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The learning school through a Daoist lens
Citation
Tan, C. (2020). The learning school through a Daoist lens. Oxford Review of Education, 46(3), 393-407. https://doi.org/10.1080/03054985.2020.1714571
Author
Tan, Charlene
Abstract
The article provides an explicit philosophical basis of a ‘learning school’ by delineating a Daoist interpretation. A learning school is characterised by a student-centred vision, supportive leadership as well as a culture of collaboration and critical inquiry. With reference to the Daodejing, this paper expounds on the saliency of the concepts of dao (way-making), wuwei (non-coercive acting) and wuzhi (non-dogmatic knowing) to thelearning school. It is argued that a Daoist learning school is one where all the staff, individually and together, engage in continuous learning in a spirit of deference and authenticity. It is further maintained that a Daoist perspective which emphasises harmony, accommodation and self-reflexivity avoids a key critique of a learning school as imposing desired outcomes on its members and pressuring them for conformity. Grounding the notion of a learning school in an ancient Chinese paradigm, this article contributes to the diverse understandings, possibilities and debates surrounding such a school model.
Date Issued
2020
Description
This is the final draft, after peer-review, of a manuscript published in Oxford Review of Education. The published version is available online at https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0305