以科學探究精神開展過識教育: Schwab 在芝加哥大學的超越與實踐

Abstract

美國大學通識教育在二十世紀兩次犬戰之間快速繁盛，戰後又迅速萎縮。本文回顧1940年代以降， Schwab ( 1909-1980 )在芝加哥犬學所推動的一系列融合科學家的探究( enquiry)精神，其將Hutchins等人高懸的通識教育理想具體開展實現為犬學教學課程的歷程。儘管1960年代之後，學院( The College) 面臨萎縮，讓通識教育的理念無以為繼，但是，芝加哥犬學推動通識教育的經驗在其他學校的通識課程中成為參考的元素。而在學院中與學術同儕共同發展通識課程的慎思籌劃經驗，也鑄成了日後Schwab在課程理論的實踐論述。

Reforms of and reflections on general education in colleges of the United States thrived from the end of the First World War to the Second World War. This essayprovides a detailed overview of the general education reform led by Joseph Jackson Schwab (1909-1980) 企om the 1940s to 1960s at the University of Chicago, where he transformed the ideals of Robert Maynard Hutchins et al. into a reality. Schwab devoted himself to expanding the place of science in the general education of undergraduate students and placed particular emphasis on biological sciences. Even though his practices were too hard to continue, his insightful legacy has become a critical point of reference when discussing the ultimate aims and practical methods of general education. Eventually, his latter theoretical “Practical" essays in curriculum studies were partly motivated and then came to mature due to his curriculum deliberation experience with his colleagues at Chicago.