Cultural perspectives on education: bridging East and West
For a very long time, the East and the West—essentially Europe and North America—have held divergent approaches to education. With its roots in Confucianism, the East has benefited from vertical education, where subordinates passively receive knowledge from superiors. Conversely, teachers in the West are trained to convey a subject, and students actively engage in questioning the subject matter as they build and refine ideas through conversation. A look in the etymology and historical customs can offer a potential explanation to the differences of the perception of studying.
The word education in Korean, gyoyuk, comes from the Chinese word for education, jiaoyu. Jiao is a combination of xiao, an old word for “study,” xue, and zhi, a symbol of a figure carrying a whip. The second character yu represents a mother holding a newborn. In this sense, the vertical educational philosophy of parents and teachers teaching and nurturing children was fully imbued in the term from the beginning. The modern Eastern educational environment, which recognizes the traditional knowledge of past generations and stresses careful expression of thoughts, words, and actions, likely began from this perspective.
Conversely, the word "education" in English originates from the Latin word educare, which combines the words "pull out" (ducare) with the prefix "e," meaning "out." As such, it could be said that Western education has aimed to enhance and materialize the distinct capabilities of every individual, “pulling out” knowledge from brains.
Likewise, the perception of education within different cultures may account for the disparities in study techniques. Memorizing and practicing the words of the sage exactly has been the definition of studying in the East. It is believed that the teachings of the sages are universally known, and thus, it is deemed crucial to accurately recall their words. Seodang was the traditional school in Korea, from the Goryeo Dynasty to Joseon Dynasty, where the saint's words were read out in books to students, who then recited the passages. Reading material aloud while memorizing it is still a common practice not only in Korean classrooms, but also in other Asian countries as well, typically places like China.
In contrast, pursuing education in the West more often entails voicing one's opinions, essentially using "questioning" as a study strategy to respect the opinions of each individual learner. They debate and ask certain questions to arrive at conclusions. Useful knowledge means long-lasting knowledge, therefore, knowledge is made a part of people through dialogue and answering questions. To an extent, studying in the Western tradition has been more about the personal development of the learner than gaining general knowledge. Artifacts in the Louvre Museum show that reading didn’t exist in the classrooms of ancient Rome, as written records show that kids engaged in open discussion. In ancient Rome, the goal of education was to cultivate critical thinking and self-expression abilities through dialogue, and the effects of these customs seem to exist to this day.
While it’s undeniable that ongoing customs of global education are shaped by a multitude of factors beyond linguistic and historical contexts, the historical roots and linguistic nuances surrounding education offer valuable insights into the differing approaches between the East and the West, and they could be seen as extended expressions of different cultures’ beliefs and values.
