John Dewey and Character Education

Abstract

Some of the character education programmes that were implemented in American public schools during the first three decades of this century are examined. The educational theory underlying these programmes is contrasted to John Dewey's ideas on moral education. Character education programmes reflected a trait‐inspired approach to morality: character was assumed to be a structure of virtues and vices. Dewey's conception of morality was broader; he held that character embraced all the purposes, desires, and habits that affect human conduct. Dewey's recommendations for moral education differed significantly from those put forward by the advocates of character education, as Dewey,’s proposals were basically proposals for school reform. Because character education programmes were aimed at developing specific virtues in students, the programmes were narrowly conceived and were unable to affect major changes in educational practice.     

Walter Benjamin and John Dewey: The Structure of Difference Between Their Thoughts on Education

This paper compares aspects of the thinking of Walter Benjamin and John Dewey. Both attempted to address the problem of 'poverty of experience' in modern society by means of an anti-dualistic concept of experience and the concept of media. These concepts can be observed optimally in their work on aesthetics. Such concepts of experience and media were the keys to the development of new conceptions of education. Differences in their understanding of media, however, led them to different strategies in the development of their educational thought. The present paper will show that Benjamin's strategy offers a promising alternative to that of Dewey.     

约翰·杜威的职业教育思想

约翰·杜威(John Dewey,1859-1952)是美国著名的哲学家、教育家,他所处的时代正值美国由农业社会向工业社会的转型时期。杜威出生后不久,美国就爆发了南北战争,战后加快了工业化发展进程,到1900年,美国一跃而成为世界第一经济大国。工业经济的发展吸引了大量农村劳动力和新移民,他们定居在城市,加快了美国城市化的步伐。于是,美国产生了一种全新的文明——城市工业文明。在社会转型的背景下,美国涌现出了大量的问题,教育就是其中的一个重要方面。美国经济的迅猛发展,虽然为19世纪末20世纪初的教育提供了良好的物质条件。然而,面对新形势,美国传统教育的弊端不断暴露出来:学校与社会脱节,课程与现实生活脱节,教学模式呆板……杜威在对美国社会转型对教育提出的新要求进行深思熟虑的基础上,以实用主义哲学为基础,结合自己的教育实践,提出了实用主义教育思想,形成了实用主义教育理论体系。其中,职业教育思想是实用主义教育思想的一个重要内容。     

毛泽东与杜威德育思想的异同比较

在毛泽东的人民教育观产生、形成的过程中，杜威的实用主义教育思想，对思想尚未定型、正在如饥似渴地吸收新思潮的青年毛泽东曾产生过一定的影响；毛泽东与杜威德育思想的相同点主要表现在：教育实践中所具有的影响、道德教育的形象比喻、促进社会发展的功能等方面；其不同点主要表现在：内涵的理解、德育与智育的关系、德育的社会功能等方面；道德教育方法方面的异同也各有利弊；而他们德育思想差异的根本原因则是其哲学理论基础的不同：马克思主义与实用主义。     

Edward Lee Thorndike and John Dewey on the Science of Education

ABSTRACT

At the beginning of this century the two most important theorists in the history of American education, Edward Thomdike and John Dewey, formulated radically different visions of how the art of teaching could be transformed into a science. Thomdike, combining a strongly hereditarian behavioural psychology with the newly developed techniques of statistical analysis, showed how schooling could be structured around the methods of industrial management. By atomising and standardising every aspect of the educational process, a cadre of experts and administrators would replace traditional rule‐of‐thumb methods with scientifically proven practices dovetailed to the needs of a modem state. Although Dewey was also committed to the value of science as a universal tool for human betterment, he completely rejected the epistemological, psychological and sociological assumptions implicit in Thorndike's technocratic vision. In contrast to Thomdike's mechanistic world view, Dewey formulated an organismic ontology modelled on the process of adaptation and demonstrated that the scientific method depends upon the construction of a democratic community of problem solvers. By evaluating these theories of human nature and the social good, I discuss the failings of Thorndike's programme within the American school and explain the implications of Dewey's more sophisticated arguments for educational practice.     

杜威与普洛瑟职业教育哲学思想比较及反思

杜威认为职业教育是实现民主的手段,职业教育要面向全体学生,主张统一的教育管理体制,职业教育教师要具备丰富的教育经验;普洛瑟则认为培养职业技能、满足工业需求是职业教育的目的,职业教育应面向特定群体,职业教育应独立于普通教育管理体制,职业教育教师是所教职业领域的技能专家,应具备丰富的工业经验。二者争论中的很多问题仍然是当今我国职业教育发展过程中需认真思考的哲学问题。     

杜威与陶行知儿童教育观之比较

杜威和陶行知在反对传统儿童教育理论的基础上，提出并形成了他们各自的儿童教育观点，其核心是尊重儿童，解放儿童，儿童教育与生活和社会相联系。二者的儿童教育观既有相同之处又有差异。本文主要是对二者的儿童教育观进行对比研究。     

John Dewey and the Artful Life

REPRESENTATIVE AMERICAN SPEECHES: 1952–1953. Edited by A. Craig Baird. New York: H. W. Wilson Co., 1953; pp. 199. $1.75.

IT TAKES TIME: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE TEACHING PROFESSION. By Marie I. Rasey. New York: Harper &; Brothers, 1953; pp. 204. $3.00.

YOUR VOICE AND SPEECH. By Letitia Raubicheck. New York: Prentice‐Hall, Inc., 1953; pp. 376. $4.05.

HOW TO BE A SUCCESSFUL EMCEE. By Le‐Roy Stahl. Minneapolis: T. S. Denison and Co., 1953; pp. 200. $2.75.

GROUPS IN HARMONY AND TENSION. By Muzafer Sherif and Carolyn W. Sherif. New York: Harper &; Brothers, 1953; pp. 316. $3.50.

EFFECTIVE READING. By Lawrence H. Feigenbaun. New York: Globe Book Company, 1953: pp. 224. $2.00.

READING SKILLS. By William D. Baker. New York: Prentice‐Hall, Inc., 1953; pp. 120. $1.50.

WEBSTER'S NEW WORLD DICTIONARY. Cleveland and New York: World Publishing Co., 1953; pp. xxxvi+1724. $5.00 plain edges, $6.00 thumb‐indexed.

THE ROMANCE OF THE ENGLISH THEATRE. By Donald Brook. (Revised Edition). London: Rockliff (Macmillan), 1953; pp. 222. $4.50.

REPRESENTATIVE AMERICAN PLAYS, FROM 1767 TO THE PRESENT. Edited by Arthur Hobson Quinn. (Seventh Edition). New York: Appleton‐Century‐Crofts, Inc., 1953: pp. 1248. $6.50.

APPROACHES TO POETRY. By Walter Blair and W. K. Chandler. (Second Edition). New York: Appleton‐Century‐Crofts, 1953; pp. 734. $3.90.

POEMS FOR STUDY. By Leonard Unger and William Van O'Connor. New York: Rinehart, 1953: pp. xxi+743. $4.75.

THE BURLESQUE TRADITION IN THE ENGLISH THEATRE AFTER 1660. By V. C. Clinton‐Baddeley. London: Methuen &; Co., 1952; pp. xvi+152. $4.00.

THESAURUS OF ENGLISH WORDS AND PHRASES. Revised from Peter Roget by D. C. Browning. New York: E. P. Dutton &; Co., Inc., 1953; pp. 572. $3.75.     

杜威与孔子的对话:1919—2019

当杜威于1919年抵达中国的时候,在他的哲学立场和儒家传统之间进行公正平等对话的时机尚未成熟。彼时,杜威声名鹊起,而儒家传统却急剧衰落。杜威受到了当时领军学者的热烈欢迎,而同时"打倒孔家店"的口号也正流行。与过去不同,今天的中国已经是世界大国,儒家传统也再次复兴。杜威和孔子对话的时代已经到来。儒家的道德自我修养理论可以补充杜威的教育方案,而杜威的积极学习策略则可以填充儒家与科学和技术教育之间的鸿沟。杜威在中国的系列演讲中就曾经涉及中国的科学和技术教育问题。