When Tao Xingzhi graduated from Nanjing Jinling University with the first place in 19 14, he went across the ocean to study in the United States. I studied municipal administration at first, but later I felt that there could be no real new harmony without real mass education, so I entered Columbia Normal University to focus on education, hoping to save the country and the people through education.
19 17 When Tao Xingzhi returned to China, a new cultural movement under the banner of democracy and science was launched in China. Tao Xingzhi actively participated in this movement, actively advocated new education and reformed old education. Therefore, on the one hand, he introduced western educational theories, on the other hand, he also opposed blindly imitating other countries, and put forward scientific methods to carry out educational reform and innovation, thus embarking on a new road to realize the popularization and modernization of education in China.
At first, Tao Xingzhi focused on civilian education. During this period, he deeply felt that the fundamental problem of education reform in China lies in the countryside. He said: "China is based on agriculture, and people living in rural areas account for 85% of the national population. Civilian education is a movement to the people, that is, to the countryside. " To popularize education, it is necessary to let civilian education go to the countryside and carry out rural education campaigns.
However, the development of rural education is by no means easy, and it needs a group of people with lofty ideals to fight for it wholeheartedly. Therefore, Tao Xingzhi called on people to join the movement and "create a new life for the rural areas of China wholeheartedly." He also made a great wish to overcome all kinds of difficulties, raise 1 million funds, recruit 1 million comrades, advocate 1 million schools and transform 1 million villages. In order to establish a qualified team of rural teachers, he and Zhao Shuyu, a professor at Southeast University, founded the Rural Normal School in 1926. The school site was chosen in Xiaozhuang (formerly Xiaozhuang), a remote and desolate suburb of Nanjing. This is the world-famous Xiaozhuang Normal School, and Tao Xingzhi himself is the principal.
Xiaozhuang Normal School was born in the gunfire of successive victories in the Northern Expedition. In Xiaozhuang Normal School, Tao Xingzhi took off his suit and put on sandals, and worked and lived with teachers and students to explore a new way of education in China. That is, in Xiaozhuang Teachers College, Tao Xingzhi transformed Dewey's educational theory and formed his "life education" theory. Its main points are: "life is education", "society is school", "teaching integration" and "learning by doing". According to the theory of life education, under the guidance of teachers, Xiaozhuang normal students make their own land reclamation, build their own huts, do whatever they want, learn whatever books they read, go out of school and join the village peasant association to fight against local tyrants and evil gentry. In this way, school education is combined with social life and productive labor. Its purpose is to cultivate students' practical ability and innovative ability, and to cultivate students into rural teachers with farmers' skills, scientific mind and social spirit. Because the theory of life education basically conforms to China's national conditions, it still has reference significance in the current education reform in China.
From 65438 to 0932, Tao Xingzhi founded the Shanghai Engineering Corps in Shanghai by summing up the experience of Xiaozhuang Normal School. Engineers are social education organizations, schools, factories and small societies. The purpose of "keeping fit through work, learning as knowledge and keeping in good health through the league" was formulated, and local farmers' children were recruited to join the league to learn cultural knowledge in the morning and participate in productive labor in the afternoon. In the evening, members of the children's group invite local farmers to the tea garden operated by the engineering group to talk about world events, and members of the children's group tell stories and be small gentlemen. Later, this kind of "instant knowledge exchange" was widely implemented in more than 20 provinces and cities across the country, which played a great role in popularizing education and eliminating illiteracy in the 1930 s and 1940 s
The outbreak of the December 29th Movement marked the arrival of a new upsurge in resisting Japan and saving the nation. At this time, Tao Xingzhi participated in the establishment of the Shanghai Cultural Salvation Association and the National Disaster Education Association with full patriotic enthusiasm, and also initiated the establishment of the Salvation Federation with famous people such as Soong Ching Ling and Zou Taofen. 1In July, 936, he was appointed as "national diplomatic envoy" by the National Salvation Association, and visited 26 countries in Europe, Asia and Africa to win the support of overseas Chinese and international friends for China's anti-Japanese national salvation struggle. On the eve of going abroad, when passing through Hong Kong, he jointly issued the Declaration of Unity and Anti-aggression with Shen Junru and Zhang Naiqi, agreeing with China's idea of establishing an anti-Japanese national United front by the Producers' Party and calling for the second national cooperation. This declaration shook the world, greatly inspired the people of the whole country, and was warmly supported by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and Mao Zedong.
After the beginning of the Anti-Japanese War, Tao Xingzhi found that many children with special talents were deprived of training opportunities because of poverty and humiliation. With the support of Zhou Enlai and many party member, he founded Yucai School in July 1999. This school is located near Chongqing, and the students are all excellent children with special talents. According to students' interests and conditions, the school employs a large number of experts and scholars as teachers to teach students in accordance with their aptitude. They not only teach students to learn cultural lessons, but also give them labor education, professional basic knowledge education and revolutionary thought education, so that education can be closely combined with productive labor, social practice and revolutionary practice, thus applying the theory of life education to the practice of cultivating "talented people" and making Yucai School a wonderful flower in the history of modern education in China.
After War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression's victory, Tao Xingzhi devoted himself to the mass struggle against civil war, peace, dictatorship and democracy with greater political enthusiasm. The social university he founded in Chongqing has become a bastion of the democratic revolution and an important base for educating young people on Marxism-Leninism in Kuomintang areas. As the director of the Democratic Education Committee of the Central Committee of the NLD, he published articles such as Outline of Democratic Education, Popularization of Democratic Education and Social University Movement, which mercilessly exposed and criticized the fascist education promoted by the Kuomintang and put forward four principles of life education, namely, democratic education, scientific education, mass education and creative education.
1In April, 946, Tao Xingzhi came to Shanghai, continued to struggle for peace and democracy, and made many efforts to establish a social university and relocate a Yucai school in Shanghai. Soon, the news that famous democracy fighters Li Gongpu and Wen Yiduo were assassinated by Kuomintang agents came, and Tao Xingzhi was extremely angry. He gave speeches everywhere, calling for "peace is the most urgent, democracy is the first". Later, I heard that Kuomintang agents had listed him as the next assassination target. He was fearless and prepared for "I'm waiting for the third shot". He still cries for justice again and again, and always stands at the forefront of the democratic movement. On July 25th, Tao Xingzhi died of sudden cerebral hemorrhage due to overwork and overstimulation.
After the death of Tao Xingzhi, extensive mourning activities were carried out all over the country. Today, people are still studying his thoughts and learning his moral character. At present, the China Tao Xingzhi Research Association has been established in Beijing, and its works have been published as the Complete Works of Tao Xingzhi, and a large number of monographs and papers have emerged to study Tao Xingzhi's educational thoughts. In fact, Tao Xingzhi's educational thought has become one of the important foundations for establishing the theoretical system of educational science with China characteristics. Tao Xingzhi's valuable contribution to mankind is an excellent reference for China's educational construction and reform.