教育学知识的限度及其意义

The Limit of the Knowledge of Education Science and Its Significance

教育学是一门高度实践性的学科，它并不只是由一些普遍性的概念、命题和判断构成，而是需要大量的“实践理性”和“技艺”，需要许多难以言表、难以交流和共享的知识。教育学既是一种可以言说的知识，一套自恰、不矛盾的命题，一套可以演绎成篇的逻辑，也很可能是教育学者种种认识迷误迭加的结果。相对于复杂的教育实践，教育学知识永远是不足的，教育学者个体所拥有的教育学知识是极其有限的，甚至可以说是无知的。因此，教育学者要认识到自己只是“建议者”，而不是“决策者”。恪守这一界限，不仅有利于削减试图用理性的教育学知识改造和影响教育的致命的自负，克服唯理性主义的迷误，保有对教育的一份敬畏和谦卑之心，也有助于教育学者自觉地养成一种民主的生活方式。

As a highly practical discipline， the education science is not simply composed of some universal concepts， propositions and judgments; it also requires many “practical reasons”， “skills” and plenty of knowledge which is difficult to express， communicate and share. Even if the education science is of the describable knowledge， the compatible propositions and the logical text， it is probably the result of the accumulation of educators' misunderstanding and mistakes. Compared with the complex education practice， the knowledge of education science can never be adequate. The individual educators have extremely limited knowledge or are even ignorant. Therefore， educators should realize that they are just “advisors” rather than “decision makers”. Adherence to this limit can help us reduce the fatal conceit that attempts to use rational education knowledge to reconstruct and influence education; it can also help us overcome the misunderstandings of the rationalism， and keep the awesome and humble attitude toward education. It is also helpful for educators to consciously develop a democratic way of life.