The didactic education system is a holistic structure containing specific goals, organizational principles, methods and forms of training.
Varieties
Modern researchers distinguish three main didactic systems that have significant differences between themselves:
- Didactics of Herbart.
- Dewey system.
- The perfect concept.
Let's try to identify the features of each of them, to find similar and distinctive features.
Didactics of Herbart
The German philosopher Herbart I.F. analyzed and paraphrased the class-lesson form of the Polish teacher Jan Kamensky. Herbart developed his own didactic system of teaching methods, based on the theoretical achievements of psychology and ethics of the 18-19 centuries. The German teacher considered the end result of the entire educational process to be the education of a strong spirit of a person who is able to cope with any vicissitudes of fate. The highest goal of the didactic system was determined in the formation of the moral qualities of the individual.
Herbart's Ethical Education Ideas
Among the main ideas that he proposed to use in the educational process, stood out:
- Perfection of the field of aspirations of the child, the search for the direction of moral growth.
- Goodwill, which will ensure a balance between your will and the interests of other people.
- Justice, which allows you to compensate for all insults and cope with troubles.
- Inner freedom, giving the opportunity to harmonize the beliefs and desires of man.
Ethics and psychology of the teacher were metaphysical in nature. His didactic systems were based on idealistic German philosophy. Among the main parameters of Herbert's didactics, it is important to note the school’s concern for the intellectual formation of the child. As for the education of the individual, Herbart assigned this role to the family. For the formation of strong, from the point of view of morality, characters among the pupils, he proposed the use of strict discipline. From his point of view, teachers should have become real examples of honesty and decency for their students.
The specifics of Herbart's didactics
The task of the school’s leadership was to provide students with permanent employment, organize their training, conduct constant monitoring of their intellectual and physical development, and teach schoolchildren order and discipline. To prevent chaos in the school, Herbart proposed introducing certain restrictions and prohibitions. In the case of serious violations of generally accepted rules, he even allowed the use of corporal punishment. The types of lessons he proposed in the didactic system meant the maximum use of practical activity. The German teacher paid special attention to the synthesis of will, feelings, knowledge with discipline and order.
The meaning of the didactic concept
It was he who first proposed not to disconnect teaching and upbringing, he considered these two pedagogical terms only in aggregate. His main contribution to didactic training systems was the allocation of several levels of education. He proposed a scheme according to which they passed from clarity to association, then to a system, and then to methods. He built the educational process on the basis of ideas, which gradually had to go into theoretical skills. About practical skills in the concept developed by Herbart, there was no question. He believed that it was important to give the student theoretical knowledge, and whether he will or use it in ordinary life, this is not important for the school.
Herbart's followers
The students and successors of the German teacher were T. Ziller, W. Rein, F. Derffeld. They managed to develop, modernize the ideas of their teacher, tried to rid their didactic systems of formalism and one-sidedness. The Rhine introduced five levels of training, and for each, the content, the main goals are highlighted, methods for achieving the objectives are proposed. His scheme meant a block with new material, coordination of information with knowledge that was given to schoolchildren earlier, as well as generalization and development of acquired skills.
Comparison of several didactic concepts
Teachers did not have to meticulously observe all the formal levels of instruction; they received the right to independently develop methods for developing the thinking of children and their full education. Such didactic systems of the learning process existed until the middle of the last century in European countries. Modern psychologists are convinced that the concept negatively affected the work of schools. For a long time, all didactic systems were aimed at the transfer of ready knowledge by teachers to their pupils. There was no talk of any formation of conditions for self-realization of a person, a manifestation of creative abilities. The student had to sit quietly in the classroom, listen carefully to his mentor, and clearly and quickly fulfill all his instructions and recommendations. The passivity of the pupils led to the fact that they lost their desire to receive knowledge, a huge number of students appeared who did not want to receive knowledge, skipped classes at school, taught unsatisfactory grades. The teachers did not have the opportunity to identify and develop talented and gifted students. The averaged system did not involve tracking personal achievements of each student. It should be noted that without Herbart's didactics, there would not have been those positive changes in the educational system that have been taking place since the end of the last century, which continue to the present.
Didactics by John Dewey
American educator and psychologist John Dewey developed a contrast between the authoritarian model of Herbart's educators. His works have become a real counterweight to the existing educational concept. The American teacher argued that the basic didactic systems that existed before him led only to the superficial education of schoolchildren. Due to the fact that the main importance was attached to the transfer of theoretical knowledge, there was a huge gap from reality. Schoolchildren “stuffed” with information could not use their knowledge in everyday life. In addition, children received “ready-made knowledge”, they did not need to make efforts in order to independently search for certain information. There was no talk in the German education system about taking into account the requests and needs of children, the interests of society, the development of individuality. Dewey began his first experiments at a Chicago school in 1895. He created a card index of didactic games aimed at increasing the activity of children. The teacher was able to develop a new concept of "full thinking." According to the psychological and philosophical views of the author, the child begins to think when certain difficulties appear in front of him. It is in the process of overcoming obstacles that the child begins to think. The “complete act" of thinking according to Dewey involves certain steps:
- The appearance of difficulty.
- Problem detection.
- The formulation of the hypothesis.
- Conducting a logical test of the hypothesis.
- Analysis of the results of experiments and observations.
- Overcoming obstacles.
The specifics of Dewey didactics
The didactic games card index created by the author suggested a variant of “problem-based learning”. This approach quickly enough found supporters among European psychologists and educators. As for the application of the American system in Soviet schools, we note that the attempt was, but it was unsuccessful. Interest in such didactics arose in Russia only at the beginning of the 21st century. The significance of the ideas of the American Dewey of the possibility of a differentiated approach to the training and education of each student. In the structure of the lesson there was a stage of determining the problem, formulating a hypothesis, searching for an algorithm of action, conducting research, analyzing the results, formulating conclusions, checking their compliance with the hypothesis.
Comparison of traditional system and Dewey concept
The American has become a true innovator in the educational process. It was they who, instead of “book study,” were offered the option of actively gaining knowledge, skills. Independent cognitive activity of schoolchildren came to the fore, the teacher became an assistant for his students. The teacher guides the child, helps him overcome difficulties, put a hypothesis, draw conclusions on the results. Instead of the classical curriculum, the American proposed individual plans, according to which one can obtain knowledge of different levels. It is from this moment that the history of differentiated and individual training begins, the division of programs into basic and specialized levels. Dewey devoted much attention in his conception to practical activities, thanks to him an independent research activity of schoolchildren appeared in schools.
Conclusion
The system of school education is constantly being modernized, complicated, thanks to innovative programs developed by psychologists and teachers. Among the many didactic concepts that have been created over the past two centuries, of particular importance is the classical Herbart system, the innovative Dewey program. It was on the basis of these works that the main directions in education appeared, which can be traced in modern schools. Analyzing new directions, we note the “through discovery” training offered by the American teacher Jerome Bruner. This material is our reflection in the requirements put forward to the graduate of elementary school in GEF. Students are required to learn the basic laws and phenomena of nature, the specifics of social life, conducting their own research, participating in individual and collective projects.
The creators of the new state standards of the second generation used several educational concepts in their work, choosing the best ideas from them. Of particular importance in the modern didactic system is given to the formation of a harmonious person who is proud of his Fatherland, knows and complies with all the traditions of his people. In order for the graduate of the school to be adapted to modern living conditions, special importance is given to self-development. The teacher is no longer a "dictator", he only guides his students, helps to cope with the difficulties that arise.