Number 1
Number 1
Confucianism
Born in 551 B.C., Confucius founded the Confucian school of thinking, or Confucianism.
cultural traditions. There are three main themes to his teachings: humanism, harmony,
which involves practicing the five virtues: benevolence (ren), righteousness (yi), wisdom
(zhi), loyalty (zhong) and altruism (shu). Harmony is described as avoiding conflict,
avoiding extremism, being willing to compromise and aiming for the middle way. Hierarchy
similarly echoes this quest for harmony: individuals should know their place and behave
accordingly. He considered man’s nature to be inherently good, and believed that every
person has feelings of pity, shame, and moral goodness. Humanity, justice, and wisdom
are within a person’s nature. However, he or she can be made to do evil because of
external influence. Thus, Confucius established education and self-cultivation as the way
spotlight not just on the students’ cognitive progress but also on their affective and
behavioral developments, enriching the learner’s intellect and content mastery, and
stressing the need for students to “revere their studies,” “esteem their fellow students,”
“cherish their teachers,” “be firmly set and not likely to regress” in their learning, and
engage in “discourses on their studies” with their teacher and peers. The application of
these themes would produce a curriculum that is holistic, broad-based, and integrated.
Confucianism promotes education as not essentialized, static, and fossilized but instead,
as diverse, fluid, and evolving, offering an educational paradigm that is rounded, ethical,