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Mo, Fenglin

(um 1922)

Subjects

Index of Names : China

Chronology Entries (1)

# Year Text Linked Data
1 1922 Mo, Fenglin. Ping Duwei ping min yu jiao yu [ID D28520].
Mo Fenglin reviewed John Dewey's book 'Democracy and education'. He first acknowledged Dewey's contribution in connecting education to broader experiences in life and the larger society. He criticized Dewey for neglecting religious and aesthetic dimensions of human experience. Life, he said, was not simply about coping with problems in the environment ; it should also be about appreciating life itself. Dewey was wrong to talk more about geography and history than about art. Furthermore, Dewey mistook inventions for fine arts. 'The intrinsic value of fine arts, such as Sophocles' and Shakespeare's plays, Phaedias' sculptures, is not to be compared to the instrumental value of an invented object such as a printing machine or a coin.' Dewey's 'child-centered' education was also a target of criticism. Mo accused Dewey of advocating random expressions of the impulses of youth, thus turning 'the autocracy of the adult' into 'an autocracy of the child'. He also thought that Dewey's emphasis on interest and play would sacrifice the importance of discipline and effort in the educational process. Even though Dewey's democratic theories of education successfully challenged an aristocratic style of learning enjoyed only by a privileged few, Dewey failed to consider what Mo called 'natural aristocracy'. Lastly, Mo faulted Dewey for putting too much emphasis on elementary education at the expense of adult learning. Dewey's 'Democracy and education' was a philosophy of elementary education, not a philosophy of education. Mo lamented the fact that Dewey's book was regarded as the bible of the field.
  • Document: Wang, Jessica Ching-Sze. John Dewey in China : to teach and to learn. (Albany, N.Y. : State University of New York Press, 2007). (Suny series in Chinese philosophy and culture). S. 54-55. (DewJ2, Publication)
  • Person: Dewey, John

Bibliography (1)

# Year Bibliographical Data Type / Abbreviation Linked Data
1 1922 Mo, Fenglin. Ping Duwei ping min yu jiao yu. In : Xue heng ; vol. 10 (1922). [A review of Dewey's 'Democracy and education'].
評杜威平 民與教育 		Publication / DewJ64
  • Cited by: Wang, Jessica Ching-Sze. John Dewey in China : to teach and to learn. (Albany, N.Y. : State University of New York Press, 2007). (Suny series in Chinese philosophy and culture). (DewJ2, Published)
  • Person: Dewey, John