A Study Of Idea Of The General Education And The Practice Of Core Curriculum In Harvard University

The core curriculum in Harvard University is the typical one of general education in America; it aims at cultivating an educated man or woman. The educational idea is to reach the goal of general education most effectively through the practice of core curriculum. The core curriculum indicates that what the encyclopedically education means and discusses two key questions: What does it mean to be an educated man or woman? How to cultivate educated men and women? Through unceasing reformation and development, the core curriculum in Harvard University becomes a good way to realize the idea of general education.This article includes four major parts. In the first part, author introduces the history background of core curriculum reformation in Harvard University and analyses its theory basis. In the second part, analyzing the general education idea contained in the core curriculum, there are four viewpoints: the idea of inheriting the tradition of liberal education; the idea of cultivating an educated man; the idea of strengthening the cohesion force; the idea of making a balance of freedom and order in choosing classes. In the third part, the author analyses the practice of core curriculum containing its structure, content, subject, teaching and studying, management, evaluation and so on. In the fourth part, on the basis of fact in our country, analyzing the revelations which the core curriculum in Harvard University gives us, such as changing the educational idea, attaching importance to general education; Building scientific curriculum system for general education and setting a special manage institution to strengthen the management of general education.