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Wuwei (non-action) Philosophy and Actions: Rethinking ‘actions’ in school reform

2014; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 47; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/00131857.2013.879692

1469-5812

Seungho Moon,

Chinese history and philosophy

This inquiry aims to enrich conversation regarding school reform. The author asks about what other discourses are possible when the action-oriented question of how to 'act' is a major approach to 'fix' current educational problems. Drawing from Taoist philosophy of wuwei (non-action), the author provides a frame to review current school reform movement. Political philosophy of wuwei highlights non-interference or non-intervention governance. Laozi discusses his theory of governance that a sage leader should take and explicates the paradox of non-action: By not doing, everything is done. The paradox of wuwei complicates dialogues in the field of curriculum theory by opening spaces for taking effortless actions in the midst of standardization and accountability reform movement.