Four Schools of Philosophy Debate (Groups)

[Anonymous]

I really enjoyed Clayton's class on Saturday. The readings were good, but parts left me confused. Clayton helped me to better understand the differences between the four Chinese Philosophies. I chose to be in the Confucianism group because I find it to make the most sense for people of that era. 2400 years ago Philosophers had an open forum because their was no government in place. Confucius believed that society is a network of relationships, beginning with the family. He got his ideas from the past and believed people can learn from our ancestors. Confucius believed that everyone needs to play their role, in which one role is superior to the other. Everyone learns what their roles are and what the rules are through rituals. Rituals are the main instruction. You learn by watching your father and internalize what his expectations are. Through practice and benevolence, Confucianism brings about social order.

[Anonymous]

I thought the debate was enlightening. It cleared up so many questions about the readings for me. I think that this a lesson that can be easily adaptable to numerous different lessons and used in the classroom. Students can learn, be challenged and have fun at the same time. I can't wait to try this out in my classroom.

[Anonymous]

I have a much better grasp on the four philosophy's after the debate. It was nice to have the "hands on" experience! I am looking forward to bringing a debate process to my classroom, after seeing how the facilitating went.

[Anonymous]

I'm sorry that I'm late in posting on this thread, but it was a pleasure to work with all the Mohists on Saturday. For what it was worth, I thought we were the best prepared and most articulate in our debate. I did feel for the Daoist. They had a very tough position to defend due to the fact that they had to argue for intrinsic values rather than the clear cut ideas of the Legalist and the family centered point of view of the Confucians. Great job everyone.

[Anonymous]

I realize I am a bit delayed in replying to our wonderful session back on Oct. 13th. It really helped me better delineate between the Four Philosophies. I actually used this same format in my 4th grade Social Studies class. I did it as a way for students to teach the class about their region in California. It worked wonders.

[Anonymous]

I too am late to make a post on this thread but was reading an article in a magazine about confucianism and was better able to understand after our debate. I am thankful that we got a hands on experience with the four theories. Thanks!

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

Dear Colleagues,

I have created an individual thread for each school of thought. Please feel free to add responses in the forum to share ideas and afterthoughts.

Best,
Yingjia
Here are the groups:

Confucianism
Barker, Amy
Fong, Noelle
Lewis, Lindsay
Maitchoukow, Martha
Palmer, Laura
Perry, Katherine

Daoism
Apodaca, Maite
Hernandez, Maria
Hoffman,Douglas
York, Suzanne

Mohism
Leyva, Estevan
Lieu, Savay
Nichols, Gabriel
Sciarrotta, Deanne
Ting, Edward

Legalism
Chang, Linda
Herman, Amy
Huang, Issac
Medina, Delora
Vaden, Laura
edited by yhuang on 10/9/2012

[Anonymous]

This was my favorite exercise. The interactions were helpful and the experience was rewarding. I work with older students. Many come to our high school at the age of 16 or 17 with world views that are very different from the students they meet when they arrive. It is important to understand the worldviews that have shaped their thoughts and ideas about life because many assignments in their classes will ask them to express their own ideas and thoughts about life. This can be a very confusing time for students as they begin to learn that there are some similarities to themselves and Western students, but there are also many differences that are passed down through family traditions. Often, those family traditions and beliefs are challenged when they are confronted with the desire to "fit in".

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