A Study On The Educational Thoughts Of Conant

James Bryant Conant, one of the outstanding scientists, statesmen and educationalists inthe mid-age of the twentieth century, has won the eminent historical status for his deep andwide involvement in many great events. In all the events, Conant's educational thoughts andhis momentous influences on the reform of education in America made him important inAmerican educational history. Conant's many effective reform suggestions and innovationsare dazzling in his pursuit of the improving educational quality and equal opportunity.Conant's sociological visual angle, thinking much of investigations and the way of evenlymanaging dilemma brought up the obvious Conant Style.Conant was born in bourgeois family and was fond of science. During his school years,Conant made great efforts in study and took part in all kinds of extracurricular activities. Hegot the Harvard PH. D. in 1916, then, remained there for teaching. The great achievementsin chemistry that Conant acquired made a hit. In the course of his learning, teaching andadministering, his educational thought was formed gradually. After he came in thepresident's position in 1933, Conant began exploiting his talents in educational fieldcontinuously. The reform in Harvard fulfilled his meritocracy dream and made Harvardconsolidate the leading role in academic. His abroad investigations and suggestions onpublic secondary education and teacher education pointed the new direction for educationalreform of the time also. The thought of General Education embodied his loyalty to TheEquality of Educational Opportunity and the belief in American democracy. ComprehensiveHigh School combined the Academic Excellence with the Equality of EducationalOpportunity evenly. Conant's emphasis on curriculum setting, on systemic subject, onacademic training and teacher cultivating made the core of essentialism thought. Theconcerning with slum and Negro education in metropolis manifested his sense of obligationto social reform. Conant was good for being the giant in education for his attention on thereal world, pursuing in the equality, advocating free competition which were based upon thefirmly faith in American democratic system. During the Second World War, Conant attachedhimself to momentous social and scientific activities such as developing the atomic weapon,making the war times policies. After the Second World War, He helped the federalgovernment make Cold War policy. Conant was a well-known scholar, educator, universitypresident, diplomat, and was chairman or consultant of many social groups. Conant's widevisual field built up his outstanding accomplishments.Through describing, analyzing and evaluating his prolific literature and broadinvestigations by the means of literature-reading, psychology-analyzing, graphology andcomparative method, the dissertation united the history and logic, exhibited Conant'sthoughts and small but complete suggestions on higher education, secondary education andteacher education according to history, evaluated his educational thoughts and his influencesobjectively, concluded the general characteristics and educed the essentialism essence of hiseducational thoughts. Of course, Conant's educational thoughts have the deficiencies weshould admit. In summery, the study will not only deepen and extend the understanding ofConant's educational thoughts so that enrich the study production on educational history, butalso can elicit the experiences or lessons that direct our educational practices of the time.Firstly, we should insist on the standpoint that education is a science and endeavor toimprove it. Secondly, we should care for the social environments and executive conditions inthe course of promoting the Equality and upgrading the quality in order to avoid of wasterepetition. Thirdly, we should count on the cultural factor and persist in combining theshort-term aim with the long-term aim on the basis of meeting the requirements ofdevelopment in the future, combining the adhering to traditions with surpassing andinnovating. Fourthly or lastly, we should combine the theories with practices in theeducation field evenly so that the theories can direct the practices effectively and thepractices become the best way of testing theories.