Preface
前言

Today's problems with regard to youth and childhood are the most patent proof that teaching is not the most important part of education. Yet the delusion persists that adults form the man through their teaching of the child.
當今與青年和兒童有關的問題最清楚地證明，教學并不是教育中最重要的一部分。然而一種錯覺卻堅持認為，成人通過他們的教學能把兒童培養(yǎng)成人。

Actually, education which consists mostly of direct teaching often impedes rather than helps natural human development. The early years are useless for the transmission of culture; therefore the first part of life is disregarded. But those apparently useless years are most fundamental, for during that period an astounding phenomenon takes place: the creation of a human psyche and development of human behavior. The child learns to function independently, to manipulate, to walk, to talk, to think and to direct himself through his will. The process takes place not because adults teach but because the child creates.
實際上，那種主要由直接教學所構成的教育同城妨礙而不是有助于人的自然發(fā)展。早期不適用于進行文化的傳遞，因此，生命的第一階段就被忽視了。但那些似乎無價值的年頭對人的發(fā)展來說恰恰是十分重要的，因此在這個階段會出現一個驚人的現象：創(chuàng)造出人的心靈和發(fā)展人的行為。兒童將學會獨立地活動、操作、走路、說話、思維以及自我控制。這個過程的發(fā)生并不是因為成人的教學，而是由于兒童本身的創(chuàng)造。

【海藍點評】

這是《童年的秘密》的前言，簡單的兩段文字，卻表達了一個很重要的意思：兒童自身有創(chuàng)造力，他能夠自己獨立學會一些本領，不是成人的教學得到的。這一方面是發(fā)揮幼兒的主動性，另一方面也是該著作的一個特點：兒童有自我教育的能力，他是會自我發(fā)展的。

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