Preface
前言

Today's problems with regard to youth and childhood are the most patent proof that teaching is not the most important part of education. Yet the delusion persists that adults form the man through their teaching of the child.
当今与青年和儿童有关的问题最清楚地证明，教学并不是教育中最重要的一部分。然而一种错觉却坚持认为，成人通过他们的教学能把儿童培养成人。

Actually, education which consists mostly of direct teaching often impedes rather than helps natural human development. The early years are useless for the transmission of culture; therefore the first part of life is disregarded. But those apparently useless years are most fundamental, for during that period an astounding phenomenon takes place: the creation of a human psyche and development of human behavior. The child learns to function independently, to manipulate, to walk, to talk, to think and to direct himself through his will. The process takes place not because adults teach but because the child creates.
实际上，那种主要由直接教学所构成的教育同城妨碍而不是有助于人的自然发展。早期不适用于进行文化的传递，因此，生命的第一阶段就被忽视了。但那些似乎无价值的年头对人的发展来说恰恰是十分重要的，因此在这个阶段会出现一个惊人的现象：创造出人的心灵和发展人的行为。儿童将学会独立地活动、操作、走路、说话、思维以及自我控制。这个过程的发生并不是因为成人的教学，而是由于儿童本身的创造。

【海蓝点评】

这是《童年的秘密》的前言，简单的两段文字，却表达了一个很重要的意思：儿童自身有创造力，他能够自己独立学会一些本领，不是成人的教学得到的。这一方面是发挥幼儿的主动性，另一方面也是该著作的一个特点：儿童有自我教育的能力，他是会自我发展的。