The past just as past is no longerour affair. If it were wholly gone and done with, there would be only onereasonable attitude toward it. Let the dead bury their dead. But knowledge ofthe past is the key to the understanding of the present. History deals with thepast, but this past is the history of the present . 逝者如斯乎，不舍昼夜；往者不可追，却可知兴替、明得失。              ——JohnDewey   Democracy and Education

历史是最好的教科书，历史是人类最好的老师。——习近平

"Let earlyeducation be a sort of amusement."

    "The beginningis the most important part of any work, especially in the case of a young andtender thing; for that is the time at which the character is beingformed."

                                             ——Republic

Plato（427B.C-347B.C） was born in Athens ,one of the city states(城邦) of ancient Greece. The name Plato means “broad” or “flat”, referring perhaps to hisshoulders or forehead. His original name was Aristokles (the best) after hisgrandfather.

In about 387 B.C.E., Plato founded the Academy in the Grove of Academe(学园), northwest ofAthens.  It has been described as the first European university and fixed seatof learning.  Plato was responsiblefor its establishment, administration and ongoing development.  When Plato was 60 years of age, he went toSyracuse to educate Dionysus Ⅱ at the request of Dion, the brother-in -law of Dionysus Ⅱ. This was a chance for Plato to create the educationalsystem he envisioned in the Republic.

    Plato died at the age of 80 and was buriedin the grounds of the Academy.  Heapparently remained unmarried though he had many deep friendships throughouthis life.  He was described as a man ofcourage, loyalty, generosity, kindness, and intellectual brilliance.  Above all, he loved discourse and was seen asa brilliant conversationalist and a man of unique wisdom.

1. Republic 《理想国》 

Plato’s writings, the best source of his ideas and thinking,are almost all in the form of dialogues. In the Republic, which Plato wrote around 375B.C.E. and which wasone of his key works related to education, Plato described the first Utopia inliterature and showed how the perfect state could be created.  Living in a city state where greed andprivilege superseded the values that Athens and struggled to preserve, Platofelt a need to create an ideal society to improve on the existingsituation.  Because of his lifeexperiences, he felt it was important to have a class of “guardians” who wouldlive not for themselves but for the general good of society.  These guardians had to be above personalgain.  Much of the Republicdescribes his ideal state with education at the centre.  It is also the first treatise ever written oneducation.  Plato saw the negativeeffects of leaving education in Athens to private enterprise; he felt a statesystem of education was required so that education could regain its importance.

	Who	Activities/  Purpose	Notable Characteristics	Goal/Virtue
Gold	Rulers/Philosopher Kings/Guardians	Govern	Intellect	Wisdom
Silver	Warriors/Auxiliaries Guardians	Assist and  support	Courage and  Spirit	Courage and  Honour
Bronze	Artisans/Traders Manufacturers/Farmers	Provide goods and  services for the community	Determination  and Desire	Temperance and  productivity

2. Importance ofBeginnings   

Increasingly the field of PreschoolEducation has research to back up the importance of the early years.  We see this in relation to individualchildren and the prevention of later social problems.  Plato was thefirst to articulate the key importance of first beginnings:

    “The direction in which education starts aman will determine his future life.”

    "The firstshoot of any plant, if it makes a good start, has the greatest effect inhelping it to attain its mature natural excellence."

    “The beginning isalways the most important part especially when you are dealing with anythingyoung and tender.  That is the time whenthe character is being molded and easily takes any impress one may wish tostamp on it.”                  ——Republic

    From Plato's perspective, the minister ofeducation in government should be the most valued and important in leading asociety:  "It should be the greatest of all thegreat offices of State... the legislator ought not allow the education ofchildren to become a secondary or accidental matter."             ——Law

2.1  Learning

Plato also wrote a dialogue called the Meno in which heexplored the idea of teaching an illiterate, uneducated slave the PythagoreanTheorem(毕达哥拉斯定理).  The boy had noprevious mathematical training.  In thisdialogue, Plato illustrates the Socratic(苏格拉底) method of teaching through questions and answers betweenteacher and student, slowly leading the boy to knowledge.  The boy makes reasonable guesses and followsthrough on the implications of his inferences.

Plato believed that the power of understanding was present inthe learner being taught.  As opposed toseeing teaching as instruction from without Plato was true education as theprocess of drawing out what is latent in the learner.  This kind of education is an active searchand possible only if the learner takes it on willingly.  The thirst for learning and knowledgethemselves to the learners.  Learnersalso had to know themselves and realize what they did not know.  He called this the science of right choice,allowing wise decision making.  Knowingoneself was central to learning anything, and at the core of knowing oneselfwas the knowledge of what one does not know:

“The soul has learned everything(灵魂已经学会了一切), so that when a man has recalled a single piece ofknowledge---learned it, in ordinary language---there is no reason why he shouldnot find out all the rest, if he keeps a stout heart and does not grow weary ofthe search.”

Plato’s concerns with motivation for learning were reiteratedmany times in both the Republic and the Laws. He believed that people could not be compelled to learn and thathumiliation would have no part in education. Children would learn respect as their teachers genuinely respectedthem.  Today we have theoretical supportfor these wise statements but struggle with their implementation thesethousands of years later.  In Plato’s writingsthere is actually little information about methods of education beyond usingconversation and discussion.  Platoassumed the “silver” and “gold” citizen would learn without difficulty , and hedid not deal with the daily issues of teaching and learning.

Though Plato envisioned theseclasses, he thought a child could be born into any class and become a “ruler”.  Aptitude, not family position or influence,would determine the class.   Conversely,someone who was cowardly in battle might be repositioned from silver tobronze.  It is important to realize thatat least two-thirds of Athens’ society consisted of slaves who were considerednon-persons, as machines to work.  Theywould receive no education even in Plato’s ideal state.  This was a firmly entrenched tradition inGreece, and there is no evidence that Plato opposed the practice.  He did, however, maintain that slaves shouldbe treated humanely and justly.

2.2  Play   

We now think play is anew innovation in articulating children's ways of learning. However, Platostrongly supported experiential learning through play in several of hiswritings:"For the free man there should be no element of slavery inlearning. Enforced exercise does no harm to the body, but enforced learning(强迫学习)will not stay in the mind. So avoid compulsion, and let your children's lessonstake the form of play."          

——Republic

"He who is to be a goodbuilder, should play at building children's houses;he who is to be a goodhusbandman, at tilling the ground; and those who have the care of theireducation should provide them when young with mimic tools...The futurecarpenter should learn to measure or apply the line in play; and the futurewarrior should learn riding, or some other exercise, for amusement, and theteacher should endeavor to direct the children's inclinations and pleasure, bythe help of amusements, to their final aim in life." 

——Laws

     The referenceto the future builder playing at building houses may be the first reference tothe use of building materials(blocks)in an educational manner.

    "The most important part ofeducation is right training in the nursery. The soul of the child in his playshould be guided to the love of that sort of excellence in which when he growsup to manhood he will have to be perfected."                     ——Laws

    Plato saw mathematics as the foundation for alladvanced study and believed that it should be introduced to children throughgames and puzzles that required calculations. He recommended the establishmentof supervised playgrounds.

2.3 Observation   

Observation is at the core of allPreschool Education as a basis for understanding children and their needs.   Plato's goal for observation was to see howchildren were naturally inclined and to plan their education accordingly:

     "This will...help you to see what theyare naturally fitted for."   ——Republic

2.4 Activity   

Today we know that children mustbe physically active in programs we provide for them.  This stems from our knowledge of childdevelopment theory.  Plato pre-dated ourtheoretical base for ensuring activity, not passivity, in programs for youngchildren:

    " The young of all creatures can't bequiet in their bodies or in their voices, they are always wanting to move andcry out."

    " This movement is the origin ofrhythm and gymnastics."         ——Laws

3.Differentiationof Children’s Education

3.1 Balanced Education   

Plato believed thateducation should not focus only on the intellect. The children in the Guardianclass would have a curriculum with a balance of the liberal arts (mousike),physical training (gymnastike)and mathematics.

Plato felt that thearts had a tremendous role in education. Works of art (visual, poetic, musical, literary) were seen as not onlyaesthetically valuable but also a key way people expressed ideas, emotions andvalues.  To this end, art needed to becentral to the process of education:“Rhythm and harmony sink deep into the recesses ofthe soul and take the strongest hold there, bringing that grace of body andmind.”     ------Republic                                  

Physical training would bechallenging physical education.  Simple dietand lifestyle would promote good health. Mathematics would be the basis for much higher education as it wastraining in rational thought. Relationships among events, objects and abstractions are at the core ofmathematics, and children would see these relationships in their play.  This still remains the central focus ofmeaningful mathematics for young children today.

3.2 Stages of Development

The earliest stages of development were identified byHippocrates(希波克拉底)（460- 377B.C）, the father ofmedicine.  Hippocrates divided man’s lifeinto seven stages: infant (birth to seven years), child(7-14years), adolescent(14-27years), youth(21-28 years), man (28-49 years), elderly man(49-56 years),and old man(between 56 and death).

Plato and Aristotle(亚里士多德)  took specialinterest in childhood and gave the fullest account of it in theirwritings.  Plato gives a list of children’sshortcomings.  He claimed that childrenknow little, and are gullible and easily persuaded; they lack understandingexcept for the simplest things; and their lack of judgment, makes themunreliable judges.

Following are the three stages of development described byPlato in the Laws.  The first stagewas from birth to three years(0-3).  Herecommended that a baby be swaddled from birth until the age of two and becarried about by his nurse until he was three. During the first three years, the child makes many noises but does notunderstand language, so the nurse has to judge what he wants only from hiscrying.  Infants and toddlers, were to becatered to through special  equipmentsuch as feeding bottles, potty chairs, cradles, and rattles(拨浪鼓) to amuse them. Excavations in the Mediterranean area have unearthed a wide andimpressive variety of childhood equipment and toys.

The second stage, according to Plato, was from three to sixyears(3-6).  During this stage, childrenneeded to play games with other children. Punishment was to be used to prevent children from getting pampered, butit should neither be of a degrading kind nor to enrage the children.  Plato pointed out that the child grew morequickly in height during the first five years of his life than during the nexttwenty years.  Until the age of six, boysand girls lived together at home under the care and supervision of their motherand/or the family nanny.

The third stage was from six to fourteen years(puberty 青春期).  Boys and girlsbegan to live separate lives, and formal education began outside the home. Theboys went to teachers and a few girls were also included.

 4. Theory of Forms and Knowledge

Plato’s saw knowledge as fixed, unchanging and infallible(绝对可靠的) as well as real.  Theopposite of real would be that which was only ‘appearance’.  He rejected the belief that knowledge camefrom the senses because such knowledge can not be certain.  Sense impressions are from phenomena in thenatural and physical world that are changing and, therefore, are not goodexamples of true knowledge.  Reason,higher level thinking, would bring true knowledge.

    Plato's ideas remained his vision and only adream.  The Utopian world he envisionednever came to fruition, and the practical methods were not developed.  However, thousands of years later, his ideascontinue to challenge and intrigue.  Theyraise issues we struggle with today.

    Plato lived and wrote in a remarkable time.  Perhaps above all, Plato saw education as theavenue for change in society and for a better tomorrow.  Education was central to citizenship in ademocracy.  Children, both boys andgirls, were valued, and early education was pivotal for laterdevelopmentand for the future of a society.  Platostressed that the nature of the learning and the learning process were moreimportant than the subject matter.  Wewould do well to remember and consider his advice today.

    Alfred North Whitehead, a 20th century philosopher,clearly stated the place of Plato in the history of philosophy: “Modern philosophy is but a series offootnotes to Plato.”

思考：

梳理柏拉图、亚里士多德和昆体良关于学前教育的主要观点及历史贡献。