539. Thomas Jefferson and Confucian Educational Principles

Confucius is regarded as one of the greatest teachers in Chinese history, one whose educational principles have influenced schools and pupils over many centuries across the world. With this paper, I will examine how these Confucian principles were introduced to the United States and subsequently aided the development of the country’s modern school system. Thomas Jefferson, one of the nation’s Founding Fathers and earliest presidents, was at the forefront of this Confucius-led transformation. Jefferson sought to apply two of Confucius’ core educational principles, meritocracy and universal education, to what was, in his time, an unstandardized and European-centric school system emphasizing the Classics.

Jefferson espoused the concept of universal education as early as 1779 in his Bill for More General Diffusion of Knowledge. Jefferson was ahead of his time, but his vision would eventually be achieved by the twentieth century as the nation approached a universal education system. In recognition of his pioneering efforts, Jefferson would become regarded as both “a founding father of public education” and the “founding father of democratic education.