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Eastern 1

Running Head: and Educational Reform

Incorporating Eastern Philosophy into the Traditional

Western Classroom to Effect Educational Reform

Marlene A. Hoff

Southeastern Louisiana University Eastern Philosophy 2

I had just graduated high school and entered my first year of college and was eagerly anticipating making new friends and broadening my horizons. Even though I stayed in a dorm only eighty miles from my hometown, it may as well have been across several lines because everything was so new and different. I lived with three other roommates, one of whom was from

Hong Kong. Never having met someone from such an exotic locale, I nevertheless had preconceived ideas about her and her homeland. When some visitors started asking about our

Asian roommate, I pointed to a book on her shelf which had something to do with honor in the title and attributed her different mannerisms to her deep-seated dedication of her country’s teachings. So unfamiliar was I to eastern thought, besides what I saw of the nomadic and mysterious, half American, half Chinese character of Grasshopper on weekly episodes of “Kung

Fu”, that I imagined she must study that book religiously to keep herself grounded. After all, she brought it all the way with her to the United States from . It wasn’t until later that I realized the book which I had mistakenly believed to help guide her moral compass, was more than a dime-store James Bond novel. What I’ve since learned about eastern philosophy has opened up new paths of enlightenment with respect to what it has to offer to western education. Though it’s been years since my first misconception about the and its people,

I’ve come to appreciate how much eastern philosophy has the potential to positively impact the lives of traditionally western educated students. Further, I propose that utilization of some eastern concepts is necessary for educational reform to succeed.

Eastern philosophy comprises great thinkers from the Far Eastern countries of India,

China, , , and the Middle Eastern countries of Egypt, Turkey, Iran, and Israel, as well as the arab countries of Minor. The gulf that separates eastern and western is Eastern Philosophy 3 more than geography. The west focuses on proven scientific methods, while eastern teachers focus more on the unsubstantiated mystical world. Westerners worry about external forces, such as career pressures, while easterners believe it’s more imperative to strive for inner peace.

Western thinkers rely more on their senses, while eastern thinkers rely more on their .

Though these eastern concepts seem so exotic to most westerners, many western beliefs, such as

Judaism and , stem from eastern teachings (Ozmon & Craver, 1990). These seemingly foreign concepts which eastern espouse, may hold the remedy for many of the problems facing western education today.

One obvious issue we need to tackle and eradicate from our school system is school violence. Dr. Elliot Aronson is a social psychologist who wrote the book, Nobody Left to Hate:

Teaching Compassion after Columbine (2000), and has studied the social atmosphere in classrooms across this country. In doing so, he he has identified the most probable indicators of violence erupting in schools, such as the multiple school shooting which occurred at

Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. Dr. Aronson states that if we look beyond the obvious pathological of the school shooters, we see that the perpetrators were,

“...reacting to a general atmosphere of exclusion. This is a school atmosphere that most of the student body finds unpleasant, distasteful, difficult, and even humiliating” (p.13). Once we understand how important the social environment of a school is to its student body, then changes can be instituted which affect the social atmosphere of the classroom, “...making the school a safer place...This might also succeed in producing the kind of social environment that will make the school a more pleasant, more stimulating, more compassionate, and more humane place for all of the students” (p. 14). This goal can be accomplished if teachers include as part of their Eastern Philosophy 4 lesson plans, the oft neglected human values of compassion, empathy, and respect. To engineer such changes, western schools should look to eastern philosophies for guidance. Each of them has something worthwhile and promising to impart.

One of the main principles of eastern philosophies such as , , and

Taoism, is that of “attitude shaping”. This characteristic is believed to be the deciding factor of how someone’s life turns out. If students can be taught the of compassion and empathy, for example, they will be more tolerant of those students labeled as outsiders and less likely to lash out due to mistrust, anger, or fear. Aronson makes the point that we can, “...teach students to appreciate these differences and to them as sources of joy and excitement, rather than as automatic triggers for aggression and rejection” (p. 72). The notion that compassion and empathy should be necessary components of western teachings is shared by an Australian educator, Hedley Beare, who writes about the connection among all living . Beare states that to have empathy is to step inside another’s skin and experience the, “...emotions and the that the other ” (p. 26). To feel compassion for another is, “...to feel with, to have the same ‘passion’ as someone else” (p. 26). Another educator, France H.

Conroy, insists that although students lack these essential qualities, teachers have the capability to reinstill such Confucian traits as “humaness” into the student body. He identifies the problem as: students are channeled toward concerns for their future careers and away from their humaness

(p. 5). Accoring to Conroy, they have,

...sadly wasted their minds during their high school years, too many even after

making the decision to go to college lack the attitudinal qualities appropriate for

someone whose human potential – intellectually, morally, aesthetically and Eastern Philosophy 5

spiritually – is so strikingly underdeveloped...too many of our students lack

humility, deference, respect...Too many are baldly and unquestioningly pragmatic,

careerist, consumerist, success-seeking, with narrow conceptions of self-interest.

(p. 6-7)

Although he recognizes the challenge students must face to regain their humaness, he believes it can be overcome by re-vitalizing the faculty in various ways. One suggestion Conroy proposes is to offer faculty development which utilizes traditional far eastern philosophical texts. His other suggestions for improving student humaness, include improving the classroom setting which, “... make it more conducive to ‘the human’”(p. 26), holding outdoor classes and planning field trips.

Nobuo Shimahara expounds on the Confucian in Japan and how trips and other excursions play an important role in character development. In a paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Comparative and International Education Society (1988), Ms.

Shimahara related the experience of a high school in Hiroshima, Japan. Every year, the school principal, teachers, and community volunteers organize a three-day camping trip for five hundred of its incoming student body. The annual has become an integral part of the school experience because, “...it provides an opportunity for students to learn the basic premises and rules underlying disciplined behavior and the attitudes needed for group life and work at the school” (p. 31). Such “collective activities”, or shudan seikatsu, are a vital component of the educational process in Japan, which seek to build the humaness of students.

As Conroy states, according to Confucious, “...we cannot become human all by ourselves” (p. 12), rather we must involve others and practice reciprocal obligation. Learning to be human does not come naturally, but must be learned. One must practice , a social Eastern Philosophy 6 obligation to parents, as well as learn to cooperate with other people.

Aronson concurs in his book, Nobody Left to Hate, that emphasis should be placed on an atmosphere of cooperation in the classroom, rather than one of competitiveness. When cooperative strategies of learning are utilized, students learn that they can count on one another.

Students can become friends instead of enemies and the classroom can become one with a positive social atmosphere. This enables respect to grow among the students instead of taunting or bullying. Aronson utilized such a cooperative strategy in an elementary classroom in previous years, and later received a letter from one of the students who was about to enter law school. The student wrote, “...I began to realize that I wasn’t really that stupid. And the kids I thought were cruel and hostile became my friends and the teacher acted friendly and nice to me and I actually began to love school” (p. 151).

Buddhists, too, believe in the need for cooperation so that a natural, hierarchical, and social order be preserved (Matzen, 1996, p. 3). Richard Matzen, Jr. presented a paper to the

Annual Pedagogy of the Oppressed Conference in 1996. In it, he noted how the Thai educational system was shaped by Buddhist monks who believed in equal opportunity for the people. The monks believed that every person should have a chance to create good for themselves with the ultimate goal of advancing to a higher . In order to achieve this goal, they instituted a mainstream system, as well as a non-formal system of learning (p. 4). These options are given to everyone because the Buddhist monks want people to improve their living conditions and their occupations. In fact, the educational system that the monks implemented allows each student, regardless of his or her chosen educational path, the chance to go to college.

A college education is possible because admission is -based and part of a Thai’s character Eastern Philosophy 7 foundation is to build merit because each wants good karma (p. 9). Like the Buddhist monks,

Confucius believed that people should have a good job and they needed to, “...pursue the human way (the root), and “career” (the branch) will follow. But the root neglected and the branch thriving? This has never been the case!” (Conroy, p. 10).

Besides building a relationship with people, eastern philosophies instruct their followers to build a relationship with nature. instructed his followers to study the natural world and to learn the names of plants and animals (Brown, 1978). Eastern philosophers view the western need for materials as an exploitation of the environment. According to the eastern viewpoint, we should be teaching students that, “...the environment does not belong to us, we are borrowing it from the future generations” (p.3). After examining textbook content in public schools as part of a six year study by the American Textbook Council (1998), Gilbert Sewall reported that textbooks should contain information about the natural world to impress upon students the importance of having a moral character. He suggested that students should be made to marvel about the world because it’s so vast, complex, and beautiful. Students should be curious about it, as well as learn to fear it when natural forces cause destruction. Students should be made to realize how dependent they are on it for sustenance such as food and even more basic, the ability to exist on earth at all.

Early in the development of eastern philosophies, Ozmon and Craver explain how people used speculation to try to solve the basic problems of human and to find out why people have to suffer (1990, p.82). Some of the earliest philosophies which tried to provide a remedy for such suffering was , an Indian system. Hinduism came into existence due to the ancient writings of the , the Upanisads, and the Epics. The earliest text, the Eastern Philosophy 8

Vedas, which dates to about 1,000 B.C., utilized poems and chants to explain the world because poetry can magnify, “...a man’s sense of aliveness and by uniting him experientially with the cosmic environment” (Collins, p. 20). The Vedas introduced or obligation of life, which will lead one to be virtuous and righteous. It also stressed the importance of meditation and to seek harmony between the material and spiritual world (Ozmon & Craver). The

Upanisads, or secret teaching, were an outgrowth of Vedic teachings around 700 B.C. (p. 4) and introduced Atman, the self, and , the supreme or . Atman was defined as a, “...profoundly spiritual ‘numinous’ sense of conscious selfhood” (Collins, p. 5). The ideal of the atman is important to because, “By knowing the self, one knows everything” (p. 40).

Another tenant of eastern philosophy is that of karma, the idea being that, “...actions always have results” (p. 35). A person can expect to be reincarnated to live a life of miseries unless one finds a to help guide him or her to know Brahman by practicing meditation and leading a life of purity (Ozmon & Craver). This concept would be useful to help teach students that they have to face consequences for their actions.

Zen Buddhism is neither a religion nor a philosophy, but rather a method to obtain enlightenment. Students work on disciplining the mind so that one can ultimately free the mind.

To practice , one does not have to give up his own religion or belief, but must choose an activity and a master to help guide the student onto the path of enlightenment. Students must have no ego, provide their own motivation, and trust the master, especially since there’s the possibility of being struck on the head or back with a bamboo stick, the purpose of which is to unlock the mind (Ozmon & Craver, p. 95). Zen is full of paradoxes, like the following: If one chooses to learn to paint the perfect painting, all one has to do is, “...make yourself perfect and Eastern Philosophy 9 then just paint naturally” (Majors, 1989, p. 6). Many traditionally western-taught teachers are successfully incorporating Zen into their lesson plans. Randall Majors uses it in his public speaking class to infuse motivation, respect, self-confidence, and -chih or resolve. In fact,

Conroy suggests that students with low resolve to learn should be removed from the classroom.

They should be there because they want to learn, not because they have to be there. Even

Confucius had no patience with students who had no rigor to learn and he would refuse to teach them (p. 11). What Conroy suggests might apply in an ideal classroom, one of his making, but in reality, little may be done to curb such disinterest from a student who is forced to take a class due to curriculum guidelines. Notwithstanding such negative student attitudes, teachers and their students can still benefit from Zen techniques. Majors explains that the goal of art in Zen is to use the behavior to find ones wholeness. Using archery as an example, Majors illustrates the point by saying that one does not try to hit the target, but rather to become “one with the target”.

He states that, “The activity becomes incidental to the deeper process of self-discovery” (9), which of course, is the way that a student can unlock his or her potential to communicate effectively. Some of the Zen techniques which Majors employs are meditation, having a calm atmosphere, giving personal attention to students, enforcing discipline, internalizing standards of performance, demonstrating excellence, and teaching with ritual, humor, and story.

Meditation is an important aspect of many eastern philosophies. It’s used to train students to concentrate and to focus on the “here and now” of existence. It allows one to shut out distractions so that one can reach peace with one’s own nature (Majors, p. 4). Majors suggests five minutes of relaxation exercises, led by the instructor, and gradually increasing to ten minutes as students get more comfortable with the process. He also urges them to use these meditation Eastern Philosophy 10 techniques in their daily life, such as job interviews and public performances. Phillip Lewitt, in his article, “Zen and the Art of Composition” (1986), informs the reader that even if a student is meditating in a classroom full of other students, they must concentrate on being alone with themselves. JoAnn Campbell wrote about the Zen technique of meditation in her paper, “Writing to Heal” (1992). She explains that when students procrastinate or experience writer’s block, they are really experiencing writing apprehension which can be overcome by the use of meditation.

When students can train their minds to slow down, they learn to control their inner speech and channel it while in a state of heightened consciousness enabling thoughts to be born. Campbell cites Gordon Rohman who implores teachers to include meditation in their pre-writing strategies because it serves, “...to unlock discovery” (p. 3). Writer’s block can be a psychological defensive measure whereby they are kept from having to examine a memory or a feeling. As Campbell explains, “Meditation offers a space, at once both private and public, where fears or can be named, traced, embraced, and eventually released” (p. 5).

Another Zen technique which Majors suggested, was to create a calm atmosphere. He accomplishes this by slowing down the pace of the classroom so that students don’t feel they need to rush to finish. He also lectures very little and plans for longer periods of activities and skill exercises for his students. His personal philosophy, “...is to do less and accomplish more”

(p. 10). Lewitt proposes the same Zen technique in his article, where he mentions, “...the skill of knowing what not to say and when not to say it” is invaluable in this type of classroom (p. 5).

Lewitt quotes Donald Murray who wrote, “Each year I teach less and less and my students seem to learn more” (p. 5-6).

Unfortunately, industrialization and modernization has produced a society in decline. Eastern Philosophy 11

Ahmed (1992) states in his paper that education is necessary to resolve the tension brought about by man’s relationships with man, nature, and self. According to Ahmed, education should serve as a bastion against the erosion of culture. Majors states that, “To separate the elements of life leads to fragmentation and disharmony (or dis-“ease”)” (p. 4). To counteract this unfortunate aspect of , teachers should try to educate students in the way of Zen, granting students the chance of whole again. According to Beare, educators need to strive to improve the wholeness, connectedness, and balance which is lacking in students and quit sponsoring “disease” (p. 19). “What we have developed is a fragmented, fractured view of the cosmos and of our part in maintaining its health...Not only have we manufactured our own discontentedness, but schools faithfully reproduce that world-view, both in what they teach and also in the very way the learning process is conceived of and organized.” (Beare, p.18-19). The social psychologist, Dr. Elliot Aronson, suggests that we must restructure the students’ scholastic experience by changing the social atmosphere in the classroom. He believes that, “...how a topic is learned is more important than the content of what’s learned” (p. 131). Brown believes the answer to this dilemma lies with the Confucian , Tung Chung Shu, who believed that the ancient Chinese dynasty of Ch’in collapsed because its ruler had “...ruthlessly transgressed against all the Confucian virtues of tradition and culture” (p. 12). By reinstating Confucianism,

Tung was influential in allowing the fledgling Han Dynasty to survive for five or six hundred years. This was due to a harmonious state which existed among all three components of Han society: the common people, their ruler and his ministry.

Harmony is another important aspect of eastern philosophy. The Judeo-Christians developed the concepts of shalom and hamartia which balanced the universe. Beare defines Eastern Philosophy 12 shalom as, “...the peace, balance, fulfillment, order, [and] well-being which pervades the universe” and anything that violates shalom is called hamartia (p. 25). He also recounts what the

Buddhists refer to as , the far eastern concept of harmony. They represent the,

“...wholeness resulting from the balance of opposites, the oneness that can only be produced by means of the many” (p. 1).

It seems the western education system is more concerned with producing students who are more interested in money and status, than creating harmony or making connections with their self, others, or nature. Conroy states that, “The universal classical response to such a conception of ends is that it leads to cultural collapse, a kind of human suicide” (p. 10). Educators need to incorporate eastern philosophical concepts in their lesson plans to counteract such a bleak social situation which we have so carelessly created. Students need to be reminded of their humaness.

Some of these eastern methods of instruction have been shown to be quite effective tools, such as using Zen techniques during writing exercises to overcome writer’s block. Another eastern method is to teach character and moral development to increase one’s humaness. The end result of these changes, besides tolerance, is to regain our humaness and achieve enlightenment. Eastern Philosophy 13

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