When naturalistic education is mentioned, the concept of nature, naturalism, is involved. The word nature in ancient Greece had two meanings: one was "source", that is, the origin of the existence and movement of things; the other was "collection", that is, natural objects in nature and their order. John Adams, a British historian of education, believes in The Evolution of Educational Theory that "nature" has three meanings, namely individual nature, nature and nature that are opposed to "art" and "man-made". Regarding naturalism, some scholars believe that it mainly refers to a trend of thought in modern Times in the West, that is, the philosophical thought of using natural causes and principles to explain all phenomena, and educational naturalism is only one of the forms. There are also scholars who divide educational naturalism into two categories: objective naturalism and subjective naturalism.
Went through five stages of development
The first person in Western history to discuss the idea of naturalistic education was Plato of ancient Greece. He believes that the seeds of knowledge exist in the mind of every person, that the role of the teacher is to help the students to discover the truth for themselves, and that the task of the teacher is to help the mind to go to the light, which is a completely natural movement. Aristotle first proposed the principle that "education follows the natural development of man". His three theories of the soul (vegetative, animalistic, and rational) are the theoretical basis for his advocacy of segmented education according to the age of children.
But the academic community generally believes that the Czech educational theorist Johann Amos Comenius was the founder of the naturalistic view of education. This is mainly reflected in his use of "nature" to define the theory of education, and put forward the principle of "education adapts to nature". He believes that "nature" has two meanings. First, the universal order of existence in nature. The laws and orders of education should be based on nature. Second, the natural nature of man and the age characteristics of children. Education should conform to people's nature and age, so that people's intelligence can be fully developed. However, the "man" in Comenius is a product of the forces of nature and does not have initiative.
The culmination of naturalistic educational ideas was the 18th-century French Enlightenment thinker Jean-Jacques Rousseau. He believes that the purpose of nature education is to cultivate "natural people" (people who have a belief in a good life in real society). There are three sources of education: nature (the development of human organs and abilities), man (learning to use this organ and ability to develop), and things (acquired from surrounding things and experiences). In the education of children, the education of nature should be the center, and the education of people and things should be in a subordinate position. What is reflected here is respect for human nature and humanity.
Influenced by Rousseau's thought, the 19th-century Swiss Democratic educator Johan Heinrich Pestalozzi further deepened the idea of natural education. He put forward the view of "natural self-development", that is, while respecting children's nature, we should pay more attention to the development of natural forces within children. He also proposed the path to "psychologicalization of education". "Psychologicalization of education" has two meanings: the purpose of education is to cultivate and develop people's inner abilities; the process of education and teaching should conform to the law of children's psychological development, so that children have the knowledge and ability to take the initiative.
John Dewey, an American philosopher and one of the founders of modern pedagogy, developed his own unique educational theory system on the basis of inheriting the ideas of his predecessors, and pushed naturalistic educational ideas to practicality. He believed that there were three centres of education: children, experience and activities. Education is the transformation and reorganization of experience. Experience is a continuous fusion between a person's active attempt at behavior and the result. The children's center is the child's teaching center, emphasizing the child's nature, interests and habits is the starting point of teaching, and the teacher as the guide should guide the development and realization of the child's inner ability under the premise of respecting the law of the child's physical and mental development.
In summary, the development of naturalistic educational thought went through five stages: the embryonic period (ancient Greece), the objectiveization stage (Comenius), the subjective stage (Rousseau), the psychological stage (Pesteroschi) and the practical stage (Dewey).
It has the characteristics of nature, equality and autonomy
Liu Liming of Hunan Normal University, in the article "Analysis of the Characteristics of Western Naturalistic Educational Thought", classified the characteristics of naturalistic educational thought as critical, innovative, natural adaptability, freedom, subjectivity and practice. Criticality refers to the reflection on the concept of repressive education and self-criticism in practice; innovation mainly refers to the continuous renewal and development of theory; natural adaptability refers to adapting to the natural nature of children; freedom is the inherent connotation of naturalistic thought, and it is also the premise and condition for its development; subjectivity refers to the improvement of children's subject status in educational activities; practicality is mainly embodied in the combination of educational theory and educational practice. In addition, some domestic scholars believe that naturalism is characterized by: nature-centered, opposition to supernatural existence, adherence to empiric methods, and positivist scientific beliefs.
The author believes that the connotation and characteristics of the naturalistic concept of education are concentrated in five aspects: First, nature. Nature here has three meanings, namely nature, society and the natural state within man. The three are independent and interdependent. Everything in nature has its own laws of growth, and man is no exception. In the process of education, it is necessary to adopt appropriate teaching methods and contents under the premise of respecting the laws of people's own growth and development. As a subsystem of natural operation, society is also an important place for human life, and we must intervene in educational activities under the premise of respecting the laws of social operation. Man's inner nature is affected by the law of physical and mental development, and as the main body of education, the harmonious development of his internal nature cannot be ignored. Second, equality. Equality has two main meanings in the naturalistic view of education. The first is the harmonious coexistence relationship between man and nature. Man has the natural need to develop his own abilities, which is an inalienable right, and naturally cannot be used uncontrolledly by human beings, emphasizing man's respect and reverence for nature. The second is the relationship between students and teachers in education. Teachers play the role of facilitators in the learning of students, and they are cooperative with students. Third, autonomy. Autonomy here is autonomy in the ontological sense, the inner unity and harmony of unity. Children are active participants rather than passive recipients of learning activities. Fourth, freedom. More emphasis is placed on positive freedom, in education, man is the subject rather than the object, the initiator of activity is not the forced by external forces, and the conscious and rational self-leader. Fifth, normativity and rationality. Education and teaching need to set norms for educational activities according to the characteristics of the subject (students themselves, education itself, and society itself), and act according to norms, and the establishment of norms is carried out on the basis of rational thinking.
Bring enlightenment to today's educational development
The naturalistic concept of education still has important theoretical value and practical significance to this day. Many naturalistic educators have done in-depth research on topics such as child-centeredism, autonomy, nature, and freedom, providing important ideological resources for the transformation and development of education.
Guide people in the search for meaning. This is the practical significance of naturalistic educational ideas in contemporary times. The inquiry of meaning is a process of self-dialogue, an examination of self-reflection and criticism, a logical inquiry under the guidance of the spirit of reason, and the essential need for the internal development of man as a moral subject. The meaning here is to contemplate the existence of life and to take care of the spiritual world of the self.
Cultivate human rationality. Education requires a constant search for truth in the process of dialogue, exchange and criticism, and infinite communication takes place in the kingdom of reason, when dialogue and exchange are not a process of persuasion, but an exchange of views and collisions of thought in an atmosphere of equality, respect and tolerance. Criticism at this moment is not the meaning of criticism, but the rational reception of different views, the process of seeking truth in constant questioning and criticism.
Develop an ability to "love" nature (referring to nature, society, and self). "Love" here is a sincere attitude and an inclusion of diversity. As the philosopher Marcus Aurelius put it in his Meditations: Everything we hear is a point of view, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth. This "love" is a respect for education itself, allowing us to return to education itself for a complete contemplation. This "love" is also an understanding and contemplation of the self, in which the self is constantly improved.
(Author Affilications:School of Education, Soochow University)
Source: China Social Science Network - China Social Science Daily Author: Zhang Yaping
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Source: China Social Science Network