A Christian Approach to Chinese Classical Education

under heaven.”47 This does not mean that students must have a thorough understanding of each subject they study (something no one can attain). The goal, rather, is to get a general sense of each subject and how it is related to the others. “Although one may not be able to see through their essences and subtleties, one should nevertheless know the general outlines.”48 This is the same principle that underlies the liberal arts tradition in the West.

The Chinese classical tradition also provides us with a number of very practical principles regarding the art of teaching:

The first precept of the academy is precaution (yu 豫): Guard against bad habits before they become ingrained. The second is readiness and timing (shi 时): Choose the most efficacious time for teaching. The third is felicity and flexibility (xun 孙): Adjust the structure and sequence of your teaching to suit subject and student. The fourth is observation and discussion (mo 摩): Let students improve each other through interaction. These four precepts are the way to ensure effective instruction. If you try to prohibit bad habits after they have formed, no matter how hard you struggle with them, you will fail. If students miss the right moment to learn, it will be difficult for them to succeed regardless of how assiduously they apply themselves. If the teacher lacks structure and fails to make the necessary connections, there will not be much that learners can make of the fragments and confusion they receive. If students study alone without the company of peers and friends, they become idiosyncratic in their manner and limited in their learning. Students who always party with friends tend to turn against their teachers, and those who engage in too many frivolous activities and distractions tend to neglect their studies. These six failings will lead to ineffective teaching and learning. 49

Many classical Christian schools in America have designed their schools according to the blueprint laid out by Dorothy Sayers in her essay “The Lost Tools of Learning.” Sayers divides the classical Trivium (grammar, logic, and rhetoric) into three “stages” with each stage corresponding to the developmental stages of the child. As a child progresses through each stage, he is particularly receptive to certain kinds of knowledge and unreceptive to others. The key lies in teaching the appropriate subject matter at the most opportune time. And yet, two thousand years before Sayers, the Chinese were already stressing the importance of “choosing the most efficacious time for teaching” and “adjusting the structure and sequence of your teaching to suit subject and student.” This does not simply mean teaching age-appropriate content or using age-appropriate methods. The teacher must consider more than the students’ ages. She must consider their individual personalities and tendencies:

Teachers must understand the four errors that students make. In their attitude to their studies, some err on the side of overextending themselves, and some in focusing

49 “ 大学之法，禁于未发之谓豫，当其可之谓时，不陵节而施之谓孙， 相观而善之谓摩。此四者，教之所由兴也。发然后禁，则捍格而不胜；时过然 后学，则勤苦而难成；杂施而不孙，则坏乱而不修；独学而无友，则孤陋而寡 闻；燕朋逆其师；燕辟废其学。此六者，教之所由废也。 ” Xue 学记 [Record of Learning] in Liji 礼记 [Record of Rites] 36.8.1061–2, trans. Xu Di, Yang Liuxin, Hunter McEwan, and Roger T. Ames.