Major differencies between eastern and western philosophies as the basis for adult education - The Singapore experience

written by Chia Mun Onn, Singapore Association for Continuing Education, Singapore

Introduction

I asked a few people what they thought were the major differences between Eastern and Western philosophies while preparing for this paper.

One of them pointed me to Tennyson's poem, Ulysses: To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

This, to him, captures the restlessnness, or to put it in a milder form, the venturing spirit of the West. I thought about the hardware (electronic gadgets and 'state of the art' audio‑visual equipment) and the software (consultants whom we have engaged, and their usage of innovative teaching techniques) that have made their presence in the training and conference rooms in Singapore.

Another commented that, broadly speaking, Western philosophy is based on rational thought and hence the emphasis on logic, cause and effect. Eastern philosophy, on the other hand, is mainly derived from the religious teachings of Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism. There is more of a one‑way transmission of knowledge and this is more authoritative. I thought about the expectations which adult learners have of their teachers as being the store house of knowledge and their reluctance to challenge the authority of the teacher.

I mentioned Bo Yang's caustic comment of the Chinese as "being crass, arrogant, loud, uncivilised, slavish, uncooperative and given to 'swell‑headedness' easily" to another friend. She doubted if such characterisation of the Ugly Chinaman was reflective of Eastern values. To her there is an "ugly" aspect to everyone, be he a Westerner or an Easterner. It is human nature.

These are perceptions of the differences and I have little doubt that they must have tried to relate what they saw to what they understand or know as values of the West.

It is difficult, if not impossible, to approach the topic without sterotyping the East and the West. Ho reminded us of the misleading claim that Asians are more spiritual in the sense that they have a long tradition of aversion for material wealth and comfort. The fact that wars have been fought very frequently in the history of Asian countries would indicate, among other things, that Asians were, after all, no less materialistic in their outlook than Westerners.

I shall attempt to grapple with the immensity of the subject by reflecting on my experiences as a student of adult education, as a language instructor and my involvement in the work of our adult education association. I write as one who has lived in a culture that has consciously tried to select the best from the East and the West so as to ensure the best for our people. As our Minister for Information and the Arts put it:

We want to be an advanced society but we do not want to become European or American because we are not ...

At the same time, we are aware that we have to learn from the West if we are to succeed. This is a contradiction which we face every day. We try to resolve this contradiction but it is never fully resolved. This is the Singapore society that we have sought to create by Eastern morality and Western technology.

I shall first highlight the major differences between Eastern and Western philosophies and contextualise them in Singapore. Singapore provides the setting for the interplay of Eastern and Western philosophical values and these are manifested in the way adult education is being organised and practised.

 

Differences between the philosophies of the east and west

Western philosophy has its roots in Athens, Rome and Judeo­Christianity while Eastern philosophy is derived from Confucianism, Taoism and Mahayana Buddhism. As Greek and Latin are to Western civilisation, so classical Chinese is to East Asian civilisation. I will focus on four major differences between Eastern and Western philosophies.

1. Western Individualism and Eastern Collectivism

In the Greco‑Roman tradition, the image of Prometheus powerfully illustrates the struggle for individual freedom. Prometheus had gone against Zeus, the all powerful god who ruled the sky from Mt. Olympus. Prometheus annoyed Zeus by creating human beings. To protect the human beings from Zeus, he stole fire from Hephaestos, the blackmith god and gave it to the human beings. This angered Zeus to the extent that Prometheus was chained to a rock and an eagle tore out his liver. In European consciousness, Prometheus had become the hero who:

"...defied the patriarchy in the name of individual freedom, who brought light into our darkness. He was the saviour who sacrificed himself for the sake of mankind, the benefactor who brought the gift of technology down from heaven, the teacher who taught us that we are not at the whims of the gods any more, who showed us how to use our intelligence to take control of the world".

The Christian tradition has also reinforced the notion of individual rights. The Bible speaks of God creating Man in His own image and letting him "have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle and over all the earth, and every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth" (Genesis 1:26).

By comparison, the Chinese live in a world of obligations:

"...obligations to serve the ruler, obligations to work for the family, obligations to obey elders, obligations to help relatives, obligations to do well to glorify the name of ancestors, obligations to defend the country in times of trouble, and obligations to oneself to cultivate one's own virtue. It would also seem that rights only belong to one individual ‑ the Son of Heaven.

Confucianism promotes conservatism and this stifles creativity and robs the people of self‑introspection.

2. Fragmentary and Holistic

According to Fritjof Capra, the emphasis of rational thought is epitomised in Descartes' celebrated statement,'Cognito, ergo sum' ‑ 'I think, therefore, I exist.' This has forcefully encouraged Westerners to equate their identity with their rational mind rather than with the whole organism. This division between the mind and the body has led to a view of the universe as a mechanical system consisting of separate objects, which in turn were reduced to fundamental building blocks whose properties and interactions were thought to completely determine all natural phenomena.

This mechanistic conception of the whole world is still the basis of most of our sciences and continues to have a tremendous influence on our lives. Academic disciplines become fragmented and this has served as a rationale for treating the universe as if it consisted of separate parts to be exploited by different groups.

The essence of the Eastern world view is the awareness of the unity and the mutual inter‑relation of all things and events, the experience of all phenomena in the world as manifestation of a basic oneness. All things are seen as independent and inseparable parts of a cosmic whole, as different manifestations of the same ultimate reality. The Eastern traditions refer to this ultimate, indivisible reality as Brahman in Hinduism, Dharmakaya in Buddhism and Tao in Taoism.

3. Conflict and Harmony

The Marxist view of history saw change as arising from a 'dialectic 'interplay of opposites ‑hence class struggle and conflict. Western civilisation based itself on the struggle between the Good and Evil, God and Satan or Psyche and Cupid.

Eastern philosophical thought is based on this notion of the Yin and the Yang. Frithjof Capra describes the Yang as the strong,male creative power associated with Heaven while yin is the dark,receptive, female and maternal element.

The dark yin and the bright yang are arranged in a symmetrical manner. They are dynamic ‑ a rotating symmetry suggesting very forcefully a continuous cyclic movement.The two dots in the diagram symbolise the idea that each one of the forces reaches its extreme, it contains in itself the seed of the opposite.'Life' says Chuang Tzu'is the blended harmony of the yin and the yang.'

Taoism permeates the economic and social lives of the Chinese through geomancy, qigong, Chinese medicine and idol worship. As Chan observes:"Almost every hotel, office and commercial building that has gone up within the last decade adheres to certain principles of geomancy or "Fengshui" ‑ the art and science of harmonising man and nature.

4. Idealism and Pragmatism.

The Western idea of democracy does not fit into the Eastern scheme of things easily. In an interview by the Daily Telegraph on 16 October 1989 the former Prime Minister remarked that:

I think in a mainly Chinese electorate, the idea of a loyal opposition and an alternative government does not come easily. You're either for or against the government.

The Confucianistic idea of social hierarchy where a person's existence is relational, extending from his family, society and country. The pragmatism of the East is exemplied in the way Confucianism has been used to emphasize order through social hierarchy and the rules and conventions. Taoism provided the meaning of life and thus compliment Confucianism.

Confucius preached the doctrine of the here and now. The emphasis is one of "life and life" and not "life and death." The sage hoped to "hear the right way in the morning, and die in the evening without regret. "What lays the foundation of life for the Chinese is the family and the continuation of the family also means the passing on of experience, culture and thought. The Taoists has an equal view of life and death seeing life and death as the coming out and going back of a human form of existence. Chuang Tsu talks of "coming and going ". Lao Tzu said,"out to life, in to death." The crux of the matter is to make the best of the present.

Singapore as a case study

The island city‑state of Singapore with its multi­racial population can serve as a case study of how philosophical differences can affect adult education.

Colonial background

Despite her historic links with Britain as a colony from 1819 to 1963, adult education in Singapore did not take on the form of her former colonial masters. The classical British tradition of adult education was aimed at the enlargement of knowledge, not simply for its own delight or for personal enrichment or advancement, but for the discharge of democratic responsibility the value derived from the fact that in a democracy no man is an island, that the quality of our communal action depends on the quality of the individuals values by which they are decided.

Adult education in Singapore has been principally adult education and its organisation and practice reflect the administrative efficiency of the government. In fact since Independence in 1965 there has been a deliberate depoliticisation of the state administration. Politics is not to be mixed with education and religion. Dr Chan Heng Chee refers to such a contrivance as an "administrative state". Such states are distinguished by the increased power of the bureaucratic sector because of the government in many non­traditional activities. The government has been described as "paternalistic" ‑ the needs of the people are provided for but they were given no responsibility and their freedom is limited by well‑ meant regulations.

The People

Iain Buchanan writes of the Singapore population in the early 70s as one which was stratified by race,language ,education,religion and economic specialisation.

Residue of such stratifications still exist. This has provided the basis for the government to perceive its vulnerability as a small multi‑racial nation with a predominantly Chinese population living in a non ‑Chinese world. Malay is the language of 150 million people whose religion is Islam.

Economic survival has been the preoccupation of the government since Independence.This is largely pursued through industrialisation and an educational system which emphasises skill training so as to supply the manpower needs of the economy. This strong belief in the maximisation of human resource development has resulted in an relentless pursue of paper qualifications ‑ credentialism. Concomitantly the people are frequently exhorted to be disciplined productive,adaptable and tolerant.

According to the 1990 Census Singapore has a population of 3 million comprising 77.7 % Chinese, .14.1 % Malays, .7.1 % Indians, and 1.1 % others. The multi‑religiosity of Singaporeans is seen by the fact that 53.9% of the population are Buddhists/Taoists, 15.4 % Muslim, 12.6 % Christians, 3.6 Hindus and 0.5 % other religions and 14 % profess to have no religion.

The model of survival of 3 million in Singapore crammed into 665 square kilometre island is based on the social formula:

Se = C+ M + I + O where C, M, I and O represent the equal treatment of Chinese ,Malays,Indians and other races The is further buttressed by the 4 Ms ‑ multi ‑ racialism , multi­culturalism, multi‑ lingualism and multi‑ religiosity.

While there is parity in the status of the four languages, English is the official language of administration, the medium of instruction in educational institutions. Language and culture are inexorably linked. English is associated with Western values which is seen to be eroding traditional Asian values.

As one writer puts it, "Singapore has a larger window to the West than the East " Given its colonial past and the retention of English as the language of administration, there is a strong affinity to values that are attributed to the West ­individualism and liberty. This is in sharp contrast to the values that are more traditional to the East such as loyalty respect for the elders and submissiveness. The study of Confucianism (as a philosophy) and the mother tongue (Mandarin for the Chinese) in addition to English are aimed at providing a cultural ballast to Western influences.

Adult education is an umbrella notion for the variety of learning activities deliberately organised to enable adults to acquire knowledge for the economic ,social and political betterment of their lives.In Singapore economic development takes precedence over everything else . ‑ a reflection of pragmatism.

 

The organisation and provision of adult education

The organisation and practice of adult education in Singapore tended towards the central planned provision model as described by Jarvis. In this provider model it is assumed that people need help to see their real needs or to achieve their real aspirations .The central agency plans the programmes and make them, available to the consumers Singapore takes a multi‑ institutional approach towards adult education. The government through its ministries and statutory boards initiates the various programmes.

Adult education is largely financed through the skill development fund levy ‑ based on 1 % of the payroll of employees earning less than $750 per month is the principal source of financing national workers education; the most visible form of adult education in Singapore. Whilst this would appear to be egalitarian and democratic ‑ making adult education more accessible to the people, the emphasis on skill development also reflect the Confucianistic thinking ‑ the obligation of the workers to be trained and the employees to be trained. The work ethics stresses loyalty to the group or to the employers.

Hence the "priority of the government" exerts a very heavy influence in resource allocation. It also reflects the important role that the Singapore government plays in identifying priority areas in which educational programmes are needed.

Differences in the philosophical orientations affect the way adult education associations perceive their roles. There are differences between East Asian and Southeast Asian societies. Confucianism has a strong influence on the former and hence the stress on duties and obligations of the ruled and rulers . Southeast Asian societies which have Buddhists ,Muslims and Catholic backgrounds show a stronger desire " to get along as smoothly with others as possible, avoid arguments and disagreement.

Given the strong Confucianistic orientation in Singapore, adult education has to be non‑confrontational and complimentary to government policies. It is difficult to accept the paternalistic role of adult education associations.

The practice

Concept

Pratt has identified two conceptions of teaching and learning which are applicable to Singapore. The first and most dominant is the Engineering conception . Learners are objectified and teaching is "content to be delivered" and "efficient transmission of information".Pratt describes the Apprenticeship conception in which wisdom is handed down from "those who know to those who don't know." In Singapore this is often expressed as a duty or obligation, that is, to be a model of correct moral character.

The teacher is still very much the dispenser, the judge and the jury. For the teacher to take a back‑seat is very discomforting to the learners.

Teaching Methodology

The ethic of self‑ effacement is very powerful and is related to the various eastern philosophies of Islam, Hinduism, Taoism, Budddhism and Confucianism. The prevalent value of "modest" behaviour, of not drawing too much attention to oneself can affect the training methodology. Open discussion in front of a large group requires the student to infringe this ethic as he may be perceived as placing himself above.This position is illustrated by the Japanese saying, "The nail that sticks out must be hammered down." The Western assumption of active vocalisation as a sign of maturity is not universal. Many Chinese socialise their children to avoid being overly talkative.

The Eastern culture stresses on maintaining harmonious relationships within and outside the family so as to avoid the "loss of face". Westerners prefer emotional openness to emotional inhibition, which is really maintaining harmony to avoid loss of face.

The use of participatory teaching techniques like role‑playing and simulation may not be appropriate for certain situations.

Learning evaluation

The practice of identifying the strengths and weaknesses in any learning situation may not be acceptable for Eastern culture. The Western style of conferencing where individual ideas have been criticised would be too much a loss of face for some.

Yet it is this fear of failure (resulting in the loss of face for the person and his family) that motivates learning. The education system is still based on competitive examination ‑ a belief that despite its imperfection there is no fairer system for identifying the more able from the mediocre.

Some Concluding remarks

Some years ago Singapore was thought to be the "melting pot" of the East and West. The wide variety of food was seen to represent the cultural heritage of the Chinese, Malays, Indian and European immigrants. This analogy has suffered somewhat because someone has pointed out that mixing the food does not make them tastier and more appetising. It is better to allow them to retain their distinctive flavours. In the same way adult educators should be sensitive to the different philosophical values that have helped to shape the practice of adult education today.