儿童是人类之父——从进化心理学看人类个体童年期的本质

The Child as Father of Man

人类个体发展最重要的 ,也是最令人惊讶的方面之一是其个体发生发展过程的延长与“全方位”的不成熟 ,从身体和生理特别是神经系统发展的不成熟 ,到行为、认知乃至情感和社会性发展的不成熟 ,也就是说 ,人类个体要经历一个比较长的童年期 (不成熟期 ) ,这在所有动物中是绝无仅有的 ,如何看待人类童年期的延长与不成熟 ,童年期的延长与不成熟在个体发展中有什么样的适应性价值 ,对于认识童年期的本质 ,理解儿童认知。

Understanding the nature of childhood and childhood culture is an important topic in theories of early childhood education, because only based on interdisciplinary studies of the nature of childhood and childhood culture can we free infant education theory from its superficial understanding and narrow view and thus truly respect the children. The author of this paper attempts to begin with neoteny, and have a tentative exploration of the nature of childhood and childhood culture, and put forward the idea that early childhood education (including infant education) can use adult culture, school culture to enlighten, standardize and guide childhood culture on the one hand, and utilize childhood culture to enrich and renew adult culture on the other hand.