How to correctly understand and evaluate traditional teaching theory and modern teaching theory

The view of teachers and students is based on empiricism, which holds that there is no difference between subjectivity and objectivity, materialism and idealism, and the world is empirical. Experience is the unity of subject and object, and the generation of experience is based on the interaction between organism and environment. The effect of organisms on the environment changes the environment, and the changed environment reacts on organisms. The result of such actions and reactions creates experience and knowledge. Therefore, Dewey believes that people's subjective initiative is very important, and students must take the initiative to discover themselves or use the contents of textbooks in order to master real experience. Therefore, Dewey advocates that the relationship between teachers and students is student-centered, teachers provide opportunities and conditions for students, and establish a good cooperative atmosphere to discover and use knowledge.

Herbart's traditional teaching theory advocates the establishment of a teacher-student relationship with teachers as the center and students in a relatively subordinate position; Dewey, on the other hand, pays more attention to the relationship between teachers and students, actively finds and solves problems with students as the center, and makes teachers in an auxiliary position.

Three. Analysis and discussion

Herbart's educational thought reflected the requirements of the weak bourgeoisie that was emerging in Germany at that time in many ways. For example, the highest goal of his education is to cultivate "inner freedom, perfection, kindness, justice and fairness", in which the first two moral concepts regulate individual moral behavior and the last three regulate social moral behavior. This interrelated moral concept is a typical example. Dewey's teaching theory serves the establishment of American social order and is a tool to realize a democratic society. Due to the class foundation and social and historical background, both of them have certain limitations. As far as Herbart and Dewey's philosophical thoughts are concerned, there are many unreasonable elements: Herbart's epistemology holds that the objective "reality" will only change in appearance, and its essence will remain unchanged, falling into the trap of metaphysics; Dewey's epistemology also has many contradictions. For example, he believes that the world exists according to human experience, but the world existed before the experience of interaction between man and environment, and man came into being later. Dewey also acknowledged the existence of nature before human beings came into being, and Dewey could not justify himself on this issue. Their thoughts all belong to the category of idealism, and they are not perfect philosophical thoughts.

However, when discussing traditional teaching theory and modern teaching theory, we should put them in the historical environment to study, just as history says: "The formation and development of any theory can be found in its specific social and historical conditions." History can help us to understand the background and profound connotation of this theory at a deeper level. From this perspective, there is no difference between traditional teaching theory and modern teaching theory. They are educational thoughts formed in different historical periods and based on different philosophies. Huang Zhicheng believes that the main differences between Germans and Americans in educational research are: Germans explore principles, while Americans study individuals; Germans analyze phenomena from principles, while Americans deduce theories from phenomena. There is some truth in this statement. Philosophers who live in two completely different national cultures and have different social and historical backgrounds will certainly permeate and reflect this difference in their thoughts. Dialectical materialism holds that knowledge or truth is the unity of certainty and uncertainty, relativity and absoluteness. Indeed, idealistic philosophy can also produce scientific teaching theory, and the teaching theory under the guidance of scientific philosophy is not absolutely scientific. For the two kinds of teaching theories, while absorbing their essence for my use, we should also see the roots and functions of these theories in the historical background at that time and understand the social chapter in which a theory came into being and practiced.