An Overview Study On The Interest-based Teaching Thoughts In The West During Modern Times

This paper concentrates efforts on studying the interest-based teaching thoughts in the West during modern times from the perspectives of the history of education, psychology, and comparative education, with a foothold in historical literature and insisting on the principle of relying mainly on history while combining discussions of the links with ancient and contemporary times, and the impact on China. And then proceed to put forward preliminarily an interest-based and oriented teaching theory and model while combining the reconstruction of current teaching theories with this study. This study aims at digging and establishing an interest-based teaching theory which has always existed in the history of teaching theories but not been fully identified and understood. This effort can reveal the close links between interest and teaching from multi- perspectives, and establish a new teaching theory model which can provide a beneficial approach to enrich teaching practice and develop teaching theories.This paper examines the interest-based teaching thoughts in the long history of education, and holds that interest-based teaching thoughts have an origin in ancient times, and gain gradual development and maturity in modern times. Its process of evolution can be divided as four stages which are rudimentary stage, preliminary stage, developing stage and flourishing stage. The corresponding ideological backgrounds for these four stages include post- Renaissance influential humanism, naturalism, psychological trend of education and ideological trends in modern education with representative figures respectively as J. A. Comenius(1592～1670), J.J. Rousseau (1712～1778) , J.H.Pestalozzi(1746～1827) ,J.F.Herbart(1776～1841) , H.Spencer (1820～1903),J.Dewey(1859～1953), W.H.Kilpatrick (1871～1965), and O.Decroly (1871～1932). Moreover, the interest-based teaching thoughts have a certain manifestation in the education of China in modern times. It can be identified that the school of interest-based teaching thoughts have evolved from a small to a large force, from a weak to a strong force, and till the turning of modern times they have developed into a quite big teaching ideological theory and trend, which is closely connected to the mainstream educational thoughts, and has relatively strong impact on both educational theory and practice.This paper rests on the basis of teaching theory, and takes it as a starting point to probe into the series of viewpoints and propositions existing in interest-based teaching thoughts, and considers that the interest-based teaching thoughts have formed a complete and integrated theoretical system with elaborations on various aspects of teaching. Pedagogy, psychology and even philosophical implications of the interest-based teaching thoughts have laid the scientific foundation of this school of theory. Based on the full affirmation of the various educational values of interest, this theory looks into interest from the whole teaching system and views interest as an integral part of the whole of education. And this becomes the methodological base for this theory to exist and stand on its own feet. Enabling teaching to become a pleasant process to develop an interest in learning, and promoting principle of interest-based teaching are the fundamental rules and basic requirement of this theory. Establishing interest-oriented teaching objectives and evaluation indicators are both the starting and lodging point of interest-based teaching thoughts. Interest-based curriculum organization and teaching implementation are the core contents of curriculum and teaching approach of interest-based teaching thoughts.This paper argues that interest-based teaching thoughts meet the requirement of a complete teaching thought system, and is a teaching theory and teaching ideological trend which has quite big influences during a certain period of history. This theory has integrated pedagogy with psychology, traditional education with modern education, formality education with substance education, teaching theory with curriculum theory. It has a positive role of propelling the educational theory and practice forward and is of far-reaching historical significance as well as momentous significance and implication on current development of curriculum and teaching theories.This paper holds that the declination of the interest-based teaching thoughts after the Second World War has various reasons, however, the exploration and practice of the interest-based teaching has never stopped. The interest-based teaching thoughts in modern times of China are influenced by the West, and meanwhile they are also a succession and development of China's ancient ideas of happy learning, happy teaching and interesting learning since Confucius and Mencius. During the periods of reformation and opening, these ideas have gained new explorations and developments in China. Based on relevant historical research and realistic need, it is necessary to construct contemporary teaching theory which is based on children's interest. Therefore, we need to conduct the refection on and reconstruction of teaching laws, principles, aims and methods, and the integration of curriculum and teaching theory with psychology, and base this refection and reconstruction on an earnest research and summary of the development and experience of interest-based teaching thoughts home and abroad. The role of teachers in interest-based teaching and their interest in teaching should be enhanced; instructional psychological research in interest-based teaching, and the construction of a psychology of interest should be strengthened. In order to advance the research of teaching theory, it needs to construct a theoretical model of interest-based teaching, which explores the guiding ideology, themes, objectives, procedures, curriculum, methods, strategies, evaluation and other elements, and build a bridge between teaching theory and practice.