tuesday (7/30) afternoon readings and discussion

[Anonymous]

I found the basic Confucian emphasis on ritual of great interest particularly since as a Latino I have struggled with a similar Mexican cultural focus. I have often questioned this "peeking order" and wonder how many of my students could relate with what I interpret as a way to control or suppress individuals.

[Anonymous]

It would be interesting to share an overview of these major philosophical traditions with my students' and have them compare/contrast them with traditional American philosophy and beliefs. I found common ground and would like to see what common threads they might come up with.

[Anonymous]

As I was absorbing the roles of the Qing government I couldn't help but think about the role that our government plays in our lives and how much it has evolved since the era of "The Founding Fathers." In the future when I teach the US Constitution and in particular "the purposes of our government" as outlined in The Preamble, I plan on using the Qing Dynasty and it's example of longevity given the limited role of it's central government.

[Anonymous]

I was thinking today that my son who is going into the sixth grade has already developed a Confucian-esque respectful ritual. Every morning he will greet his father and I with a hug and a salutation, "good morning mom/dad in all eternity." Good starting point to ask students what rituals they perform that show respect for their elders

[Anonymous]

I found it fascinating that the handwriting is changed when the students were evaluated on their exams. It reminded me of when my AP History/Literature classes analyze other student essays from college board. Invariably, it is the students with the worst and writing who have the best scores and the students who have the most legible handwriting with the worst scores. Is this a product of bias or are the students working so hard at their pre-writing that they need to hurry up and get it all down on paper before time is up?

[Anonymous]

It occurred to me today that the emergence of new Chinese philosophical thoughts began with a discontent or need to unify China. China's history has been a series of struggles to maintain unity. Whether it be Confucianism, Daoism, Legalism, Buddhism, Imperialism, or Communism, ideology has been key to the success of maintaining Chinese culture strong. I would use this information in a 5th grade class to point out the similarity to the U.S.'s use of "democratic thought" and "capitalism" as a basis for unifying the country.

[Anonymous]

Question for Clay: As trade is developing in China, what form of currency is being used? Does China have a uniform currency during 19th century and when does this establish itself? This piece of the puzzle regarding Chinese history is missing in my head right now.

[Anonymous]

During today’s review it became clear that we in the United States share some beliefs with those of Master Con however, some of his beliefs and teachings are a topic of great debate here in the States. One topic of debate is the necessity of morality in our leaders some argue personal morality or lack of does not impact one’s ability to fulfill their professional and public obligation while others argue personal and professional behavior are intertwined in ones character and cannot be separated. It is evident that Confucius called for a moral, generous and benevolent leader, yet many in America argue those qualities are not necessary to lead.

For example, former Congressman Weiner resigned after facing public scrutiny over sexting and sexual relationships outside of his marriage. Soon after his resignation he decided to run for Mayor of New York one of the nation’s largest and most influential cities. Surprisingly at the beginning of his campaign he was polling high, however news soon broke that he was caught yet again in another sexting scandal . Many people have weighed in on this issue some saying his personal life has nothing to do with his professional life while others ask the question, how does he feel he has the “the moral authority as the head administrator in the city to oversee employees when [his] standard of conduct is so much lower than the standard of conduct that’s expected of [public employees]?” (http://www.boston.com/news/source/2013/07/retired_teacher_confronts_anthony_weiner.html). Weiner follows a long list of public officials criticized for sexual or as some say moral misconduct such as General Petraeus, President Clinton, Presidential candidate John Edwards, and Congressman Newt Gingrich to name a few.
I bring this topic up because it seems as though a political scandal floods our news papers, radio stations, TV. channels and social media every couple months. With the wide coverage of a given scandal it is inevitable that students will come into class with questions about the scandal and its effect on one’s ability to lead. We can be sure that students will emulate the arguments presented in the different medias. While many of us will have our own opinion formulated on the given scandal it is always import as educators not to force that opinion on students. Instead we should take these controversial issues and capitalize on the student’s interest by using these scandals to introduce or relate concepts that pertain to our standards. We should pose questions that challenge students to critically think about the issue and develop their own opinion and identify their reasoning.

In closing, we can use leadership scandals to discuss Confucianism in class and have the students’ analyze Confucius’s ideal leader, to America’s general expectations of a leader, and finally to their own belief of what a great leaders behavior and character looks like.
edited by mtarango on 7/30/2013

[Anonymous]

As I was following up on today's lecture I came across a PewResearch article published in July 2013 that discusses and provides statistics on America's global image in comparison to that of China's. It's a quick read but provides interesting information. http://www.pewglobal.org/2013/07/18/americas-global-image-remains-more-positive-than-chinas/

[Anonymous]

Here's my take:
Confucianism - The Tea Party trying to get back to the good ole days.
Mohism - Ron Paul and his supporters of Libertarian ideas and a love revolution.
Daoism - Occupy Wall Street and their refusal to use traditional organizational patterns to change the system - and their lack of success, perhaps.
Legalism - the Political Action Groups since each of us can be easily manipulated with the right message.

Thoughts?

[Anonymous]

I liked what professor Clay had to say today about reformers. Many times they want to take us back to thier good old days. Well perhaps that is not the best thing for us. Generally that is what many conservatives want to do. Let me know if I am wrong, but my definition of conservatism that if it is change that they want, it is to go back to the good old days and liberal means they are okay with change. It was Confucius's claim that he was born in the "Age of Disorder". I'm not sure that those in charge would totally agree. Confucius is a conservative in my mind. But one paragraph on page Kang Youwei 2 states an apparent contradiction. " A survey of all states in the world will show that those states that undertook reforms became strong while those states that clung to the past perished." Wait, I thought reforming means clinging to the past. I don't understand that paradox. Is it because what they have been doing wrong has been going on for a long, long time? I will have to come back to this article and explore it in greater detail when I have more time. It seems that it could be a good article to have students see if they can pick out the hypocrytical or paradoxical statments written by Confucius and his students.

[Anonymous]

dmierzwik: litterally lol, yes I did chuckle. I still think that they all each philosophy and now a days, political parties have valad points. The problem is like the philosophers in the past, we still have this human nature thing that tells us that we have to win at any cost, even if we are wrong. It seems to be human nature to argue and once we take a position, it is hard for us to back down on it, even if it is wrong. Peace

[Anonymous]

Chris, I agree. Confucius seems to have an answer for everything, which of course were not his answers, but facts from the past. I do like many of his ideas. I guess I am a conservative at heart.

[Anonymous]

This AM we chatted about Confucianism and the idea of old and tested....If you get a chance listen to a song about the good old days by a group called BET from Hawaii....we call that the Hannah butta days....someone wrote that good old days may not be good...but as teachers don't we always asked why are kids the way they are? Are we not using our good old days as a reference point to make these distinctions..Ask your students have your parents ever said when I was your age? Yes we all use the good old days as tried and tested litmus tests....aloha

[Anonymous]

I did not know that America carried out its own Opium Trade. It surprised me to hear that in class today.

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