The Influence of Confucian Philosophy on Adult Learners Who Come from Confucian- Influenced Societies

Demographics, the global economy, and technology have influenced the nature of adult learning in American society and the world (Merriam & Caffarella, 1999). According to the Yearbook of Immigration Statistics of 2004 from the United State Citizenship and Immigration Service (2005), about 35 percent of immigrants are Asians and approximately 40 percent (130,300) of Asian immigrants come from Confucian-influenced societies, which include China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam (Barron & Arcodia, 2002; Albrecht, 2001). Asian immigrants have greatly affected the current and future growth of the U.S. workforce (Tolbert, 2002). For nearly 2,500 years, the power of Confucian philosophy has dominated, influenced and shaped the civilization of Confucian societies in Far East Asia (Lu, Gilmour, & Kao, 2001). Social transformation and the multicultural workplace, particularly the influence of Western philosophies and ideas seem to have changed the patterns of the influence of Confucianism. “East Asia is not as Confucian as it was 150 years ago; what exists today is the product more of shared consequences of modernization than of a distant heritage suitable for an agrarian society,” said Gilbert Rozman (1990, p.13). Yet, Oldstone-Moore (2002) argued that Confucius philosophy still has an enormous impact on East Asian civilization and the tradition remains a special trait in life of the people. As Wang, Wang, Ruona and Rojewski (2005) stated, there is a need for further research in cross-cultural differences (between West and Confucian cultures), Confucian dynamic, and its impact on HRD. To create a win/win outcome, it is important to recognize how a philosophy influences our daily life in ways we see, think, learn and act in our world, and it is essential to learn, appreciate and work with cultural difference (Ruona & Lynham, 2004; Tolbert, 2002). Understanding the cultural diversity that exists in organization today is crucial for success and remaining competitiveness in this rapidly changing world. Therefore, it is critical for the international human resource development (HRD) professionals and adult educators to understand the influence of Confucian dynamics on employees, who come from Confucian-influenced societies, in order to work effectively on the cultural differences and to achieve optimal learning outcome on all learners. The purpose of this study is to explore the influence of Confucian philosophy on adult learners who come/came from Confucian-influenced societies and once exposed to Confucian teaching. Hence there is no universal definition of Confucian philosophy and limited research have been found associate with influence of Confucian philosophy on Confucian adult learners, the purpose was fulfilled through qualitative inquiry into three basic research questions: 1) What is Confucian philosophy? 2) Does Confucian value have empirically tested? 3) If it does, what critical issues have observed? 4) Does Confucian philosophy appear to influence the Confucian adult learners in workplace learning? This question may be answered by comparing the findings from previous questions with Western culture in learning. The methodology for this study is literature review. The literature search began with searches through databases (e.g., Academic Search Premier, ERIC, ABI/INFORM, and Article 1st) through March 2006, using key words “Confucius,” “Confucian philosophy,” and “Confucian values. ” Hand searches of journals (e.g., Human Resource Development International, Human Resource Development Quarterly) were also used. A check was also made of the references cited in relevant articles. Yet, the literature review yielded limited resources for exploring the influence of Confucian philosophy in adult learning. To extend the review, additional resources from related subject matter were selected from various journals (e.g., Journal of Chinese Philosophy, International Studies of Management and organization, Adult Education Quarterly) and books in the fields of psychology, management, education, philosophy