Discussion on the Educational Implication of Dewey's Theory of Valuation

Nowadays, evidence-based evaluation has become the main form of educational evaluation. The discussions based on objective data have to a certain extent surpassed the exploration of the purpose and significance of education. This will not only narrow people's imagination of education, but also lead to the problems such as reversal of educational means and ends, and the disconnection between evaluation standards and the value system in education. To restore the original role of educational evaluation as a means of verification, criticism, and creation, Dewey's valuation theory, which is the core part of his value theory, will be a possible approach that can be drawn upon. It breaks the binary between fact and value, purpose and means, and reason and emotion, taking "action" as the core and emphasizes the interaction with environmental factors and integrating experimental methods into Dewey's value system. Dewey's theory of experimental empirical value is a subversion of anti-value theory, transcendental value theory and dualism, which provides a new perspective for examining problems in educational evaluation. It reveals that, 1) we should pay attentions on the relevance of value, students' experience and educational evaluation; 2)We should clarify the relationship between valuation and desiring and interest, which are neither simply emotional stimulus nor pure rational guidance; and 3) We ought to make it clear of the causality of educational means and aims, so as to guarantee the consistency of subjects' experience. The clarification of the core concepts in Dewey's evaluation theory may provide us with feasible ideas for solving practical problems in the educational evaluation.