Thinking Pedagogies in China: Experiments, Constraints, and New Directions Prompted by Chinese Philosophy

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

China's Ministry of Education recently encouraged programs to enhance student critical thinking. These have been Several roadblocks, however, have impeded the implementation of Western critical thinking approaches. Chinese educators have adopted Western definitions and methods of critical thinking education without questioning their transferability to the Chinese educational situation; these pedagogies conflict with entrenched expectations of Chinese teachers and students; Chinese teachers question their ability as critical thinkers and promoters of student thinking; Chinese and Western attitudes about thinking out loud conflict. Chinese students show deference to teachers and are reluctant openly to share their own opinions. The panel addresses these constraints by suggesting ways to augment Western thinking pedagogies with resources drawn from Chinese philosophy.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism and Education

Chair

• Leonard J. Waks, Temple University

Papers

• Doing Philosophy in Elementary School Context with Chinese Philosophical Classics: Taking Mencius as an Example - Zhenyu Gao, Hangzhou Normal University

• A Humanistic Pedagogy of Reading in Confucian Tradition: for the Recovery of Spiritual Connection to the Self - Duck-Joo Kwak, Seoul National University

• Confucian Deep Reading as Educational Practice in the Age of Artificial Intelligence - Eli Orner Kramer, University of Wrocław

• Mapping Currere During a Zen Journey - Jie Yu, Rollins College

• Experience, Thinking, and Performance: Pedagogies of John Dewey, Jerome Bruner and Confucius - Hua Zhang, Qufu Normal University

Discussant

• Dengting Boyanton, Sino-American Educational Research Association