On Literature Education

The education of Chinese cannot be departed from literature education. Quality-oriented education cannot be departed from literature education. The all-round development of men cannot be departed from literature education either. Yet literature education at the elementary education stage in our country has uncertain status, literature is lacking and theoretic research of literature education is insufficient. In view of this situation, this dissertation explored the nature, status and methods of literature education at elementary education stage in our country, applying theories of pedagogy, literature, aesthetics and psychology to the analysis from the angles of both history and reality.This thesis maintains that literature education should be an important part of the education of Chinese, and as the pupils grow up, the proportion of literature education in the education of Chinese should be increased. Furthermore, literature education cannot be treated simply as language education, aesthetic education or political education, although it contains contents of them. From its essential aspects, literature education is an activity of spiritual communication with the authors, aiming at enriching the world of the soul and constructing man's spiritual homestead, with teachers and pupils as audience, language as medium, cultural images presented by the literary works as contents. Literature education can be dissected, but it is better to let it be wholesome; literature education can be standardized and unified, but it is better to let it be versatile and individualistic; literature education is the teaching of techniques, yet it is more likely the communication of the soul. The course of literature education is the course of perception and comprehension, the course of freedom and guidance, the course of experience and character-moulding. The course of literature education is the course of uplifting life quality and upgrading life realm. The implementation of literature education calls for reevaluation of literature and literature education.The whole dissertation is divided into three parts.Part One is the first chapter. It contains the theoretic exploration of literature and literature education. Firstly, Chapter One makes an inquiry of what literature means from education's point of view. Education is a social action, so is literature. Literature as action involves four factors, namely the author, the world, the works and the audience. Literature as product is actually the homestead that man constructs. Literature in educational activity has the features of linguistics, artistry, playfulness and humanity. Secondly, this chapter defines literature education in this dissertation as school literature education at elementary educational stage, and school literature education has the characteristics of integrity, activity and interests. From the viewpoint of the dual nature of literature, literature education has aesthetic value and the value for goodness seeking. Literature education has stimuli value to encourage an individual to make progress in life. At the same time it has also a cultural mission.Part Two contains the second and third chapters. Chapters Two and Tree are included in this part.