Principles of implementing aesthetic education in schools

Aesthetic education in socialist schools in China serves the construction of socialist spiritual civilization and the cultivation of students' spiritual beauty and behavioral beauty. Aesthetic education can promote students' all-round development in morality, intelligence and physique. It can improve students' thoughts and develop students' moral sentiments; It can enrich students' knowledge and develop their intelligence. It can improve people's physical and mental health and improve the quality of exercise; It can inspire students to love labor, love working people and carry out creative work. [ 1]

Chinese name

aesthetic education

Foreign name

aesthetic education

Another name

aesthetic education

narrow sense

People think that aesthetic education refers to "art education"

broad sense

Infiltrate aesthetic principles into after-school education of various subjects.

Representative figure

Cai Yuanpei Schiller

Physical aesthetic education will be "hardened" in the college entrance examination.

1June 16, the Ministry of Education held a press conference to interpret the Opinions on Comprehensively Strengthening and Improving School Physical Education in the New Era and the Opinions on Comprehensively Strengthening and Improving School Aesthetic Education in the New Era recently issued by the General Offices of the General Office of the Central Committee of the CPC and the State Council. Physical education and aesthetic education, once considered "insignificant", will be strengthened in the college entrance examination and occupy a heavier weight.

Xinhuanet 2020- 10- 17

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Historical origin

The task of aesthetic education

Basic requirements of aesthetic education

Function of aesthetic education

Main principles

Definition of aesthetic education

Aesthetic education is also called aesthetic education. That is, by cultivating people's ability to know beauty, experience beauty, feel beauty, appreciate beauty and create beauty, people will have beautiful ideals, good sentiments, good character and good cultivation.

In a narrow sense, aesthetic education is defined as "art education" in the extreme sense. Its general definition is: aesthetic education refers to aesthetic education, aesthetic education, aesthetic education and aesthetic literacy education. Aesthetic education in a broad sense, some people think: "The real aesthetic education is the education formed by infiltrating aesthetic principles into the teaching of various disciplines."

Another dimension change in the process of defining aesthetic education from narrow sense to broad sense is: from formal aesthetic education to substantive aesthetic education. The so-called "formal aesthetic education" refers to educational activities aimed at cultivating the aesthetic quality of the object (such as aesthetic ability, ability to appreciate beauty and create beauty, etc.). On the other hand, "substantial aesthetic education" pursues the spiritual essence of aesthetic education through the above goals: the aesthetic taste of life and the aesthetic realm of education. It has become the core of modern aesthetic education to emphasize the promotion of aesthetic education to poetic life. In this way, the concept of aesthetic education should not only move from narrow sense to broad sense, but also realize the revolution from form to substance. [ 1]

Historical origin

Ancient China

The concept of "aesthetic education" was put forward by Schiller after Baum Tong Jia established the discipline system of "aesthetics" in the 1950s. However, aesthetic education practice and aesthetic education consciousness have existed since ancient times. As soon as China got rid of the barbarism of primitive clan society and entered the slavery society of ancient civilization in the Western Zhou Dynasty, there was the Duke of Zhou's "ritual and music system". Rites are the norms and rituals of ethical relations, and music is a comprehensive art including poetry, song and dance. The combination of ceremony and music is not only the law and system of governing the country, but also the way of education. By the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, Confucius had separated education from the political life of the country and established an ancient education system. He taught his disciples with the "six arts"-ceremony, music, calligraphy, counting, shooting and royal. Music is actually a special aesthetic education course. Confucius combined music, poetry, dance and other arts, developed his aesthetic education thought, laid the ideological foundation of ancient aesthetic education in China, and formed the aesthetic education tradition of feudal society in China for one or two thousand years. [2]

Ancient west

In the west, it was also from the slave society that outstanding aesthetic education thought was produced. The ancient Greek philosophers Socrates, Plato and Aristotle all stipulated that the content of education should include not only philosophy, science, morality and sports, but also aesthetic education. Plato paid special attention to music education. Music "nourishes" and "infiltrates the soul" and makes personality "noble and beautiful", so it should be a compulsory course. Aristotle summed up the functions of artistic aesthetic education more comprehensively: (1) education, (2) purification and (3) spiritual enjoyment. It is believed that music and poetry (tragedy) can enhance understanding, cultivate feelings, enjoy aesthetic entertainment and cheer up the spirit. These basic views have become the ideological basis of the ancient western aesthetic education tradition and have had a far-reaching impact. When western society entered the feudal Middle Ages, religious theologians attributed the educational content of ancient Greece and Rome to "seven arts"-grammar, rhetoric, dialectics (logic), arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy, which were all implemented in religious schools. It can be seen that the proportion of ancient western aesthetic education courses in all education courses is far less than that of China, but it has never stopped aesthetic education, which is the same as that of China. The above shows that although the concept of "aesthetic education" has not been put forward and an independent aesthetic education system has not been established in the ancient Chinese and western educational traditions, the whole education always contains the content of aesthetic education, which is a comprehensive education of morality, intelligence, physique and beauty. [2]

Modern west

In western modern times, with the establishment of aesthetic discipline system, aesthetic education has found an ideal belonging. The concept of "aesthetic education" shows that it is not completely subordinate to moral education or scientific education, but has its special nature and laws. The modern bourgeois aesthetic education thought represented by Schiller is different from ancient times, not only because it has different historical contents, but also because it greatly promotes the understanding of the value of aesthetic education. Schiller's important aesthetic work "Aesthetic Letters" written in epistolary style is not limited to the perspective of education, but discusses aesthetic education from a broader scope such as changing society and realizing the return of human nature. He saw the fact that human nature is weak brought about by capitalist material civilization, and proposed to cultivate comprehensive and complete people through aesthetic freedom activities. He said: "the transition from the passive state of feeling to the active state of ideological will can only be realized through the intermediate state of aesthetic freedom"; "The only way to turn emotional people into rational people is to let them become aesthetic people first". Schiller regards aesthetic education as the only way to restore human nature, improve morality and even social change, which is completely divorced from the premise of political revolution and economic change, so it can only be an idealistic fantasy. However, his sensitivity and criticism of capitalist alienation and his understanding of the special law of aesthetic education and its great social significance are a historic progress. Schiller's aesthetic education thought had a great influence on the development of China's modern aesthetic education thought. In modern China, it was Wang Guowei who first introduced "aesthetic education" to China, and Cai Yuanpei who really advocated aesthetic education and established a modern aesthetic education system in China. Cai Yuanpei combined Kant's and Schiller's aesthetic education thoughts with China's tradition of "combining propriety and music", and from the standpoint of bourgeois democracy, gave full play to his role, strongly opposed the old traditions of feudal absolutism and religious ignorance education, and made outstanding contributions to the construction of modern aesthetic education system in China. [2]

Modern China

Although aesthetic education practice and aesthetic education thought have a long historical tradition, what is aesthetic education has not yet formed a recognized definition. In China, Cai Yuanpei was the one who defined aesthetic education earlier. He said in the aesthetic education item in the Dictionary of Education: "Those who have aesthetic education should apply aesthetic education theory to education in order to cultivate their feelings." This definition summarizes the relationship between aesthetic education and aesthetics and education, but it does not clarify the special nature of aesthetic education, which makes people think that aesthetic education is aesthetic education. Aesthetic education is a necessary condition to implement aesthetic education, but it is not aesthetic education itself. Because aesthetic education is the education of aesthetic theory and knowledge, there is no essential difference between it and general theory and knowledge education which take abstract concepts and categories as the media and convince people by reasoning, while aesthetic education is characterized by perceptual image system as the media and perceptual people. Although this definition points out that "cultivating feelings is the purpose", there is no strict logical explanation on how to cultivate feelings in aesthetic theory, and the causal relationship is ambiguous. At present, some people in China's academic circles think that aesthetic education is a means to realize moral education. According to this view, aesthetic education is completely subordinate to moral education, so it is not necessary to have an independent aesthetic education policy in education. This view has its historical roots. Because before modern times, aesthetic education has always been included in moral education. At that time, people did not fully realize the independent value of aesthetic education, so they confused it with moral education. [2]

contemporary China

This is a historical limitation, and today people's understanding has already broken through this historical limitation.

First, aesthetic education can not only improve moral sentiment, but also promote the healthy development of intelligence and physical strength and cultivate imagination and creativity, which cannot be covered by moral purposes.

Secondly, completely subordinating aesthetic education to moral education obliterates its own purpose-individual emotional needs and free development of personality. The result is not the harmony between individuals and society, but the society engulfs individuals, which is extremely unfavorable to the cultivation of talents.

Taking aesthetic education as a means to complete moral education is actually taking aesthetic education as a pure form, which is inconsistent with the facts. Although aesthetic education has always been a process of perceptual activities, rational social content is dissolved in the perceptual form of the object, and human rational ability is historically accumulated in the perceptual intuition of the subject. It carries out comprehensive education of morality, intelligence, physique and beauty in a unique way. Taking it as a form is no longer the essence of aesthetic education. [2]

The task of aesthetic education

Aesthetic education in socialist schools in China serves the construction of socialist spiritual civilization and the cultivation of students' spiritual beauty and behavioral beauty. Aesthetic education can promote students' all-round development in morality, intelligence and physique. It can improve students' thoughts and develop students' moral sentiments; It can enrich students' knowledge and develop their intelligence. It can improve people's physical and mental health and improve the quality of exercise; It can inspire students to love labor, love working people and carry out creative work.

The basic task of school aesthetic education in China is:

① Cultivate students' ability to fully feel the beauty of reality and art ... including cultivating students' ability to fully feel the beauty of nature, cultivating students' correct views and feeling the beauty of society, and cultivating students' ability to feel the beauty of art..

② Enable students to have the knowledge and ability to correctly understand and appreciate realistic beauty and artistic beauty; Form their love for beauty and art.

③ Cultivate and develop students' ability and interest in creating realistic beauty and artistic beauty. Students should learn to construct life according to the law of beauty, embody beauty in life and labor, and cultivate the ability and habit of beautifying the environment and life. [ 1]

Basic requirements of aesthetic education

Basic requirements of aesthetic education:

(1) Aesthetic education is a combination of ideology and artistry.

(2) The combination of emotional experience and logical thinking.

(3) The content of aesthetic education should be combined with students' real life.

(4) The artistic content and expression methods should be unified.

(5) Aesthetic education should teach students in accordance with their aptitude on the premise of all-round development.

(6) Attention should be paid to the age characteristics of students in the process of aesthetic education. [3]

Function of aesthetic education

Cai Yuanpei listed aesthetic education as one of five kinds of education (the other four are military nationalism, utilitarianism, moral education and world outlook) in his Opinions on New Education written in February 19 12, and thought that "a person with aesthetic feeling is just a bridge between the phenomenal world and the physical world in terms of beauty and dignity." Through aesthetic education, people's interest and sentiment can be improved, and a beautiful outlook on life and world can be established. This idea was later established as one of the purposes of national education by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of China.

19 17 in April, he once again focused on aesthetic education, thinking that pure aesthetic education can cultivate people's feelings, make people have noble and pure habits, make people go beyond their own opinions and gradually eliminate their selfishness. It is believed that "covering the disadvantages of stimulating feelings and specializing in feelings is nothing more than using pure aesthetic education instead of religion." Before Cai Yuanpei, Yan Fu talked about the role of art in improving social morality. After Cai, the concept of aesthetic education gradually penetrated into people's hearts. [4]

Aesthetic education in socialist society serves to build socialist spiritual civilization and cultivate students' spiritual beauty and behavioral beauty, which is closely related to individual life state, independent personality and comprehensive quality [5]. It infects the educated with the thoughts, feelings and activities of advanced figures reflected in beautiful things and artistic images in real life. It affects students' emotion, imagination, thought, will and character extensively and profoundly. It can enrich the school's cultural and spiritual life, arouse students' emotional experience, help cultivate noble sentiments, improve socialist consciousness, motivate students to strive to realize socialist ideals and create all beautiful things.

Aesthetic education has a positive impact on moral education, intellectual education and physical education. Aesthetic education with beautiful and touching artistic images can help students understand people's life, ideals and struggles, make them receive vivid ideological and moral education, and promote the healthy growth of their political quality, moral outlook and thoughts and feelings. Aesthetic education can not only help students understand the reality and history, but also develop their abilities of observation, imagination, thinking in images and creativity. You can also adjust your life and improve your learning effect. In aesthetic education, neatness and cleanliness are required to beautify the environment, which is also conducive to the development of health and sports.

Aesthetic education can promote students' intellectual development, expand and deepen their understanding of the objective world; Promote the formation of students' good moral quality; It promotes exercise and has the functions of fitness and pleasure.

Main principles

The main principles of socialist aesthetic education are:

(1) The combination of ideology and artistry;

(2) combining aesthetic education with real life;

(3) the combination of emotional experience and logical thinking;

(4) the unity of artistic content and expression methods;

(5) unify the requirements and teach students in accordance with their aptitude.

The content of aesthetic education in primary and secondary schools mainly includes art education (literature, music, fine arts, drama, movies, dance, etc.). ), organize students to observe and appreciate the beauty of nature, and guide students to experience the beauty of social life and labor. Organize students to participate in various artistic practice activities, develop students' talents and interests in creating artistic beauty, and pay special attention to discovering, cultivating and developing the specialties of students with artistic talent.