting "curriculum" as normative teaching content, which is compiled by subject. Therefore, "curriculum" is defined as "the sum of all subjects," and a specific subject is also referred to as "curriculum," such as "Chinese curriculum" or "mathematics curriculum." This is the "curriculum" concept that emerged in modern times and is still widely used in China today. However, on the European continent, particularly in Germany and Russia, the "concept system of pedagogy" does not include the concept of "curriculum." They use the concept of "education" to express what China refers to as "curriculum." In their pedagogy, "education" is listed alongside "education" and "teaching" as one of the three fundamental concepts of pedagogy. Correspondingly, they establish "education theory," "pedagogy theory," and "teaching theory," without a "curriculum theory." The term "curriculum" originates from the Latin word "Cursum race course," meaning "racecourse." In the mid-19th century, Spencer referred to the systematic organization of teaching content as "Curriculum" in his Education (1861). In 1880, when Japanese scholars translated Spencer's Education, they borrowed the term "course" from Zhu Xi's phrase "wide in setting deadlines, strict in setting courses" and translated "Curriculum" as "education curriculum." In the educational theories of English-speaking countries, "education" does not belong to the fundamental concepts, so there is no "education theory" but rather "curriculum theory." China adopted the "concept system of pedagogy" derived from Germany and Russia, rather than their "education" concept, incorporating their "education theory" into "curriculum theory." This indicates that in the process of borrowing foreign educational theories, China inadvertently distorted the original theories of other countries. This pedagogical concept system is essentially a reflection of the operational mechanism of curriculum activities under a centralized curriculum administration system. Its characteristics are as follows:
1. In the relationship between curriculum and teachers, since teaching plans, teaching syllabi, and textbooks are formulated and reviewed by the government outside the direct teaching process, teachers can only faithfully follow the provisions of the teaching syllabus and teach in strict accordance with the sequence of textbooks. This means that "curriculum" is merely a matter of concern for the government and subject experts, and teachers have no authority to alter the curriculum or need to think about curriculum issues—their task is teaching. Thus, in this curriculum mechanism, what is referred to as "curriculum" is actually "prescribed teaching content," i.e., a set of norms reflecting curriculum value orientations and textbooks as teaching materials. It exists at a considerable distance from the objectively existing "curriculum." Even with the same textbook, actual outcomes can vary greatly depending on how different teachers use it. To bring the "actual curriculum" closer to the "prescribed curriculum," on the one hand, teacher training is conducted to ensure teachers fully understand the textbooks; on the other hand, teaching inspections are relied upon, leading to