Journal of East China Normal University(Educational Sciences) ›› 2021, Vol. 39 ›› Issue (6): 27-42.doi: 10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5560.2021.06.003

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With Whom to Change the World: On John Dewey’s Educational Thinking of Cultivating Citizens with 4Cs Skills

Zhengmei Peng   

  1. Institute of International and Comparative Education/Research Center for Educational Thought of John Dewey, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
  • Online:2021-06-20 Published:2021-05-31

Abstract:

“With whom to change the world” is not only a political issue, but also an educational issue. After Confucius, Plato, Rousseau and Marx, Dewey responded to this question and proposed to cultivate modern citizens with reflective thinking, communication, cooperation and creativity as the core to build the great community he advocated. This kind of 4Cs citizen discourse has profound cosmopolitan significance and is also regarded as the theoretical basis of the international 21st century skills-oriented education reform movement. This thinking of John Dewey is helpful to transform the traditional models such as “learning and thinking” and “unity of knowledge and action” in Chinese education into models such as “thinking, communicating and acting” and “cooperative problem solving”, thereby accelerating the cultivation of more competitive Chinese with a global perspective to cope with the uncertainty of the future and build a community with a shared future for mankind.

Key words: reflective thinking, problem solving, communication, aesthetic experience, great community