The Analects, Book III
What timeless and universal values exist in Confucianism that can inform teaching and learning in my life and classroom?
Book III of the Analects is believed by some scholars to be among the oldest stratum of all of the books of the Analects (p. 21). As I reread these analects of book III, the motif of good moral character and integrity continued to be emphasized. For example, it was important to know the correct process and methodology for performing ritual acts, but that knowledge only took you so far. What was just as important, was that ritual acts be carried out with proper reverence and sincerity. In book III, analect 12, it states, "Of the saying, 'the word "sacrifice" is like the word "present"; one should sacrifice to a spirit as though that spirit was present,' the Master said, If I am not present at the sacrifice, it is as though there were no sacrifice."
The "presence" mentioned here is the reverent and sincere presence of the soul of the one doing the sacrifice. The same applies to mourning rituals. It is essential that the individual in the process of mourning is in the right attitude and spirit.
The emphasis on character has renewed an inquiry of mine around the purpose of education in schools. Today, the purpose of schools is to have students meet certain standards that have been agreed upon by the state or country. Students must know how to make inferences from various texts, use equations to solve problems, write essays, understand science, etc. But what do these standards really yield?
What would Confucius say if he saw the standards used to guide and assess the practice in our schools?
He might say, "Yes! Of course these standards and skills you have outlined here are good and useful. I agree that young people can and should learn some of these skills in the process of their upbringing, but they are not the purpose of an education! The purpose of an education is to raise moral men and women of integrity with knowledge of their past to understand and face their present and future."
I am left thinking, "What are the causes and experiences that someone has to become a learned person?" Like any institution or company, how that company defines itself and its purpose for existence has a great effect upon what that institution or company produces, and our defined purpose for our schools does not seem to make much sense. How else could we define the purpose for the existence of schools instead of a list of decontextualized standards?
This makes me think of my time student-teaching in Sweden. In Sweden, I actually experienced a very pragmatic and objective culture, and the education system reflected these traits. Their schooling "made sense" in the sense that each stage of a person's education led to something pretty concrete. At around 16, students made decisions about what kind of school they would enter to progress towards an actual job to participate in society. I saw schools for hair stylists, construction workers, plumbers, and dancers. By 16, students were very much engaged in an education that would have a very concrete impact on their life, and they were engaged.
Right now, as a high school teacher, I am told to work with students to achieve standards that will make them prepared for college and career readiness. This is how the purpose of my job is defined. What does that mean, "college and career ready"? What kind of college? What kind of career? What would it mean to prepare them for such a broad and undefined future?
What it then seems like I am asked to do is to equip students with a set of discrete skills that they might use someday. Does that mission really make sense? Can't we be doing more with our students right now that could be useful and meaningful to them and to society?
I think what many good teachers come to realize is that the practice of teaching and learning has so much more to do than this transfer of skills and knowledge, as if that is even possible. Authentic teaching and learning deals with the student as a real human being, not a robot. It is our mission to raise and develop students of good moral character and integrity, who can actually do and produce things that make and change our world.
What would happen if we redefined the way we conceptualize the current paradigm of schools? It takes an ability to step back from the bickering around education policy and consider what really matters and what is actually happening in our schools and society.
