Lessons from T’oegye Lee Hwang: Practical Wisdom and Implications to Educators

• In Event: Eastern wisdom traditions and implications for education

Proposal

In contemporary schooling, except some religious schools, curricula has been built for developing cognitive abilities but does not sufficiently value the reflective dimensions (self-reflection, self-transformation, spiritual cultivation), and affective dimensions (empathy, compassion, happiness) of human achievement. This is particularly important as schooling increasingly focuses on superficial outcomes and learning such as test results, rankings, diplomas, and productivity rather than individuals’ happiness, self-cultivation, values, and virtuous living. Confucianism has been criticized as a deeply embedded and long sustained cultural force driving high performances and competitiveness in Eastern Asian. Some people mistakenly misunderstand that Confucianism encourages superficial social ladder movement, money, and economic growth that then become the measures of happiness. Formal educational attainment is then positioned as the primarily mechanism to reach economic growth leading to success. In this presentation I would like to discuss T’oegye Lee Hwang’s (1501-1571) conceptions of Kyong, or reverence seriousness, and Simhak ,learning of the mind, and how we can apply this work to contemporary education, especially teacher education. I also want to discuss where we need to be careful when adopting this philosophy within contemporary schooling.
T’oegye Lee Hwang was a Korean Neo-Confucius scholar, philosopher, teacher, and politician during the Joseon Dynasty. He published many philosophical book, essays, and theories. One of his essays,‘Jaseongnok, (Self-reflection Journal)’ showed his endeavor to seek his deep belief in a ‘harmonious oneness of human being, natural, and spiritual realities” through self-cultivation and spiritual transcendence. This philosophy came through with Kyong and Simhak . His philosophy emphasizes the importance of perseverance in learning and cultivating oneself, respecting others, and constant reflection to achieve wisdom that benefits people for a harmonized society.
Some people might mistakenly believe that the heated educational aspiration in East Asian society might be caused by Confucian traditions that emphasize diligence in pursuing reverence and self-cultivation. Confucianism indeed encourages reverence for elders, parents, and kings, which is a virtue. However, people can confuse reverence with conformity and submission, and parental educational aspiration, social competitiveness, and pressure for high performance can be harmful for students’ self-development (Kim & Bang, 2017). When education systems become too competitive, there are more students who suffer from inferiority and learned helplessness. Too great a focus on cold cognition in education could possibly contribute to conditions leading to less humanistic behaviors such as bullying, rejection, school violence and aggression because education so construed encourages competition, elitism, and superiority rather than harmony, loving themselves and others, and respecting and benefiting others. At this point we must re-ask ourselves the fundamental goals of education.
Thus, I would like to present on 1. Educating on the true meaning of reverence, self-cultivation and transformation, 2. Arguing the advantages of adding Eastern wisdom traditions including philosophical theories in foundational courses such as Philosophy of Education, Educational Psychology, and History of Education, 3. Emphasizing self-cultivation and helping students to seek their happiness through spiritual cultivation and reflection, and 4. Arguing for the importance of professional development programs that include self-cultivation using various activities such as mindfulness practice, learning of the mind exercises, empathy and prosocial behavior exercise, reflective talking, and sharing for teachers. Then, I would like to open to discussion a conversation on the possibilities of ‘spiritual cultivation’ curriculum, as well as dangers, fears, and cautions of adopting it in formal education.

Author

• Hyeyoung Bang, Bowling Green State University