The learning school through a Daoist lens

Abstract

The article provides an explicit philosophical basis of a ‘learning school’ by delineating a Daoist interpretation. A learning school is characterised by a student-centred vision, supportive leadership as well as a culture of collaboration and critical inquiry. With reference to the Daodejing, this paper expounds on the saliency of the concepts of dao (way-making), wuwei (non-coercive acting) and wuzhi (non-dogmatic knowing) to thelearning school. It is argued that a Daoist learning school is one where all the staff, individually and together, engage in continuous learning in a spirit of deference and authenticity. It is further maintained that a Daoist perspective which emphasises harmony, accommodation and self-reflexivity avoids a key critique of a learning school as imposing desired outcomes on its members and pressuring them for conformity. Grounding the notion of a learning school in an ancient Chinese paradigm, this article contributes to the diverse understandings, possibilities and debates surrounding such a school model.