CYCU’s Holistic Education

When observing the root of chaos and dysfunction of modern society, we can find causes originating from two sources: one is the prejudice that arises from uncultured and ignorant individual opinions, and the other is the rigidity and dogmatism of the education system. With the passing of time and diversification of society, we need each individual to have a broad foundation of knowledge, enduring patience and tolerance, and sharp and insightful opinions. The traditional education system focuses on the teaching of specialty knowledge, mostly through rote learning, deemphasizing and devaluing the thinking process and critical inquiry. Such a teaching philosophy allows people to become competent specialists in limited domains, but results in a lack of general knowledge in fundamental human endeavors such as music, art, and literature, as well as the history of humanity itself. Having familiarity with this comprehensive knowledge is the way to enlighten people to understand how to think for themselves, how to respect others, and how to be modest.

Education is a long-term pursuit, which leads the university towards future development, but maintaining worthwhile traditions. Marking the solidity of its educational philosophy, CYCU has declared the motto of “Chung-Yuan Sixty, moving toward a Whole Person” for its sixtieth year celebration anniversary. This celebration centers on an ethos which underscores CYCU’s educational philosophy and its differentiation from its peer institutions. The ethos extends CYCU’s mission, establishes educational goals and philosophy, and proposes a well-rounded person-education as the institution’s educational vision for the next century.

The Implementation of Our Educational Ideology

Our education ideals are grounded in “the respect for nature and human dignity, and the pursuit of harmony among the Creator, Humanity, the Entire Creation, and the Individual Self.” This is not only our current goal of education at Chung Yuan but, we believe, will also be the guiding principle of a future trend in higher education in Taiwan and the rest of the world. In its implementation, our education is embodied in “the four balances ”as follows:

  1. Balance between specialty education and general education
  2. Specialty education is capability, whereas general education builds the capacity of endurance. In order to meet the demands of a diverse and rapidly changing world, it is necessary for students to develop a balance between specialty skills and general education so that they may influence society effectively and cultivate a global vision. CYCU’s education has been emphasizing that college students should not only master specialty knowledge, but also acquire a broad scope of general knowledge. As a result, they can interact with others and will not be frozen in the paradigms dominant at the time of their maturation. For example, a student from the College of Engineering should not only study mathematics and physics, but have a basic understanding of people management and the arts as well. Therefore, technology and the humanities can be developed simultaneously. Likewise, students from the College of Business or Design should not only possess knowledge of literature and history, but also need to study science and technology. Hence, their knowledge will be richer and their lives will be more productive.

  3. Balance between an academic education and personal character
  4. While college education underscores the cultivation of academics, it cannot abandon the building of personal character. Thus, CYCU’s education particularly emphasizes the cultivation of student’s ?personal character. For example, the institution arranges general courses like “Religious Philosophy” and “Life Philosophy” to cultivate students‘ positive personal character, which aims to help college youths reach equilibrium of personal character through raising their awareness of philosophical concerns. The deviation of personal character is the root of chaos for modern society, for a person with a devious personal character easily disregards facts and truth, and interprets social justice with his or her own arbitrary and ill-considered standards. To this end, CYCU’s education has been underscoring the balance between an academic education and personal character, providing human resources that will give our society a competitive advantage in the globalized market.

  5. Balance between the individual and the group
  6. Group learning is the new paradigm of global management. Aside from learning specialty knowledge and intellectual development, CYCU’s education particularly emphasizes group education and interpersonal skill development. For instance, CYCU encourages students to participate in society’s activities. As a result, service societies are quite popular at CYCU. To grow with our community, we have held activities such as “ Grand Sweeping for the Community’s Environmental Protection” and the “ Environment Feast” to illustrate environmentally-friendly concepts since CYCU’s fortieth celebration anniversary. Students’ participation in these organizations and activities is the positive feedback on the effectiveness of CYCU’s group education.

  7. Balance between body, mind and soul
  8. The strength of body and spirit is our foundation for life. Therefore, the balance between body, mind, and spirit is the first priority of our education. The body needs planned exercise to maintain its strength. For reaching this purpose, CYCU possesses the best swimming facilities in Taiwan, including an indoor heated swimming pool along with well-equipped resistance and cardiovascular training room. In addition, CYCU has a tradition in holding an intramural athletic meet each semester. CYCU also has the best counseling team to help students deal with psychological stress and stay mentally healthy. As for students’s pursuit of spiritual growth and maturity, CYCU provides students a prayer chapel and courses for life philosophy and religious philosophy. Thus, as becoming a well-rounded person requires a balance between the body, mind, and spirit, CYCU students will be equipped with the proper base for handling the challenges of our future world.