Abstract:

"Who is the student?" is one of the fundamental problems of education. Classical educational philosophers and modern educational philosophers give different answers. Classical educational philosophers, starting from the teleology of nature, thought that students were the few who were born outstanding. In his criticism of the wise school’s view of students, Plato clearly explained the classical view of students. Modern educational philosophers, on the other hand, think that students are all created equal from the perspective of unnatural teleology. As a modern educational philosopher, Locke’s view of students seems to be opposite to Rousseau’s, but in fact it is the same. Both of them insist on equality and aimlessness. For modern education, on the one hand, we should adhere to the equal student view, but at the same time, we should be aware of the nothingness of life contained in academic competition and student personality, so we need to activate the classical student view and perfect the modern student view in understanding and dialogue.

Key words: students, position, excellence, equality, teleology