From “education Is Life” To “living Education”

As one of the most famous American scholars in the first half of the 20 th century,Dewey had a great influence on Chinese education.Dewey's pragmatic education thought had historical significance to the development of preschool education in China.As a disciple of Dewey,Chen Heqin absorbed the positive elements of Dewey's education thoughts,and further carried out theoretical deepening and practical exploration combining with China's national conditions.Therefore,by studying the practice and theoretical development of Chen Heqin's preschool education in China,we can indirectly study the influence of Dewey's pragmatic education thought on China's preschool education.This thesis takes “education is life” as the entry point,but not the “education is life” theory in a narrow sense,but that in a broad sense,related to the propositions such as “education is growth”,“ education is the experience of continuous transformation or restructuring”,and so on,takes “ living education” as a bridge,and makes an analysis from one side of the perspective of Dewey.The thesis consists of five chapters.The first chapter mainly introduces the research background,purpose and significance of the thesis,as well as the research status at home and abroad.The second chapter sorts out the American social background under which Dewey's“education is life” thought was famed,and the influence of reformists' educational philosophy on the formation of Dewey's pragmatic education thought,as well as the core content of “education is life” thought.At the same time,it analyses the social background under which Chen Heqin's “living education” has been famed,and how Dewey's pragmatism had pushed Chen Heqin's theory to produce.The third chapter explores the foundation function of Dewey's “education is life”thought on the formation of Chen Heqin's “living education” thought,the keys role which Dewey's “child-centered theory” has played in the development of Chen Heqin's educational practice and theory,and also analyses the similarities and differences between the two educational thoughts.The fourth chapter,on the one hand,summarizes the development course of Chen Heqin's preschool education created in China,which mainly includes the creation of modern preschool education in China,writing children's textbooks for teaching experiments,the establishment of naive normal education system,striving for the cause of new China's children.On the other hand,it analyzes how Chen Heqin's skopos theory,curriculum theoryand methodology of "living education" have embodied Dewey's educational thought.The fifth chapter aims at the problems existing in the development of preschool education in China,such as teaching materials,connection between preschool and school period,urban and rural development,and teacher resources,and tries to find new ideas through Dewey's pragmatic educational thoughts and teaching practices,in orders to promote more scientific and rational development of preschool education.