时间：2022-10-19 02:10:45
I. Introduction
The “heuristic teaching theory” is world-famous； it is one of Confucius’ greatest inventions. But many people think that it was invented by Socrates，an ancient Greek philosopher， which is no surprising to Western scholars who even can’t speak without mentioning Socrates. What is worse， in China there are many people who also hold this view. In fact， Socrates’“elicitation teaching theory” was invented far later than that of Confucius. Confucius was not only a consistent practitioner of heuristic method of teaching， but also the creator of “inspired”the name itself. Confucius was 82 years older than Socrates. Ten years after the death of Confucius， Socrates was born. Therefore， Confucius is the very founder of the “heuristic teaching”. What’s more， the connotation of heuristic teaching method created by Confucius is much richer and more profound than that of Socrates’ “midwifery”. To illustrate that， we may compare and contrast Socratic “midwifery” dialogue method and the Confucian heuristic teaching means.
II. Analysis of Confucian and Socratic heuristic teaching style
1. Confucian heuristic teaching means. Confucius valued heuristic teaching， so he tried to activate his pupils and intentionally develop their thinking ability. His“Question- and- answer”teaching proceeded in the way of talking and discussing between the teacher and the students in which Confucius purposely and naturally created a harmonious， democratic and happy teaching atmosphere. He praised students’ airing their own views freely； "What harm is there in that？" said the Master once encouraged Tsang His to speak out his ambition. In class the students actively spoke straight from their heart； even talk to their heart's content regarding the teacher as their confidant because Confucius himself took the lead to state his views unreservedly. He once said to his pupils“I have no secret hidden from all of you. That is Kong Qiu， your teacher！”
2. Socratic “midwifery” dialogue method.Socrates made use of a teaching method that is still known by his name. The “Socratic method” utilizes a question-and-answer technique to lead pupils to see things for themselves by using their own reason. With this method the teacher guides students to discovery by asking leading questions. Through this dialectical method of powerfully questioning his students， he seeks to guide them to discover the subject matter rather than simply telling them what they need to know. Socratic teaching is characterized by seizing conflicts within the student's thinking， inspiring the pupil by induction， constantly asking questions， step by step in depth， until export the correct conclusions from the mouth of the disciple. He took“Dialectic”，that is，“question and answer” as his only admissible method of education. He did not acknowledge himself as an “educator”.Instead， he view himself as a “converser/talker”.Be that as it may， Socrates is widely regarded as one of the great teachers of all time.
parison and Contrast of the two educator’s “heuristic teaching theory”.The two saints’ teaching by talking is just the source of eastern and western heuristic teaching theory. However， the two methods have difference and similarity as well.
First，both of them aim at the pupil’s enough long thinking involvement under the guidance of the teacher.
Confucius attached more importance to his disciples’ individuality and could direct them perfectly in due time while Socrates make special effort to arouse the forgotten born knowledge of the student by irony， hint， ridiculer and midwife.
Secondly， both of them created conversation situation at a harmonious atmosphere in which the teacher’s heart and the students’ soul are integrated into a whole. As a result， the students could relate their past experience to the new problem they were trying to settle. In this way the teacher can make a full use of his pupils’ reason and emotion.
However， compared with Socrates， Confucius pursued a loose and free environment where his disciples have a natural thinking space. Hence， this thinking is diverging with warm emotion. But in the case of Socrates’ class， the teaching environment was going along a presupposed one-way directed thinking rail with cold reason.
Thirdly， Confucius "No anger no enlightenment， no fěi no speak "， the eight Chinese characters is a highly condensed， the most scientific， and the most talented summary of heuristic teaching. Zhu Xi ，the famous thinker in Song dynasty of China， explained，“anger means the student is thinking hard trying to get the answer but is still not able to find it out； fěi is a state in which the pupil is approaching the truth after a period of time of thinking but doesn’t know how to say it out. In either case he needs the teacher’s timely hint.”
III. Conclusion
In a word， Socratic dialogue method is actually teacher-centered while Confucius' heuristic method is student-centered. Although the two heuristics are both effective in promoting the intellectual development of students， the connotation of Confucius’ heuristic method is much richer and more profound than that of Socrates’“midwifery” dialogue method.
In my opinion， Confucius is even greater than Socrates though they are oriental saint and western sage respectively.