The current state of education focusing on standards and assessment, according to Wu (2004), reduces education to "technical problems and individual deficiencies, subject to surveillance and quality managerial procedures" (p. 308). This work uses Foucault's discourses of discipline and power to understand standardization as a political…

Purpose: Vietnam is experiencing rapid expansion in the provision of higher education that requires quality assurance appropriate for the Vietnamese-centralised Confucian cultural context. This paper aims to examine the concept of quality from the perspectives of academic leaders, quality assurance members and academics at three higher education…

This narrative inquiry exploring contemporary Chinese schooling involved three researchers who worked collaboratively as a team. Each researcher resonated with a different image of the principalship embedded in the storied account proffered by Xu Xiaozhang ??, leader of Hexie Elementary School in Tianjin, China. (1) Principal as the lead teacher;…

This article discusses the distinctive educational modes of thinking in Neo-Confucianism, with an interest of extracting Confucian reflective views for modern education of traditionally Confucian East Asia. Neo-Confucian typical modes of thinking on education are characterized as "heart-mind centered" and "learning as…

China began its modern system of higher education with the establishment of the former Peking University in Beijing in 1898. The traditional Confucian philosophy of education has been replaced dramatically by modern western philosophy. However, since the communist party came to power in 1949, the philosophy of higher education has experienced many…

This paper examines how the definition and interpretation of the concept gewu zhizhi ???? (investigating things and extending knowledge), evolved along with Chinese intellectual efforts to construct the framework for Chinese learning which, in turn, had a profound impact on the development of educational curricula in different historical periods.…

Eastern philosophies of education such as Confucianism and Taosim advocate the use of silence in the teacher-pupil tradition of pedagogy. We investigate contemporary classrooms in Korea, and study whether teachers in Korea today incorporate this method implicitly or explicitly in their classrooms. Empirical data in the form of video-taped…

In this article I explore the pedagogical value of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari's philosophical concepts for helping make an "event" of thought, with a view towards fostering deep learning in Chinese students' learning theory and criticism in a second language. Paying attention to the qualitative role of bodies, humour and…

In this paper I shall first examine an apparent paradox in Confucius' view on whether everyone is perfectible through education: on the one hand, he states that education should be provided to all, on the other hand, he says that common people cannot be made to know things. To understand this apparent paradox, I shall argue that education for…

International research has found that while Assessment for Learning (AfL) can positively impact on learning, its implementation in different national contexts presents a number of challenges. The integration of AfL in Confucian influenced settings may be challenged both by traditional beliefs related to the hierarchy of the expert teacher and the…

This paper is a cross-cultural comparative study in education philosophy. A comparative and philosophical approach is used to interpret texts from the Analects of Confucius and to find connections with ideas of critical educators. In comparing Confucius' educational thought with that of Paulo Freire, John Dewey and other theorists in critical…

At present, instrumental music education, defined in this paper as the teaching and learning of music through wind bands and symphony orchestras of Western origin, appears embattled. Among the many criticisms made against instrumental music education, critics claim that bands and orchestras exemplify an authoritarian model of teaching that does…

In this article I propose a conception of empowering educational dialogue within the framework of humanistic education. It is based on the notions of Humanistic Education and Empowerment, and draws on a large and diverse repertoire of dialogues--from the classical Socratic, Confucian and Talmudic dialogues, to the modern ones associated with the…

Some educators may see cooperative learning as a Western pedagogy that is difficult to use in Eastern countries with a Confucian Heritage, while others argue that the philosophy of Confucius parallels the elements of cooperative learning. This article reports the key findings of a 2-year longitudinal study that investigated the perceptions of…

While common philosophical foundations influence instruction and leadership in East Asian nations, variable historical factors also significantly impact education within these countries. The current study was designed to holistically examine educational systems in different Confucian contexts, so that contemporary issues and necessary reforms may…