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  • © 2015

Education as Cultivation in Chinese Culture

  • Defines and provides an academic vocabulary to discuss an accepted but overlooked view area of teacher training
  • Provides an overarching look at the historical roots of Chinese education and current practice in reflection
  • Offers an alternative to standard introduction to education course books and standard Western educational psychology textbooks
  • Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

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Table of contents (13 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-viii
  2. Introduction

    • Shihkuan Hsu
    Pages 1-17
  3. Human Nature and Learning in Ancient China

    • Hung-Chung Yen
    Pages 19-43
  4. The Chinese Way of Goodness

    • Chin-Hsieh Lu
    Pages 45-61
  5. Teaching at an Early Age

    • Chiou-Shiue Ko
    Pages 63-86
  6. Primary Schooling in Taiwan

    • Li-Juing Wu
    Pages 105-125
  7. The Conflict Between Social Mobility and Individual Development

    • Hsueh-Cheng Yen, Yuh-Yin Wu
    Pages 201-221
  8. Finding a New Identify for Teachers

    • Shihkuan Hsu, Tsun-Mu Hwang
    Pages 241-257
  9. Conclusion

    • Shihkuan Hsu
    Pages 259-273
  10. Back Matter

    Pages 275-288

About this book

Given the increasing global interest in Chinese culture, this book uses case studies to describe and interpret Chinese cultivation in contemporary Taiwanese schools. Cultivation is a concept unique to Chinese culture and is characterized by different attitudes towards teaching and learning compared to Western models of education. The book starts with a discussion of human nature in Chinese schools of philosophy and levels of goodness. Following the philosophical background is a presentation of how cultivation is practiced in Chinese culture from prenatal through high school education. The case studies focus both on how students are cultivated as they become members of Chinese society, and on what role teachers play in cultivating the children in school. In addition, supports from Chinese educational institutions, including public schools, families, and organizations such as private cram schools, are introduced and explained. In closing, the book presents a critique of the modern school reform movement and the conflicts between the reform proposals and traditional practices. Based on the collective work of Taiwanese researchers in the fields of education, history and anthropology, the book identifies the purpose of education as cultivating virtue in a process of creating an ideal person who serves society, and describes the way teachers have carried on this tradition despite its faltering status in contemporary educational discourse and in the face of reform movements.

Editors and Affiliations

  • Center for Teacher Education, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

    Shihkuan Hsu

  • Department of Psychology and Counseling, National Taipei University of Education, Taipei, Taiwan

    Yuh-Yin Wu

About the editors

Shihkuan Hsu is a professor at the Center for Teacher Education, National Taiwan University.

Yuh-Yin Wu is a professor in the Department of Psychology and Counselling, National Taipei University of Education, and currently serves as the Dean of College of Education.

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access