教育部新近公布的《十二年國民基本教育課程發展建議書》中，有讓全民逐漸清楚教材意涵之呼籲。本文以杜威的論著與有關文獻為依據，詮解與評述杜威對於教材通論的主張，可謂為對此一呼籲之回應。全文分為六節。第一節前言，由一般人教材觀念固著難改開始，說明撰寫本文的緣起與目的。第二至第四節，則自教材的意義與來源、分類與發展、組織與運用等主題闡明杜威的主張。作者於第五節的評析中，歸結杜威以經驗為本的廣義界說破除偏狹教材觀念、以教材漸進發展論消解活動與知識的對立、以整合組織與適切運用有效發揮教材功能等特點，並且以其主張可能太過超前、大眾偏見難改及學校結構固著等說明其不易落實的原因。第六節，除概述本文要點之外，並指陳若干未來研究的方向，以為本文總結。
As a response to the claim that the significance of subject matter should be made clear to the public suggested by the newly promulgated ＂A Proposal for the Curriculum Development for 12-year Compulsory Education,＂ this paper is aimed at critically analyzing John Dewey's general thoughts on subject matter, reviewing his works as well as related literature. It is divided into six sections. The first points out the difficulty of changing people's narrow views on subject matter. Dewey's notions of the meaning and origins, classification and development, and organization and employment of subject matter are discussed in the following three sections. In the fifth section, three main characteristics of his general thoughts on subject matter and three possible reasons that Dewey's reform proposals for subject matter have not been well implemented are pointed out. Lastly, in the sixth section, concluding remarks and recommendations for future research are offered.
