The Deschooling Educational Thoughts Of Illich And Its Modern Significance

In the1960s, the capitalist countries in the western world set off a wave of criticism which was the climax in the field of education, of which the most drastic and profound one is undoubtedly from Ivan Illich. In his masterpiece Deschooling Society, he focuses on the deschooling educational system. However, the thoughts of Illich are complex, involving many areas, with different kinds of understanding. Based on many methods such as literature research, historical research, inductive analysis and comparative analysis, some personal views are expressed about the deschooling educational thoughts of Illich. This paper is divided into four parts:The first part is the introduction of the paper, mainly to explain the origins of this research, including the context, the ideas, the significance and the methods of this research, and then in accordance with the review of previous researches, to clarify the thesis and the limitations.The second part is the background of Illich’s deschooling educational thoughts. At first, a brief description of Illich’s life, his major works and the foundation of Center for Intercultural Documentation is introduced. And then the international and domestic background and theoretical basis of his educational ideas are analyzed.The main purpose of the third part is to explain the main content of Illich’s educational thoughts. First of all, there is a brief introduction of Deschooling Society, a book of Illich which stands for his educational thoughts. And then is the explanation of the thoughts by three levels:why must the schools be abolished, what kinds of schools should be abolished and what is it after the abolition of schools.The fourth part is the analysis of the positive and negative evaluations of Illich’s thinking of deschooling. Its results and the modern significance are discussed. Finally, I want to clarify what Illich’s "deschooling" really is through "education revolution".