Section 1 Education and Teaching
I. Brainstorming
Think【Case Reflection】and try to answer the question in your own words.
II. Education
Definitions of education:
1. In Chinese，the equivalent is two words： jiao，which means teachers instruct and students follow and imitate；and yu，which stands for cultivating and developing individuals into people who are both knowledgeable and virtuous. In English，the word “education” derives from the Latin word educere meaning “to bring up” or “to lead out”. In fact，the contemporary academic definition of education is directly related to these origins.
2. Scheffler divides “education” into three types： the stipulative，the descriptive and the programmatic. These types suit different contexts and are viewed as effective within their own context. Mialaret explains education as an institution，as action，as content，and as a product.
3. The academic definition given by The Dictionary of Education is that “education is a series of social practices that transmit life experience and cultivate human beings”. School education is therefore activities which are “based on certain social requirements and the students' developmental needs；exerting influence on students with purpose，plan and organization；and cultivating people that are needed by a certain society or social class”.
4. Many scholars have interpreted education from different perspectives. Professor Ye Lan points out that “education is social practices that directly and consciously aim at influencing people's development in both body and mind.” Professor Xiao Chuan considers “the true meaning of education is the integration of value guidance and self-construction. Therefore，education based on this integration，during the growing process of students，is the awakening of spirits，the exploiting of potentials，the enlightening of hearts，the enriching of subjectivity and the manifesting of uniqueness. In light of the interactive process of both students and teachers in common activities，education becomes the sharing of experience，the fusion of horizons，and the inspiration of the soul.”
Summary
Despite the differences apparent in the above definitions，they all address the essence of education，albeit from differing perspectives. Within these definitions，we can see a shared core：Education is practice that leads people to develop. Therefore，in order to understand the meaning of education，we must grasp the two basic elements： “lead” and “develop”. “Lead” suggests that education is activities with stipulative purposes，among which the ultimate one is to cultivate and develop individuals into knowledgeable and virtuous people. “Lead” also implies that education is not compulsory，and that it cannot be compulsory：we cannot impart knowledge，skills and values to students by force，since all the external infusing will not have any effect without internal assimilation. “Develop” means the development of students，and thus，whether the purpose of education is achieved depends on whether students' development achieves the planned goals.
II. Teaching
Definition
Teaching，in the domain of education，is paradoxically both a very basic element and a complicated one as well. For teachers，teaching is a kind of educational activity in which they use instructional activities to lead students to learn. For students，teaching is viewed as learning activities under the guidance of teachers. The extent to which students develop as a result of these activities is the key to judging whether the teaching is successful.
In fact，teaching is more than a series of activities，it is an interactive process in which teachers teach and students learn and become more fully developed. It is a process through which students acquire knowledge，master skills，develop abilities under the guidance of teachers，develop in both body and mind，and form certain emotional attitudes and values.
From the above description，we can see that although teaching is an inter-participated activity between teachers and students，the more important factor is the students' positive and active approach to learning. Teaching activity，therefore，is the combination and coordination of teaching and learning. From the standpoint of communication between teachers and students，teaching should be teacher-led but student-centered interactive activities.
The characteristics of teaching activity
1) Teaching is purposeful. Since education is a series of purposeful activities conducted by human beings，teaching as the main form of school education should have specific and clear goals. Different subjects share certain common teaching goals，while also having different and specific teaching objectives，depending on different academic weeks，terms，years，and periods，or different activities，lessons，units and textbooks.
2) Teaching should be based on specific content. Teaching，which is the transmission of the knowledge，skills and experience of human survival，is usually a direct response to the requirements of a specific curriculum and teaching content. Like teaching objectives，teaching content also varies according to different domains or levels.
3) Teaching should be systematic and well-planned. In school education，teaching is a series of planned and systematic activities，which are usually reflected by curriculum plans and teaching plans. Although teaching activities may sometimes happen without clear systematization and preparation，on the whole，they do. Of course，the systematic and well-planned activities are mainly created by educational administrative organizations，schools，or trained teachers.
4) Teaching should be assisted by selected methods and technologies. On the one hand，we can choose from a range of effective techniques accumulated throughout many centuries of teaching experience. On the other，we have available modern science and technology，especially information technology，which can provide workable educational assistance.
Summary
From the above descriptions，teaching can be summarized as a series of planned and systematic activities，based on set objectives and assisted by certain methods and technologies，through which teachers guide students to learn about the world，gain knowledge，master skills，and develop overall competence.
III. Pedagogy
The relationship between teaching activities and pedagogy:
1) Research on teaching activities is part of pedagogy. Pedagogy（instructional theory or didactics）is part of educational science，parallel with curriculum studies. It is also a common research content of many educational domains. Such research may cover，for instance，the study of communication in teaching in educational philosophy；the study of learning theories in educational psychology；the study of teacher-student relationships in educational sociology；and the study of instructional design in educational technology.
2) Given that teaching is first and foremost a series of activities，research in pedagogy should be based on teaching activities. Pedagogy then can be said to include： teaching purposes，teaching contents，teaching objectives，teaching processes，teaching principles，teaching methods，teaching models，teaching evaluation，teaching research，etc.
3) The purpose of the study of pedagogy is to discover basic features and rules of teaching activities so as to improve teaching efficiency and effectiveness.
Definition
Knowing from the content of teaching and the nature of pedagogy，we can conclude that pedagogy，as a major part of education science，is a discipline that studies the fundamental principles，general rules，and major approaches in teaching activities for the purpose of improving teaching efficiency and effectiveness，and studies the content of teaching aims，teaching content，teaching goals，teaching processes，teaching principles，teaching methods，teaching models，teaching evaluation and teaching research，etc.
【Practical Analysis】
Based on the definition of education and teaching in this unit，analyse the teaching activity in Table 1-1.
Table 1-1 Teaching activity（an extract）
