Journal of East China Normal University(Educationa ›› 2018, Vol. 36 ›› Issue (5): 94-103+168+169.doi: 10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5560.2018.05.009

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The Modelling of Children as the Original Sin of Pedagogy

XIANG Xianming   

  1. School of Educational Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210097, China
  • Online:2018-09-20 Published:2018-09-14

Abstract: There is a tradition in pedagogy since Herbart that education is understood as a process of shaping children and students. This kind of educational view is built on the theory of the original sin of Christianity, and has a complex relationship between inheritance and participation in the history of the isolation and transformation of children. Behaviorism has provided a strong support for the modelling concept of education in the 20th century, and the two are consistent in denying and reconstructing the subjectivity of children. With the advent of modern information technology and post-figurative culture, and the gradual elimination of the "knowledge gap" between children and adults, the schools, which are established on the modelling concept of education, are finding it hard to deal with the situation. To get out of this dilemma, we must first rethink the Herbart tradition of pedagogy, recognize the subject status of children in theory, and restore education from "shaping" to "nurturing" and "service", from "burning oneself" to "igniting others", from "designing the future for the children" to "helping children to create the future". The so-called modelling of children is the original sin of pedagogy rather than principal crime, implying that this is not a condemnation, but a deep vision of and a theoretical reflection on the problem.

Key words: pedagogy, children's rights, subjectivity