Interpretation, autonomy, and transformation: Chinese pedagogic discourse in a cross-cultural perspective

TLDR: This article explored the cultural differences of linguistic world-views on knowledge and education between the East and the West, and then examined the impact of the cultural transformation of pedagogic discourse on education in modern China.

Abstract: With the modernization of Chinese society, beginning in the early-20th century, the Chinese language has experienced a fundamental change that has transformed Chinese pedagogic practices. Modern Chinese discourses, whether of social or scientific practices or on China’s intellectual heritage, are largely articulated in westernized discourses that have been normalized as China’s own. This study explores the cultural differences of linguistic world-views on knowledge and education between the East and the West, and then examines the impact of the cultural transformation of pedagogic discourse on education in modern China. Two ‘classroom’ texts, a dialogue between Confucius and his student and an excerpt from a contemporary Chinese lesson, are analysed in the philosophical perspective of language. This study asks what kind of pedagogy is embraced by a language traditionally without abstract designations such as ‘liberty’, ‘madness’, ‘politics’, ‘freedom’, and ‘feudalism’, ideas essential to the western tradi...