Arts Speaker Series: Gadamerian Hermeneutics and Confucian Interpretation: A Pedagogical Exploration of Teaching

Dr. Ying Ma, Department of Educational Studies, Kwantlen Polytechnic University

Against the prevalence of managerial and instrumental approaches to teaching in the neoliberal regime, I focus on a dialogic encounter between Gadamerian hermeneutics and Confucian ways of interpretation to imagine otherwise. I primarily investigate what they may contribute to classroom teaching as a pedagogy of “understanding”, rather than a method of “determining”, “assessing” or “answering. This presentation also hopes to bridge philosophy and classroom teaching in a philosophical/pedagogical exploration.