儿童是目的:教育的伦理基础

人在任何时候任何情况下都是目的,而永远不能只视为手段。如果康德这一主张是对的,那么,儿童是教育的目的便是对的。教育自始至终都应以儿童为目的,这就否定了教育常常将儿童视为工具的旧观念。以儿童为目的的教育尊重儿童的生活和世界,尊重儿童的兴趣和需要,助推儿童按其本性生长。以儿童为目的的教育不是去设计、制造儿童,而是帮助儿童自我建设与自我完善。“以儿童为目的”是现代教育的基本特征,亦是入手考察与理解现代教育的重要维度。以儿童为目的的教育只能扎根于民主的或向往民主的社会中。
According to Kant, human beings may never be used as means to an end. If his proposition is correct, we can infer that the notion of children as the end of education is correct too, which negates the old one of children as the tool of education. Education taking children as the end shows respect for their lives and worlds, as well as their interests and needs, thus promoting the development of children based on their nature. It aims for the self-cultivation and self-improvement of children, rather than educate them in a fixed way. Taking children as the end is a remarkable feature of modern education, and an important dimension for investigating modern education. Only in a society with real democracy or a desire for democracy can such education take root