On Education With Hermeneutic Understanding

Based on analyses of philosophic and critical hermeneutic understandings, this dissertation draws on their positive aspects to probe into eduction with hermeneutic understanding (EHU), which regards subject, context, language and action as its categories.It should be said that understanding is not a new topic in educational research, because some educational psychologists and philosophers has talked about it. While their perspectives were epistemological, which is characterized by education and understanding, this dissertation's is ontological, whose concern is what is EHU and how is it possible. Then, there comes into being a new cognitive dimension, relative to the dimension of society and culture etc., in education, which is not revealed by prior researches.The reason why this dissertation centers on EHU is there exists many misunderstandings in realistic education, which is derived from the author's analyses of educational literatures and investigation into the practice of our basic education. Concretely speaking, these misunderstandings including: 1) by educational subject, one-dimensioanl relationship of teacher-student, e.g. teacher exerts controls on student's speech and behavior strictly, is still obvious; 2) by educational context, abstractness and commensurability exist commonly, which become the main obstacle of the development of student's personality and teaching student in accordance of his aptitude; 3) by educational language, monologues, including textbook's and teacher's, are still playing a leading role, which makes student keep silent; 4) by educational action, it is basically technological, e.g. excessively dependent on the textbook, the reference book of teaching and teacher's instruction when curriculum interpretation. One important reason why such state comes into being is the upgrade of test. So it is necessary to think about test. But the angle of this dissertation is not to deal with it discursively, but to point out test reason. In our view, test reason is the concretion of instrumental reason in education, which is characterized by 1) treating test as the educational end; all educational means serve to test; 2) emphasis on the universality of mechanical trains and the absoluteness of efficiency-seeking; 3) localization education within epistemology; 4) forgetting the existence of teacher and student.Moreover, the author's concern is why education has the attribute of hermeneutic understanding, which is contacted with different view of educational meaning. Generally speaking, two kinds of theories of meaning are basic: referent theory and conversational theory. In the former, subject is equal to the body; context counts for little; language is instrumental; action is a subjective psychological event. In the latter, subject is historical and conversational; context is relational and playful; language is loaded with experiences; action is based on rationality. With careful eyes, it is not difficulty to find that the above almost pay attention on the active and positive aspect of education, and depict educational meaning as pure objective, non-individual, and instrumental. Rather in this dissertation, educational meaning is a complex, within which advantages and disadvantages coexist. By the advantage, it is personal, developmental, ultimate concerned.In order to deal with EHU thoroughly, it needs to make sure of original meanings of understanding per se, whose angle here is within hermeneutics. From Schleiermacher'sepistemological understanding, to Gadamer's ontological one, then to Habermas' both epistemological and ontological one, original meanings of understanding became richer and richer. Certainly, basic characteristics of understanding exsit in such attributes as play, language, praxis and critique. Accordingly, original meanings of EHU are concerned with the following: 1) education as play; 2) education is in language loaded with experiences; 3) education is a kind of praxes; 4) education is connected with critique.Now, All-round analyses of EHU come true thr...