培养理性的儿童:阿兰儿童教育思想探析

Cultivating Rational Children:An Analysis of Alain’s Thoughts on Children Education

儿童教育问题一直是教育研究的基础性问题,法国哲学家、教育家阿兰作为永恒主义教育者的代表之一,在关注儿童教育问题时,将较多的关注点聚焦在了儿童的理性教育。阿兰既有对传统教育中忽视儿童自主活动的批判,也有对欧美教育改革中过于迁就儿童做法的不满与修正。其主要观点如下:一是形成儿童理性是儿童教育的主要目标,教育要帮助儿童走出和超越“儿童状态”,家庭教育和学校教育要把培养儿童的理性放在重要位置,不能过于强调儿童的本能和兴趣发展;二是在儿童理性教育的培育中,要正确认识家庭教育和学校教育的关系,家庭教育虽然是儿童成长过程中第一阶段的基础性教育,但因为过于重视血缘和情感,与家庭教育相比,学校教育在儿童理性培养中作用更大;三是在儿童理性培养的过程中,思想学习比实物学习更重要,如果儿童的思想只停留在实物阶段,不能形成一种概念,则不利于形成思想,更无助于培养理性的儿童。阿兰的儿童理性教育思想为认识儿童的特点和儿童教育的本质提供了一个认识视角,虽带有他个人思考的特点,但对推动儿童教育思想的发展提供了更多资源,在现代儿童教育中具有重要价值。

Children education has always been a basic question in educational research.As one of the representatives of the Perennialists,French philosopher and educator Alain not only pays attention to children education,but also has more thoughts on the rational education of children.Alain not only criticizes the neglect of children’s independent activities in traditional education,but also expresses dissatisfaction on the excessive accommodation of children in European and American educational reform,and provides his revision for it.Here are some of his main ideas.First,giving children rationality is the main goal of children education,education should not make children stay in the“child state,”but help them go beyond this state to a rational state.Family and school education should put the cultivation of children’s rationality in an important position,and should not overemphasize the development of children’s instinct and interest.Second,in cultivating children’s rationality,we should understand the relationship between family education and school education.Although family education is the basic education in the first stage of children’s growth,school education plays a greater role in cultivating children’s rationality than family education,because family attaches too much importance to blood and emotion.Third,in cultivating children’s rationality,ideological learning is more important than physical learning.If children thoughts only stay in the physical stage and cannot develop conception,it is not conducive to the formation of ideas,and it is not helpful to cultivate rational children.Alain’s thought on the rational education of children provides a perspective for understanding children characteristics and the essence of children education.Although it has the characteristics of his personal thinking,it provides more resources for the development of children education thought,which is of great value in modern children education.