Confucius as a Critical Educator: Towards Educational Thoughts of Confucius (original) (raw)
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Transformative Critique: What Confucianism Can Contribute to Contemporary Education
Critical thinking is currently much celebrated in the contemporary West and beyond, not least in higher education. Tertiary education students are generally expected to adopt a critical attitude in order to become responsible and constructive participants in the development of modern democratic society. Currently, the perceived desirability of critical thinking has even made it into a seemingly successful marketable commodity. A brief online search yields a vast number of books that are mostly presented as self-help manuals to enable readers to enhance their critical abilities. But how should critical thinking be taught? Is it at all possible? Instead of attempting to provide a direct answer to this pressing question, this paper seeks inspiration in a culturally rather remote philosophy of education that hitherto has not been regarded as a stimulant for critical thinking, namely the ancient philosophy of Confucianism. The paper argues that not only are most if not all types of thinking regarded in the West as ‘critical’ also present in Confucianism, but also that the Confucian philosophy presides over a particular type which increasingly tends to be neglected in the contemporary West; a type that I call ‘transformative self-critical attitude’. Through a comparison with the well-known Teaching Perspectives Inventory in higher education, the transformative self-critical attitude is used to elucidate some further aspects of the Confucian philosophy of education that may offer valuable insights to contemporary educators.
Editor's Foreword: Confucianism and Education
Since Immanuel Kant's seminal essay " What is Enlightenment? " , independent, autonomous and critical thinking has stood at the forefront of any " progressive " (and even any reasonable) theory of education. In today's neo-liberal and globalized world, the common trend of making everything a marketable commodity has also affected this, notwithstanding the fact that the ability to establish one's critical and independent judgement remains the very basis of becoming an autonomous individual, and represents a central pillar of democracy. As such, critical thinking has become a product that can be bought, sold or even stolen––just like its traditional breeding ground, namely institutionalized education. It may thus be time to mourn the loss of the critical mind, and so mark the sad end of a certain kind of education, one which gave a key place to the humanities. However, instead of grieving for such losses and memorializing the end of the European subject, who has obviously lost his free will in the whirlwind of the all-embracing market economy, and sadly died in front of the barbed-wire fences defending his homeland from thousands of unarmed, weakened, starving and freezing refugees, we are searching for alternatives. As such, we present in this issue another kind of education. Admittedly, the values Confucian education aimed to foster did not include much absolute independence, but it still laid emphasis on autonomous critical thinking and genuine humaneness. While many believe that Confucianism is incompatible with the critical mind and personal autonomy, this issue aims to show that this widespread prejudice is rooted in a lack of knowledge. The most common image of Confucianism is that it was advocating a strict, rigid and hierarchically structured society based on the absolute obedience of those at the subordinate levels of the system, and, analogously, on absolute power of their superiors. However, we would like to present another picture of Confucian education, one that is more academically justified and closer to the truth. It is important to recall that this model was originally, and especially in the classical Confucian teachings, rooted in the principles of complementarity and reciprocal responsibility.
Educational Philosophy and Educational Practice in Confucianism
2024
Confucian educational thought is a complete educational theoretical system based on Confucius' ethical thought, which is increasingly enriched and perfected in the later Confucian thinkers' continuous inheritance and development. Confucian educational thought is different from Western educational theory. It takes moral education as the core, and ethics as the feature, with strong Chinese humanistic color. In modern education, the excellent educational thought of Confucianism is still talked about by people. From the perspective of philosophical analysis, this paper makes an in-depth study of the main purpose, content and method of Confucian educational thought, probes into the philosophical idea behind Confucian educational thought and summarizes its important enlightenment to contemporary education.
Issues related to the aim of education, curriculum, teaching and learning are perennial concerns in Confucianism. Within the Confucian canon, two texts, Analects (Lunyu) and Xueji (Record of Learning) are particularly instructive in illuminating the principles and practices of education for early Confucianism. Accordingly, the aim of education is to inculcate ren (humanity) through li (normative behaviours) so that learners could realise and broaden dao (Way). To achieve this aim, the curriculum should be holistic, broad-based and integrated where students constantly practise what they have learnt through self-cultivation and social interaction. Supporting the curriculum is learner-focused education where the teacher is sensitive to the individual needs of students. The 'enlightening approach' is recommended where the teacher encourages and guides students using the questioning technique and peer learning. The impact of Confucian education is evident in the creation and flourishing of 'Confucian pedagogic cultures' in East Asia. However, a key question confronting a Confucian conception of education is whether such a paradigm is able to nurture critical and creative thinkers who are empowered to critique prevailing worldviews and effect social changes. A textual analysis of the Xueji and Analects reveals that critical and creative thinking are valued and indispensable in Confucian education. Confucius himself chastises the rulers of his time, modifies certain social practices, and ingeniously redefines terms that were in wide circulation such as li and junzi by adding novel elements to them. Confucian education should be viewed as an open tradition that learns from all sources and evolves with changing times. Such a tradition fulfills the educational vision to appropriate and extend dao, thereby continuing the educational project started by Confucius.
OAlib, 2021
Confucius (551-479 BC) was the first great Chinese educator in the history of China. Confucius's educational policy, teaching contents, teaching principles, and teaching methods played a significant role in enlightening contemporary teaching development today. His "teaching without social discrimination" policy laid the foundation for contemporary education fairness, while his teaching content of "writing and acting faithfully" emphasized Chinese contemporary moral education. Confucius's heuristic teaching principle of "teaching students according to their aptitude" also reflects the contemporary personalization of education, meaning people have the right and freedom to pursue education in their area of interest with the trained teacher to help them accomplish their desired goals. These "heuristic educational theories" served modern educators in the better development and formulation of educational theories. Based on reading Confucian classics and referring to many domestic and foreign literature, this paper studies and expounds on the teaching value and significant enlightenment of Confucius's educational thought to the development of contemporary education to combine theory with practice. In light of these, the paper mainly adopted a literature review and summary method. Furthermore, it gave a precise analysis of the connection between Confucius's educational thought and contemporary educational reform and its significant influence on constructing and developing contemporary education policies and teachings.
China's 2017 'classroom revolution' call intends to transform current teacher-centered pedagogies with brand-new philosophies and technologies. As a new entry point for classroom research, I problematize a naturalized (mis)belief-teacher-centered (Confucian) didactic pedagogies are not conducive to critical thinking cultivation-that has enthralled Chinese teachers in an epistemological-moral-pedagogical dilemma. My problematization, philosophically informed and practice-research grounded, unfolds in four steps. First, I explicate the presumed clash between the claimed Confucian pedagogies and critical thinking. Second, I historicize the Confucian pedagogical philosophy to implode the naturalized (mis)belief and some stereotypical (mis)understandings of Confucian teaching and learning, demonstrating instead an epistemological compatibility therebetween. Third, I unpack how my phenomenological case study discerns an unrecognized yet educative 'repair moment' in a Chinese math classroom, generating a possible re-conjoining between teachers' self-despised yet habitually implemented 'Confucian do-after-me pedagogy' and critical mathematical reasoning. Through observations and interviews, I illustrate how this 'repair moment' can become pedagogically significant, overturning teachers' naturalized (mis)belief, redeeming them from the moral-practical dilemma, and cultivating their critical pedagogical consciousness. Finally, I argue that this paper not only provides a philosophical-plus-empirical paradigm for teaching invention in China and beyond but also sheds new light on crosscultural learning in transnational curriculum studies.
Comment on “Educational philosophy and educational practice in Confucianism”
2024
The question of human nature has perennially stood as the central focus of pre-Qin Confucianism, as well as the origin and the nexus for the educational philosophy inherent in this philosophical tradition. In delving into the philosophical core of Confucian educational thought, Xu and Chen (2024) underscore the intricate discourse surrounding the humanity's nature.
CONFUCIANISM AND EDUCATION (Special issue of Asian Studies, Vol. 5, No. 2)
Asian studies, 5(2), 2017
Since Immanuel Kant’s seminal essay “What is Enlightenment?”, independent, autonomous and critical thinking has stood at the forefront of any “progressive” (and even any reasonable) theory of education. In today’s neo-liberal and globalized world, the common trend of making everything a marketable commodity has also affected this, notwithstanding the fact that the ability to establish one’s critical and independent judgement remains the very basis of becoming an autonomous individual, and represents a central pillar of democracy. As such, critical thinking has become a product that can be bought, sold or even stolen––just like its traditional breeding ground, namely institutionalized education. It may thus be time to mourn the loss of the critical mind, and so mark the sad end of a certain kind of education, one which gave a key place to the humanities. However, instead of grieving for such losses and memorializing the end of the European subject, who has obviously lost his free will in the whirlwind of the all-embracing market economy, and sadly died in front of the barbed-wire fences defending his homeland from thousands of unarmed, weakened, starving and freezing refugees, we are searching for alternatives. As such, we present in this issue another kind of education. Admittedly, the values Confucian education aimed to foster did not include much absolute independence, but it still laid emphasis on autonomous critical thinking and genuine humaneness. While many believe that Confucianism is incompatible with the critical mind and personal autonomy, this issue aims to show that this wide-spread prejudice is rooted in a lack of knowledge. The most common image of Confucianism is that it was advocating a strict, rigid and hierarchically structured society based on the absolute obedience of those at the subordinate levels of the system, and, analogously, on absolute power of their superiors. However, we would like to present another Picture of Confucian education, one that is more academically justified and closer to the truth. It is important to recall that this model was originally, and especially in the classical Confucian teachings, rooted in the principles of complementarity and reciprocal responsibility. Moreover, while the autocratic model of hierarchy, by which the ruler’s authority was absolute and their responsibility towards their subordinates reduced to a mere formalism or symbolism, has undeniably held sway in Chinese history, we must also bear in mind that Confucianism in its role as the state doctrine represented the interests of the ruling class, and as such was defined by legalistic elements that are not found in original Confucianism. We must not forget that hierarchic structures are also present in Western democratic systems, and most importantly, authority based on experience, knowledge and abilities is not necessarily a negative ideal, or a threat to individual autonomy. The Confucian classics stress the important role of ideational and axiological elements, like rituality, relational ethics, the virtues of humaneness and justice, and the crucial role of education as a basic means of cultivating and thus improving (inborn) humaneness in order to achieve progress and social development. While they also lay stress on the so-called “Six Arts”—ritual, music, archery, chariot-riding, calligraphy, and computation—it is clear that the Confucian classics see morality as the most important subject. Confucian didactic methods are rather remarkable. Like Confucius, a Confucian teacher never lectures at length on a subject. Instead, he or she poses questions, quotes passages from the classical works, or applies fitting analogies, and then waits for the students to find the right answers “independently”––by themselves. According to the Analects, Confucius pointed out that thinking without learning is blind, and learning without thinking dangerous. Besides, he also asserted that attacking the views of others is harmful. This tolerance is based on a notion of moral autonomy, which is typical for the Confucian ideal personality, and implicit in most of the Confucian discourses. As such, promoting education is one of the most important Confucian values, and it is better to educate one’s children than to give them wealth. However, education is not only the wealth of a person, but also that of the cultures and societies he or she lives within. It is the most valuable inheritance we can give future generations. Moreover, in today’s globalized world, in which different traditions can interact and learn from each other, this kind of inheritance can be exchanged, combined, synthesized and thus enriched. Therefore, this special issue wishes to present different approaches to achieving and preserving this, in the West, at least, hidden treasure. It also aims to raise awareness regarding a particular, culturally and historically conditioned model of institutions, didactic structures and axiological priorities, which differs profoundly from traditional Euro-American educational models.
Quality and Change in Teacher Education, 2016
Setting a Historical Context I welcome the opportunity to contribute a chapter to this significant book on Quality and Change in Teacher Education: Western and Chinese Perspectives. It is now more than two decades since the end of the Cold War in 1991, and this has been a period in which there have been ongoing debates over Huntington's provocative thesis about a "clash of civilizations" replacing the ideological clashes of the Cold War period. (Huntington, 1993) While the Cold War had been dominated by tension between two world views that had both emanated from Enlightenment Europe-capitalist modernization and socialist construction-the Western world finally became aware that there might be a great deal to learn from other civilizations. (Hayhoe & Pan, 2001) The United Nations designated the year 2001 as a "year of dialogue among civilizations" and appointed a committee of eminent scholars to stimulate and lead this dialogue, including the Confucian philosopher Tu Weiming, then based in Harvard University's Divinity School, now located at Peking University. It was a sad irony that the year of dialogue also witnessed the 9/11 terrorist attack on New York and its ongoing consequences. If nothing else, however, that event underlined the importance of understanding civilizations with roots very different from those of the West, whose values and ideas have had world historical importance at different periods of time and are certain to persist. It brought an end to the assumptions of convergence and universalism that marked both the narratives of modernization and socialist construction and viewed "advanced" industrialized nations as setting standards of quality that all others should strive to reach. This book focuses on Western and Chinese perspectives with regards to quality and change in teacher education, and I would like to develop a line of reflection that looks at how quality in teacher education might be understood from a Confucian perspective, and the implications for pedagogy that arise from longstanding Chinese understandings of the relationship between the teacher and the learner and the kinds of knowledge that are most
International Journal of Multidisciplinary, 2023
This study investigates Confucius' views on education and their relevance in the 4.0 era. Confucius is known as "the great model teacher for centuries" for his dedication to education and his thoughts regarding its role, purpose, substance, and teaching techniques. Confucius founded Confucianism. Confucius felt education should be a right for everyone, not just the affluent. "No class difference in school" quickly transforms people's educational views. It makes formal schooling possible for most individuals. The idea of Confucius is innovative because people from all backgrounds desire justice and equality in education. However, a synthesis of Confucius' education concepts based on past research adds to the literature on educational philosophy. Confucius's thoughts help people worldwide understand the incredible education ideas that have ever developed in moral education. The results of this research can be guided and affect modern educational authorities and policymakers.