Hammering at the Clouds of Universal Nature: Education Paradox and the Possibilities of Sea Mind

• In Event: Roundtable Session 10
  In Roundtable Session: Confucianism and Taoism: Learning to Read and Learning to Be

Abstract

This presentation paper will use Taoist principles to illustrate pedagogical paradoxes. It begins an examination of the water metaphor to address the relationship between Tao and education or schooling. An early anchor for this discussion will be Chapter 8 of the Tao Te Ching, and how the expansive inclusion of water lies in stark contrast to most educational metrics. In short, some of the most powerful learning tools—patience, concentration, compassion, flexibility, and kindness—seem lost in an opaque sea of mindless metrics and oppressive accountability. Within teacher education, a field ostensibly created to support and aligned with best teaching practices, a constant defensiveness makes inclusion of wisdom practices seem both essential and endangered.

Author

• David Lee Keiser, Montclair State University