The multitude of philosophies that currently exists in workforce education in China makes it difficult to decide on a singular theoretical foundation. Therefore, it seems most prudent to begin with those theories that align with Confucian values as well as include humanistic, pragmatist, behaviorist, and other elements. Such a theoretical base,…

In this article, the author explores an East-West epistemological convergence of humanism illuminated in three main themes in the works of Confucius (551-479 BC), Makiguchi Tsunesaburo (1871-1944), and John Dewey (1859-1952): "human-nature interconnection," "associated self-cultivation," and "value creation." She contends that these thinkers'…

Numerous research has shown that quality of interactions between early childhood teachers and children contribute significantly to children's holistic development. Most literature on this topic comes from developed/Western countries and little is known about the kind of interactions occurring within the Soka kindergarten model. This article, based…

Grades 5/6 students in Melbourne reported the valuing of "achievement," "open-endedness," "relevance," "humanism," "ICT," and "openness" most in mathematics learning. Although prior research suggested that students in East Asia valued "achievement" most as well, there was an…

Humanistic studies cultivate types of conceptual fluency and modes of awareness important to thought concerning values. Not all knowledge is scientific knowledge. There is genuine comprehension of some valuative matters--they are not all to be interpreted in expressive or subjective terms. Education in the humanities can encourage value-relevant…

Recent re-reading of Erich Fromm's (1968) "The Revolution of Hope," has proven to be compatible with an aesthetic model (A-ness/D-ness) that I have been researching on and developing in the past 30 years. Fromm's call for a radical humanistic agenda, if not revolution, was appealing to my own call for a radical aesthetic and art education agenda…

The present study is an attempt to survey the foundation of liberalism axiology and its implications for education. To this end, educational viewpoints of liberal scholars including Locke, Smith, Hume, Kant, and Russell are examined along with an introduction to liberalism axiology. Additionally, the implications of liberalism for education from…

This conversation is the first systemic attempt to capture Peter McLaren's ideas about the relationships between critical revolutionary pedagogy and virtuality. It introduces the main problems with educational postmodernism, explains Peter's return towards the Marxist-humanist trajectory, and addresses contemporary challenges to…

"Faculty Virtues and Character Strengths: Reflective Exercises for Sustained Renewal" is a transdisciplinary faculty handbook to enhance the quality of learning and teaching. The author applies six multicultural virtues and 24 character strengths from Positive Psychology research to the tasks of course design, managing critical incidents, and…

What opportunities and challenges are presented to religious education across the globe by the basic human right of freedom of religion and belief? To what extent does religious education facilitate or inhibit "freedom of religion" in schools? What contribution can religious education make to freedom in the modern world? This volume…

This paper presents some key findings of a quantitative study which assessed a group of Chinese educational leaders' value orientations. A survey instrument "The Institutional Values Inventory" was used to investigate their perspectives on the values espoused by their institutions in terms of traditional Confucian ethics and values of…

This essay attempts to retrieve the notion of "common sense" within the writings of Descartes and Montaigne. I suggest that both writers represent distinct traditions in which the notion is employed. Descartes represents a modernist tradition in which common sense is understood to be a cognitive faculty, while Montaigne represents a humanist…

In this paper, we employ quantitative and qualitative content analysis to investigate the nature of humanistic value content in the Chinese language arts curriculum and whether or not this varies across old and new versions of the textbooks. Our findings illustrate the various dimensions of humanistic value content in the Chinese language arts…

Educators and policy makers confront challenging questions of ethics, justice, and equity on a regular basis. Should teachers retain a struggling student if it means she will most certainly drop out? Should an assignment plan favor middle-class families if it means strengthening the school system for all? These everyday dilemmas are both utterly…

As conceived by founders Matthew Lipman and Ann Margaret Sharp, Philosophy for Children is a humanistic practice with roots in the Hellenistic tradition of philosophy as a way of life given to the search for meaning, in American pragmatism with its emphasis on qualitative experience, collaborative inquiry and democratic society, and in American…