Pedagogy: East and west, then and now

This is the first of six commentaries discussing Zongjie Wu’s essay, ‘Interpretation, autonomy, and transformation’. Wu’s analyses of pedagogy have opened a new window for looking at the essence of education. The comparison of Confucius’s pedagogy with contemporary teaching in China provides a striking contrast. However, perhaps it is unfair and inaccurate to attribute the evolution of Chinese pedagogy to western influences alone. Such an evolution is also underpinned by changes in society during the process of industrialization. Meanwhile, despite the modern structure, much of the cultural heritage is still retained in China’s contemporary education. Nonetheless, when society further advances, the Confucian pedagogy, which amazingly embraced the essence of contemporary learning theories, should have a role to play.