The education world is a part of process to realize humanization. So that, many aspects of it directly or indirectly have a lot of influences and participating in this one. Those can become internal or external aspects. The internal one is related with everything which can be found in human’s mind and body as such basic character, physical condition, and empathy; the other one is others and environmental condition around him. Through these, we want to say that education is a process to build one’s character to make good relationship with all thing around him. This paper is going to say about something which can be found in a Classic Chinese education according to the path of Confucian and it will guide us to see deeper about how this one can be manifested in our-own reality in the very different condition. The UNESCO adopts the values of this Confucian idea as the general aims of education, and Saint Peter’s Senior High School implements those values. If we try to deepen our thinking, we will find only one which will be reached: junzi (good people), shen ren (smart and useful people) or the real human (man or woman). So, through this paper we want to say that education is a process which combines internal and external aspect of human person to reach the real purpose: the real human. To gain this purpose, one have to think and be practicing it for a life time. May this paper be able to help us in reflecting any conditions that have correlation with God, self, others, and the world to make all of it better that in the future also can make our-own life better. Educating process is a set of processes which need relation between all the component of it: man, the other, and environment (nature).
II. The Educational Values in Chinese Tradition
In the ancient China, education is placed in the context of interpersonal relationship. Parents and the oldest brother take a duty as educator for their sons and the younger one. The matters are practical things and how to make a good relation with others. In this case, education can be related with the farmer life experience on agriculture. In the next period, the scholars say that man is placed between Heaven and Earth. It has correlation with the relationship between man and other; it is also about the relationship between man and nature. Men need norms and values of life which arrange their daily attitude. They also need to understand him-self. In this case, the purpose of education grows not only to do practical things and keeps a good relation with others, but also finds the meaning of life and participates to build the regular and prosperous society. Confucius is a famous educator, philosopher, and political man in the Chinese History. His idea of process to realize ren and li is an idea to gain a fully-human-person. It means that to gain ren-man, one need to learn ritual, etiquette, good manner and morality so he can participate in his society. Explicitly, li and ren describe the relation between means and purpose. For him, ren is the real condition which makes one has something that differs himself from the other being (plant and animal). Confucius argues that learning and education is the long process to manifest ren in one’s real life, so he can become a fully-human-person. It needs to create an harmonious social life. Confucius sees ren as the man’s Tao (way). The early Chinese sees Heaven and Earth as nature. What is called Heaven and Earth not other than nature and all of cosmic power included the principles in it. The mean principle that arranges all of part of nature is called: Tao. From the nature ‘production process’, we can find two important aspects such a part that ever-changing and the never-changing one. According to Confucius, there is Heaven’s Tao in the nature of man. His duty is to realize and apply ren in his real life and society. This can be done with attempting to develop talents and every aspect to understand and then applying his understanding to reach fulfillment as human being. He also has to participate in harmonious social life building. The character of ren is built from two characters which are man and number ‘2’. It describes two people which make a relationship between them. So that, the real quality of ren can be manifested in the relation between one and others, or it’s happened in the social interaction field. Without humanity – which practice through social norm and morality – or if we let personal interest playing, how highest morality knowledge which man has cannot help him to support or gain his real purpose in his life: ren-man. As a matter of fact, that man does not practice his Tao. Confucius regards the fully-human-person as one who has oneness with nature. Everything he does, it will ever not violate norm and morality. He can be a model for others to gain the same level. Beside this, according to him, the fully human person has a good relationship with others, he does also not only know how to increase him-self, but also how to help others in cultivating his life so they also can reach their life purpose. The fully-human-person is man, who can arrange his internal conflicts well so he can be a balance human-person. Shortly, it can be said that the fully-human-person is a man who can realize the nature of humanity in him and reach a balance condition of self, which is manifested in the life that maintains truth, goodness and esthetics. After developing himself, he has duty to support and develop the other one in oneness with all of his life dimensions. His condition which make him always attempt to develop himself, show that a Junzi is an ordinary people who can make many mistakes, but he want to reflect it and can learn something about his-own fault and use it to make any life evaluation, and then use this experience – ever makes mistake – as an exactly mean to gain many successes.
III. The Mean Aspects in Educating Process
The first thing of educating process is how to build a good communication and personal relation person by person, person and his group in a certain place and between groups. There are five important things in Confucian education process. The first thing is learning to know. An educator may become a facilitator for his students. In this case, every student is motivated to establish the need of getting information, expert in practical life and a certain capability which he wants to master. The second one is learning to do. Students are conditioned to do productive things about knowledge, feeling and arrange his freedom. Third is learning to live together. In this case every community is designed to become a place where students can experience something about cooperative learning, working in groups, togetherness and solidarity, so that this community will become a home where every relation in it be based on fraternity and familiarity. The fourth is learning to be. In this case, every students will be taught to have high self-confident. He is situated in a respectful, to be trusted, honored conditions. He is also personally received by others. So he has an independent life, a specific capability in his life and freedom to express his-own idea. The fifth one of it is learning through life. Education process is not bounded by time and room. In other word, education and process of learning will be an ongoing formation for students. In this case, its orientation is the process itself not the result one. In it, the failure will be recognized as an important part in educating process. Beside of the above five values of learning, there is one important thing that may not be forgotten if we want to say about faith. This one is learning to trust in God. Educating process cannot be separated from how someone lives his faith in God through a religion or any other things that recognize God as an Absolute Being. In this case, education will be done in the process of landing any religion dogmas through living dialog between His followers. Living dialog means that every follower lives their faith through real actions for the other one. On the other hand, this will be a way to practice the values of life and morality. So, it can be said that in this case religion has function to be a ‘moral keeper’ in any condition especially in different culture and religion. So the purpose is how students and teachers can practice morality in their own ‘home life’ and school. In Confucian school, there are five fields of important experience and activity which supports self character building and self development. The first is art which trains man to establish his imagination, feeling, reflection, and the sense of esthetics. The second one is ritual and ceremony. Ritual is a physical training and discipline life in society. Sweeping, eating, kampong working together, communication, visiting the sick person are ritual practice which is very important in character building. The third is history learning process. It means that ritual life can be done by knowing and establishing empathy to others which be related with knowing about values and moral norms. Any important thing about it is related to how someone can create or establish a supporting condition to be a fully-human-person. History also gives many things about any mistakes that has been done by former generations in which we still receive the influence of it and now trying to get the way out of it. The fourth is participating in a social life. Man is a social person who cannot life alone. The fifth is related to nature. In this case, we need any positive perspective about nature in character building process.
IV. Conclusion
Education in the context of character and humanity developing process is a process which combines internal capability and external aspects: others and environmental aspects. It presumes there is good relation between all of component of educating process. From this, we want to say that the result or successful educating process is determined by a good team work and the good relation among them. It also presumes that these three components have to be placed in a certain condition which related with the good communication to gain the successful of educating process. In relation with this, a students may get any chance to express his own character; in this case, a teacher must have an over standard skill in teaching, and it presumes there is a worthy means, and also ‘green environment’, not only physically but also psychologically which can influence the success of this educating process. In short, the needed environment here is a conducive environment to gain the purpose of education. The six ‘how’ and the five Confucian teaching can be realized if each component of education be able to make a changing role through information exchange, and be showed in good attitude among them. In other word, educating process will be able to be held if every component of education has an optimal condition to process education which is supported by a worthily environment – both of physically and psychologically. It will be said that the success of educating process is the result of togetherness among students, teachers, and every component that participates in the life of students, teachers, and also the environment places, such as parents, baby sitter, school’s staff, OB, OG, security and the other one. Literary Sources Chan, Wing-tsit 1963, A Source Book of Chinese Philosophy, Princeton University Press Xinzhong Yao, Jen, Love and Universality, in Journal Asian Philosophy, Vol.5, no.2 1995 O’Hear, Anthony 1981, Education, Society and Human Nature, Routhledge & Kegan Paul Ltd. London Woo Peter Kun-yu, The Anthropocentric Philosophy of Chinese Tadition Education in Asian Thought and Society, Vol.10 July 1985 http://www.duniaguru.com January 26, 2008, (19:34) http://www.duniaguru.com accessed at March, 10, 2008 (23.46) http://idea.iupui.edu/dspace/bitstream/1805/410/1/Qi%20S%20/html accessed at 5/10/2009 (19:38) Kun-yu Woo, Peter, Metaphisical Fondation of Chinese Education, in Chinese Foundations for Moral Education and Character Development, The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy, Washington DC
