The Essence of Education: Whitehead and the Spiritual Dimension

Whitehead's contention that the essence of education is that it be religious has been widely overlooked by many of his adherents who have found it a difficult, or even embarrassing, concept with which to deal. But what did Whitehead mean by religious? In Britain there is currently a deep interest in what is being termed the, "spiritual dimension of education" which is itself to be seen in the context of the postmodern rejection of positivistic modes of thought which have dominated educational discourse in recent decades. This article examines Whitehead's own concept of religion both in his explicit academic work and in his assessment of what we might term, indirect education. It goes on to suggest links with other key thinkers, in particular William James, Soren Kierkegaard, and Ludwig Wittgenstein.     

Beyond the Bounds of Thought: Speculative Philosophy and the Last Proposition of the Tractatus

Wittgenstein's Tractatus attempts to characterize, via an account of the meaning and truth of propositional expressions, the limits to human thought. It turns out that not only, according to him, are the limits to human thought something which lie outside the capacity for humans to express, but such a notion is strictly speaking without sense. He concludes the book with the sentence "What we cannot speak about we must pass over in silence." Whitehead, on the contrary, is concerned to suggest that human sentential expressions are always inadequate to the thoughts which we wish to express. Nonetheless he suggests that a happy speculation a la Plato might just be right, even though we may never know that it is. This paper argues that there are no convincing arguments that either Wittgenstein or Whitehead is right here. So it is best that we maintain an agnostic position with respect to the view that human thought is strictly limited or that no adequate expressions of our thoughts can be found. Both educationally and practically, failing of any convincing arguments to the contrary, it is better that we presuppose, along with the mediaeval Christian thinkers, that our reason and insight are sufficient to the task of ultimately penetrating into the mysteries of the world, however difficult that task might be. Thus a happy speculation with no grounding is a perfectly good thing to engage in. It just might be true.     

Education as action/the adventure of education: thinking with Arendt and Whitehead

ABSTRACT

Understanding and action are central themes in Hannah Arendt's thought and an idea that runs throughout her work is that whenever human beings act, they start processes. It is in this light that she saw education as a process whose aim is to make human beings feel at home in the world. Given the centrality of process in understanding action, early on in her work, Arendt reflected and drew upon the ideas of Alfred Whitehead, the philosopher of process. Education in his thought is an art and an adventure whose object should be to enable students to grasp the process of life itself and imagine different worlds. In this light, universities are crucial in creating conditions of possibility for imaginative learning and intellectual adventures. Taking action, process, imagination and adventure as my central ideas, in this paper, I make connections between Arendt and Whitehead in an attempt to think about education within and beyond ‘dark times’.     

巫玉与古代中国宗教精神

古代中国宗教的最基本的精神或倾向是巫术的。中国社会有着巫术存在的广泛空间。正是以此作为前提与背景，巫术建立和发展起了其阔大的市场并由此而串起了它那漫长的历史之河。这既表现在国家生活中，也表现在社会生活中。通过与其他宗教的比较，更可能清楚地看到这一点。     

试论民族地区艺术高校人文教育对策

人文教育是高等艺术教育可持续发展的重要因素。民族地区高等艺术院校由于地缘和艺术教育是特殊教育的因素，较之普遍意义的人文教育呈现异性。艺术高校人文教育要有必要的介体和环体作保证；以爱国主义情操、融合文化教育、艺术专业知识传授、艺术实践、创新教育为主要内容。     

基于“新六艺”教育的大美育体系建构与实践研究

“新六艺”教育是佛山市南海外国语学校基于中华美育精神构建的大美育体系。学校通过实行“减负”三部曲,即推行周末零作业、早上推迟30分钟起床、整合语数英等必修课课时,开辟美育时空;通过实行“添彩”三重奏,即打造课程阵地、课堂阵地、文化阵地,描绘美育画卷。“新六艺”教育在“点亮”自己的同时也“照亮”了他人。学校通过“输血”和“造血”两种方式,用“新六艺”教育打通教育扶贫“最后一公里”,引领每个大山孩子走向美美与共的美好境界。     

文化传播学视域中的高校戏剧艺术通识教育

目前,中国高等教育理论研究对通识教育的功能研究存在着严重的偏差,更多地关注通识教育的创新功能,忽略了其文化精神传承功能,而在人文精神发生集体性危机的中国当下和全球化语境下,通识教育在某种意义上更多的是文化精神的传承。作为一种重要的文化精神传承途径,高校戏剧艺术通识教育应该把“文化自觉”理念贯注到每个大学生心中,促进对全球化时代中国文化主体性的理论思考和实践关怀,铸就主体精神的文化自觉,这是当前高校戏剧艺术通识教育的灵魂。     

从达·芬奇到爱因斯坦——谈高等教育中艺术和科学的融合与发展

艺术和科学是人类两大创造性工作,是人全面发展的两大重要因素.科学和艺术同源共生,互通互动,相异互补,艺术是科学创造的依托,科学是艺术创造的基因.艺术和科学的融合是时代发展的必然结果,也是高等教育培养高素质综合人才的基本要求,因此,要加强艺术教育和科学教育的创新研究,促进艺术和科学的有机互动,实现认识上的飞跃.     

实施新课程对中学美术教学的思考

过去的中学美术教育过于强调学科中心，扼杀了学生学习美术的兴趣，束缚了学生创新意识的发展，在实施新课程时，要按素质教育的要求，促进学生在智力、道德和人格上获得发展：在修养、评论、创作上得到提高。     

Religious Influences in Public Education: Political and judicial Developments

What can preservice teachers tell us about the impact of culture on literacy? Participants responded to an open-ended survey asking, “How do you think your culture influences what you read and write?” Three themes emerged in their answers: family influence, self-exploration through literacy, and the cultural politics of literacy. Further examination led to three premises about literacy. Findings highlight the importance of students’ literacy history and provide means for teachers to reframe their instruction, based on student voice.     

A New View of Idea, Thought, and Education in Bergson and Whitehead?

This paper argues that a view which has come to be accepted in modern times, that ideas or thoughts are discrete items of information or concepts from which all feeling and movement must be radically extirpated, if not exorcized, represents neither some of the more subtle trajectories of earlier thought in the Western world nor, in particular, the dynamic thinking of Bergson and Whitehead. The thought of Bergson and Whitehead plunges one radically into movement, connectedness, newness, and unfinishedness in such a way that Whitehead, for example, proposes an entirely new view of education, according to which the holy engagement of the idea in the tender movement of understanding contrasts sharply with the ritualized mutual slaughter that lurks not so inconspicuously in the shadow-sides of our educational systems.     

艺术教育与创新人格的培养

本文通过阐述创新人格培养和艺术教育的内在联系,在理论和实践的基础上提出了艺术教育培养创新人格的有效途径,为完善艺术教育创新人格培养的功能提供了一定的理论支持和实践指导.     

大学教育:科学精神与人文精神的融合

科学精神和人文精神作为人类认识活动的两种产物,主导了人类认识和观察世界的两种基本方法和维度,对人类文化的创造分别起着不同的作用。这两种思维方式的互补构成了完整的人类思维和文化。人的发展是社会发展的主题和核心,人文精神是人的素质全面发展的核心内容和主要标志。坚持科学精神与人文精神教育的整合、并重是大学教育历史使命使然。     

教育的基本任务是塑造民族精神——孙喜亭先生素质教育思想研讨

恩师孙喜亭先生是我国改革开放时代的马克思主义教育理论家和思想家,是我国改革开放时代教育研究的积极推动者、研究者和传播者的杰出代表。孙先生的许多著作都是把马克思主义教育普遍原理与中国教育实际相结合的研究,是在密切关注中国教育实践的基础上,对中国教育问题观察研究的成果和理论求索。素质教育是我国改革开放以来形成的具有主导性的教育思想和教育实践,孙先生为素质教育的理论研究、形成、传播和教育实践的发展做出了重要贡献。     

简论人文精神与科学精神在教育中的融合

人文精神与科学精神是人类精神的两个维度。教育也应做到科学精神与人文精神二者相辅相成,不可或缺,借 此实现人和自然、社会的高度和谐发展。     

浅析我国高等美术教育改革与人文精神的建构

我国高等美术教育事业危机出现的根本原因在于美术教育角色定位的偏差,而美术教育角色定位的偏差从根本又是由于人文精神的缺失。我国高等美术教育事业如欲突破长期以来的发展瓶颈,必须要引入符合美术事业发展规律的指导思想,即人文精神,在教育体制、培养目标和教学内容上实现人文精神的全面渗透。     

论远程教育信息传播过程及其优化设计

远程教育是教育的一种模式 ,是教育科学的一个新领域。因为它属于教育的范畴 ,所以其教学过程也是整个教育活动的基本组成部分。而远程教育的教学过程、信息传播过程与一般教育的教学过程、信息传播过程相比 ,又有其独特性。本文着重阐述了远程教育教学过程以及信息传播的构成要素 ,并提出优化设计远程教育传播过程的观点 ,更好地开发、发展远程教育。     

体育的人文精神与意义探究

我国体育界由于长期缺乏体育人文精神的熏陶,引发了众多体育社会问题,触发了人们对体育人文精神的探索。文章从体育人文精神的内涵,体育人文精神与体育科学,以及体育人文精神与体育人三个方面进行了深入思索和探究。认为体育人文精神除秉承了一般人文精神的意义外,还有其独特内涵：体育的人文精神和意义很难完整而全面地归纳：不同时代、不同国家对体育人文精神的解读不同;体育科学体现了人文和科学融通的特征;体育科学是集中体现体育人文精神的特殊学术领域。但其根本来源是对体育社会实践中所潜藏的精神力量的挖掘;体育人是体育的人文精神的集中承载者和发扬者：内化了体育人文精神的体育人是构建和谐体育的中坚力量。     

大学精神的塑造和德育

大学精神的塑造依赖于德育而形成和发展，德育又借助于大学精神而深化，二相辅相成。     

整体化的儿童精神与早期教育

整体化是儿童精神的一种独特存在,其最基本的表达方式便是儿童的整体感知,客观事物的人格化与主观世界的实在化则是其功能的实现。理解、尊重并顺应整体化的儿童精神,早期教育就应是一种全面启蒙的、生活化的、生态式的和人文化的“整体化教育”。