TITLE:
The Ontological Evolution of Views of Teacher-Student
AUTHORS:
Yafeng Dang
KEYWORDS:
Subjective-Objective View of Teacher-Student, Subject-Object View of Teacher-Student, Community View of Teacher-Student, Teacher-Student Relationship
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.14 No.8,
July
31,
2026
ABSTRACT: In the study of educational theory, debates among education models such as teacher-centered, student-centered, and learning-centered approaches have paid relatively little attention to their underlying ontological foundations. From an ontological perspective, the teacher-centered education model presupposes a subjective-objective view of teacher-student, understanding the teacher-student relationship as an objectified, materialized relationship; the student-centered education model presupposes a subject-object view of teacher-student, understanding the teacher-student relationship as an intersubjective, active relationship; the learning-centered education model presupposes a community view of teacher-student, understanding the teacher-student relationship as a co-existent relationship within the community. Systematically examining the teacher-student views presupposed by these three educational models reveals a progressive logical relationship among them. Compared with the subjective-objective view of teacher-student, the subject-object view, although enhancing the subject status of teacher-student, cannot overcome the tension between teacher guidance and student subjectivity, ultimately retaining substantial thinking. The community view of teacher-student, through relational thinking, transcends the substantial thinking of subject-object opposition, understanding the co-existence of teacher-student from the primacy of relationships in terms of the ontological significance of teachers and students becoming themselves.