• Journal of Fisheries and Marine Sciences Education
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.117-131
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• 2001

The character of the educational tradition of Germany could be divided into two aspects. One is the humanistic liberal tendency and the other is vocational. From the beginning of the Twentieth Century, however, there has been an attempt to unify these two trends by the . Georg Kerschensteiner is the first of importance to make some comprehensive curriculum for this goal. In Kerschensteiner, the genuine education makes the individual assume his work and role in society, and to develop them by cultivating insight, will and power. His view is well expressed in the slogn "The vocational education is the beginning of the humanistic education." His goal is to make men of independence and autonomy through vocational education. The theory of Kerschensteiner's education is called 'general vocational education'. The reason why is that his vocational education concerns not just technical training for industry, but also general liberal arts. In this point, Kerschensteiner's point of view goes back to Wilhelm von Humboldt, neo-humanist afar in the first half of the Ninteenth Century, and to John Dewey, pragmatist in the contemporary age of Kerschensteiner. Kerschensteiner was much influenced by Humboldt's concepts of power and individuality. These concepts came to be embodied as a principle of vocational education in Kerschensteiner. Furthermore, Humboldt's concept of power could be associated with Dewey's theory of reflexive thinking. The power in Humboldt is to create spirit, which is connected with the world outside through language. The reflexive thinking of Dewey is a process that examines and selects some alternative thinking in the consciousness before acting. This process makes one find the method of problem-solving which results in behaviour. That is the experimental spirit or pragmatic behaviourism. These theories are reduced to the concept of 'work' in Kerschensteiner. And Kerschensteiner's theory of education that has both sides, humanistic and vocational, is similar to that of John Dewey. Dewey brings forward the idea that the vocational education is the best way to cultivate intelligence and emotion, as intelligence operates best in the life. The position of Dewey is in accord with that of Kerschensteiner who intends to cover experiences of various fields of society through practice-learning, and to have knowledge got from outside of school, refuting the misled trend of education isolated from real life. However, there is some difference between Kerschensteiner and Humbolt or Dewey. While the Neo-humanism of Humbolt and the pragmatic education of Dewey put emphasis rather on the liberal arts and culture of individuality, Kerschensteiner is concerned more with the work and life of the reality of society as a group. Kerschensteiner's concept of utility is related to education for the whole man and to the work of the individual and the nation as well as the will and power to practice it. The ideal man of utility of Kerschensteiner is to learn perfectly the value and behaviour of society through vocational life and to have right view of the state establishing a sound mutual relation between individual and state. Kerschensteiner is regarded as a devotee of 'the state of harmony' or 'the ideal of the state', as he makes the state as the criterion for defining the role of the individual. It can be said that Kerschensteiner is not a democrat of the American style as Dewey is, as he makes much of the value of the nation and state. However, he is a humanist and democrat in the point of vocational education. His purpose of education is to make whole men through work and vocational education.