On Learning For Understanding

As a specific academic concept, Learning for Understanding grows by the limitation of current learning theories and practice problems. As for the existing learning researches, different disciplines hold their own "territory" and have special "logic". For examples, psychologists focus on mind in learning process;cerebral scientists research physiological neural mechanisms;anthropologists pay more attention on human integrated learning activities.They derive from different perspectives, obtain diverse conclusions, and produce benefits and losses.From the perspective of learning practice, utilitarianism learning value has been misled most. It is represented by ignoring the meaning of life, but highly manifesting the function of learning, and causes learning alienated. Under its guidance, the new generation of student forms the utilitarianism sense and behavior, only considering learning as the tool for higher school admission and job hunting, instead of forgetting the ontological value of student life. In the field of pedagogy, school learning researchers try to break the issue through the theoretical limitation of these disciplines and problems in the learning practice, and construct existentialism learning theory, caring learning theory, trinity learning theory, and empirical learning theory approach. Although they have different purport, the same characters as integrated student life, learning relationships, emphasizing learning field of cognition and existence united, etc. have presented from their views.Although these views are not attributed to learning for understanding, the notions of relationship, existence, significance, experience, etc. are all major concepts of learning for understanding and reveal the implication of "understanding" intensely.Following the demands, this dissertation, with "understanding" as a core, substitutes cognition by integrated life structure and finds a new growing point from vision of "Understanding" to exceed learning epistemology. Around the unity of opposites between'mis-'and'indeed-'understanding and the discourses on understanding as students'poetic existence in the school learning, we consider "Understanding" as a foundation issue of the construction of learning theory and the proof of practical rationality. It is believed to shift the contemporary learning theories from cognition to understating. Learning for understanding is the "Understanding-core" learning. Guiding by understanding theory, it generates significant of learning in the dialogue between the students, as the understanding subject,-and learning context, and is the process for the students cognitive, emotional and behavioral planning and achieving life-possibility. Understanding theory includes science understanding theory,humanity understanding theory, and practice understanding theory. Science understanding theory explores objective matters and persists in "Correctness" as understanding criterion.Humanity understanding theory interprets human nature in literatures and insists on "Consensus" as understanding standard. Practice understanding theory reveals moral relationship in practices and adheres to "Acceptance" as its understanding norm.Guiding by these three understanding theories, learning for understanding balancing the tension between law and aim.Its law exists in grasp, the mechanism of understanding, and it is the necessary factor of aim.Its aim exists in the pursuit of the realization of the meaning of students'life, and it is the inevitable result of law. On the one hand, the value of learning for understanding is the pursuing of "Truth, Goodness and Beauty". "Truth-seeking" represents the pursuit of scientific knowledge and truth, and it is the development of learners'of quality of wisdom. "Good-oriented" means that students receive moral knowledge and develop moral capacity in the process of understanding interpersonal text. The pursuit of "Beauty" is study,pursuit and creation of beauty, and it can turn into the motivation and adjust emotion. On the other hand, for the ultimate meaning, learning for understanding aims at achieving students'life freedom and self-consciousness.Freedom means perfection of human nature, and it self-realization of the value and meaning of life by constant self discovery, confirmation and realization. The pursuit of freedom by learning for understanding embodied in the students'self-awareness and regulation of the law in study and self development; the self-consciousness means a transcendence and it is the self, rational enlightenment by reasonable regulation, and their performances are self-plan, coordination and persistence.Understanding occurs at the learning context at school.It is through all the learning process and has qualities of instrumentality and purpose, truth and good, intelligence and affection.The basic issue of learning for understanding is the contradictory movement of "mis-" and "indeed-" understanding. This contradiction highly concentrates the relationships among all understanding factors in learning. Actually, learning is disclosure, namely, re-understands the "mis-"understanding included "none-"understanding and "pre-"understanding to accelerate the "indeed-"understanding. "mis-"understanding is absolute while "indeed-"understanding is relative. Understanding is achieving in the dialectical movement of "mis-" and "indeed-" understanding.Deeply analyzing, learning for understanding has followed relative factors. First, aim of learning for understanding is making students'integrated life structure grow harmonious and completing students'life quality, constantly turning students' possibility-life to reality-life. Second, the subject of learning for understanding is student. It is represented by integrated of their general subject and specific understanding factor. The general subject of the students includes subject marked by creativeness and intersubjectivity marked by accommodation. In the learning for understanding, student's subject showed in change from the potential to the real statement.,that is, the practice of study is the student's subject increasingly Student's unique understanding exists in the student's "fusion of horizons",with the text, that means the students form their own new horizon in reading the. text with their own "pre-understanding" through opening their horizon to the others and seeking their common ground. Third, resources of learning, including understanding subject self-creative, every reality-materials and spirit-conditions, can implement to plan and achieve students'life possibility. The text specially refers to every person and everything in the education horizon. It could be divided into cultural and interpersonal text. The cultural text refers to all the learning materials and activities, associated with natural sciences and humanities.interpersonal text refers to all persons associated with the students and their contacts (known as relationships).Forth, environment of learning for understanding is understanding-field based "learning community".It pursues values of united, cooperated and uniform of inter-subjects.Learning for understanding is the fusion of horizons between students and learning text. In this fusion process, the role of teacher can hardly be ignored. Not only has the abstract effect from teachers, student also gained concrete aid from teachers. In the specific learning situation,teachers provide indispensable attunement and inspiration to students, accelerate student life significance-achieving.Even the establishment of students'subject position can not do without the active support and promotion of teachers.Learning for understanding follows the principles as integration, authentity and dialectic. The main point of integration aims at students' life integrating, making students achieve mutual and self-understanding in the complex learning relations, cognitive, emotional and behavioral plan and implement life-possibility. Essence of authentic principle is insisting on connecting learning to students' real world; to students' life development, while students ensure their learning subject in the process of life significance pursuing. Dialectical principle persists in unity of opposite, presenting basic features of learning activities in the dynamic process, namely, the unity of intelligence and morality, cognitive and existence, subject and inter-subjects.