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The Confucian Ethics Curriculum in Singapore 101

before teaching in order to make their instruction more effective.” The manuals
“are divided into ten sections on a lesson-by-lesson basis,” namely: (1) Teaching
Objectives; (2) Behavioral Objectives; (3) Key Points of the Texts; (4) Pedagogy and
Teaching Process; (5) Famous Sentences; (6) Audio-Visual Materials; (7) Activity
Suggestions; (8) Assignment Guidance; (9) Supplementary Materials and (10)
Bibliography. These ten items were undoubtedly extremely helpful in assisting the
teachers with pre-class preparation, actual teaching in the classroom, as well as
extended instruction after class (e.g., assigning homework and setting assess-
ments). But perhaps what is particularly noteworthy is the Supplementary Mate-
rials and Bibliography for further reading.
The Supplementary Materials are in fact a compilation of commentaries on the
original Confucian texts or analyses by scholars on the more difficult parts of the
passages, meant to facilitate teachers’ understanding. For example, for the text
“The Spirit of Seeking Knowledge—Investigation of Things and Extension of
Knowledge” for secondary three, the editors believed that it was necessary to
provide materials to enable teachers to gain a deeper understanding of the
following topics: first, the spirit of investigating things and extending knowledge;
second, critical thinking emphasized by Confucians; and third, the four things
Confucius rejected. Accordingly, they sought for the relevant explanations from:
first, Section Five “Investigation of Things and Extension of Knowledge (释格物致
知)” of Zhu Xi’s(朱熹 1130–1200) Commentaries on the Four Books (《四书集注》);
second, Hu Shi’s(胡适 1891–1962) The Spirit and Method of Science in Chinese
Philosophy (《中国哲学里的科学精神与方法》), and third, Chen Ta-chi’s (陈大齐
1886–1983) “On The Four Things Confucius Rejected (《孔子的四毋》),” and other
treatises and included them in the manuals as Supplementary Materials for
teachers’ reference.
The editors of the textbooks also compiled a list of the most frequently cited
texts or treatises referred to in the Supplementary Materials, or books which they
felt should be recommended to teachers as essential reference readings. The list is
placed on the end pages of the two teacher’s manuals for secondary three and four,
called “Introduction to Supplementary Readings.” These sources include more
than 40 books variously written by Yang Bojun (杨伯峻 1909–1992), Hou Wailu
(侯外庐 1903–1987), Ren Jiyu (任继愈 1916–2009), Feng Youlan (冯友兰
1895–1990), Lao Sze-Kwang (劳思光 1927–2012), Xiong Shili (熊十力 1885–1968),
Mou Chung-san (牟宗三 1909–1995), Tang Chun-I (唐君毅 1909–1978), Hsu Foo-
kwan (徐复观 1904–1982), Tu Wei-ming (杜维明), Liang Shuming (梁漱溟
1893–1988), Zhang Yinlin (张荫麟 1905–1942), Ch’ien Mu (钱穆 1895–1990), Yu
Ying-shih (1930–2021), Tsai Jen-hou (蔡仁厚 1930–2019), Thome H. Fang (方东美