The Confucian virtue of harmony in education
A conversation between Duck-Joo Kwak and Daniel A. Bell
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22410516 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Duck‐Joo Kwak (0000-0002-8406-9018, Seoul National University, corresponding author), Daniel A Bell (0000-0002-5521-3383, University of Hong Kong) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Pages | 1-18 |
| Publication date | 2026-04-24 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Educational Philosophy and Theory (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0013-1857 • E-ISSN: 1469-5812 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/00131857.2026.2661289 |
| OpenAlex | W7155517063 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 6 |
This interview examines the conceptual and political potential of the Confucian virtue of harmony (和) as a cultural resource for addressing contemporary challenges of conflict and difference in public discourse. It adopts a cross-cultural, comparative perspective through a dialogue between two scholars: one raised in the West who has taught in the East, and the other raised in the East but academically trained in the West. The conversation pursues two aims. First, it seeks to clarify a new theoretical framework for the purpose and possible methodology of comparative research in the philosophy of education, and in educational studies more broadly, one that moves beyond the internalized dichotomy prevalent in the global landscape of educational research between “active” and “free” learning in the West and “passive” and “obedient” learning in the East. Second, it considers, through this lens, how the Confucian virtue of harmony might be reinterpreted beyond the political or cultural conformism often ascribed to it by modernist critiques, offering instead an ontological account of the co-presence of differing ways of being.
Conversation · Harmony (color) · Virtue · Chinese history and philosophy · Global Education and Multiculturalism · Hong Kong and Taiwan Politics
| Highly cited | No |
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