Carnival And Education

Carnival is one of the pure and important parts of the lives of children, the most spontaneous and fresh way of existence of children and children’s "showing of free life". In carnival, children release and restore their nature, highlight their real individuality and understanding of others. However, the real situation is that once children enter into the institutionalized school education system, expose themselves in the closed rigid education system, receive the standard rigid absolute truth and face the serious monotonous reality, they will develop the imprisoned and pale spirit. In other words, under the education "four corners of the sky within walls", carnival is not treated "with a proper eye", but misinterpreted, marginalized and exiled. In education system, carnival has lost its original significance for children’s life. Aiming at this kind of phenomena, this dissertation brings in Bakhtin’s carnival theory and by referring to and exploring the theory tries to interpret the education significance of it from the point of philosophy of education. This is what this research interested in. On this foundation, proposes furtherly the enlightenment of Bakhtin’s carnival theory to our current education and teaching reform.The dissertation uses several kinds of methods synthetically such as the phenomenological hermeneutics, the historic research and the theoretic research and tries to discuss the education significance of Bakhtin’s carnival theory. Now it has three sections:The first section gives a general overview of Bakhtin’s carnival theory. First of all, let’s step into Bakhtin’s carnival world, investigate the life of Bakhtin’s carnival world, focus on carnival factors such as the public square, the carnival time, the grotesque physical image and the square language. What the writer experiences is that these carnival factors are inherently full of an "open" character. On this basis, this section furtherly explores the philosophical implication of Bakhtin’s carnival theory—an open attitude to others. It includes individuality opens to others, official culture opens to folk culture, traditional thinking opens to multiple thinking, and so on.The second section tries to define the most valuable thought resources of Bakhtin’s carnival theory as an "opening to others" attitude, which is on the basis of researching the lifestyle and the philosophical implication of Bakhtin’s carnival theory. With such an attitude to contrast education, the writer believes that, from the perspective of philosophy of education, the education significance of this theory should be discussed from the following three aspects:Firstly, the lonely individuality in education opens to others. The writer especially admires the idea of Bakhtin’s "subjectivity in relationship" from the point of the lonely individuality in current education life. On this basis, the writer also proposes the idea of "education of relationship" from the perspective of "philosophy of relationship", and in-depth analyses the idea of "education of relationship" of a number of education philosophers such as John Dewey, Paulo Freier and Noddings. The writer argues this idea of "education of relationship" corrects and surpasses the idea of "education of subjectivity" from the view of "philosophy of subjectivity". So, I cherish Bakhtin’s concept of "dialogue" and initiate the thought of "rebuilding relationship by carnival". Secondly, the closed serious life in education opens to the fresh carnival life. Bakhtin’s exposition on rest activity after school inspired me to consider about school life from alternative way of thinking. Carnival life is not the opposition of the education system life. On the contrary, they coexist harmoniously. In carnival, a variety of barriers between people are lifted and the world become free and intimate. Thirdly, the closed, determined, linear way of thinking in education opens to an open, uncertain, multiple way of thinking. Therefore, the writer emphasizes to reject unitary absolute truth and abandon the only rational method, endorses the "new way of thinking of more centers, multiple multipole and multi perspective" which contained in Bakhtin’s carnival theory. The writer believes the new way of thinking is a rare but "very useful heat antidote" to current education and teaching.The third section tries to discuss the inspiration Bakhtin’s "opening to others" attitude gives me such as the view on students, curriculum and teaching conception for the reform of education and teaching in China. The first, on the concept of students, students are not perfect individuality. They are always in development and are incomplete. As education workers, we can not use rigid, unflexible view on them. The second, on the view of curriculum,"curriculum is teaching event". Curriculum is not static and closed text, but a open, dynamic and continuous generating event. The third, on the teaching concept, teaching is expedition of thinking again and again to explore unknown world, rather than a closed process of implementation of lesson plans.