Journal of Green Learning Journal of Green Learning, e-ISSN 2807-890X Vol. 2, No. 1, 2022, pp. 68-77. DOI: 10.53889/jgl.v2i1.107 -------------------------------------------------------- Confucian conception of critical thinking in teaching English as a foreign language in Myanmar Soe Darli Wai 1 1 Department of English, Myitkyina University, Myitkyina, Myanmar Article Info ABSTRACT Article history: Received September 21, 2021 Revised February 18, 2022 Accepted March 29, 2022 The Confucian-Western dichotomy often interprets as Eastern and Western learning. In the framework of lifelong learning, the Confucian philosophy hypothesizes learning as a lifelong progression through which learners of any age learn to become an honorable person and to lead a morally outstanding life. This research has been done to find out whether the Confucian conception of critical thinking possesses is like harmonizing mechanisms to those of the Western conception of critical thinking. This research discovers the comparison of Confucian conception of critical thinking and the Western conception of critical thinking through literature review and text analysis. Reflection on interview survey, questionnaire survey and classroom observation show that Confucian “enlightening approach” works efficiently in today‟s effort in critical thinking cultivation in English teaching. The study suggests detailed research in building the theoretical framework for the Confucian conception of critical thinking, examination of other approaches to develop critical thinking abilities in addition the “enlightening approach,” and in-depth studies of present practical research on critical thinking in TEFL in Myanmar to see how they can be useful in materializing Confucian conception of critical thinking. Keywords: Bloom‟s Taxonomy Confucian conception critical thinking TEFL western conception This is an open access article under the CC BY-SA license. Corresponding Author: Soe Darli Wai Department of English Myitkyina University Myitkyina Myanmar Email: soedarliwai89@gmail.com 1. INTRODUCTION Myanmar English teachers and scholars, in their effort to develop critical thinking skills among EFL students, have looked more to Western conception and practice of critical thinking rather than the native Confucian conception of critical thinking. Myanmar EFL teachers‟ views on Confucian education thought and its conception of critical thinking and its compatibility and comparison with Western conception of critical thinking, a case study, and a field observation are explored in this study. 1.1 Confucian conception of critical thinking According to House et.al. (2004), East Asian countries including Myanmar, China, and South Korea have been acutely influenced by Confucian educational philosophies. Kee (2007) also suggested “Confucian pedagogic cultures” concluding that, “Despite variations among them, these cultures share the following primary pedagogic patterns: a premium placed on education, high social status of, and respect for, the teacher, student attention and discipline in class, mastery of foundational knowledge, and repeated practice”. Besides, Marginson (2011) observed the dynamic educational system operated in Asia as the “Confucian Model” which serves as an edge for Asian universities to compete with Western universities and offers a unique model for the universities in the world. Meanwhile, in Asia, increasing research in incorporating Confucian educational thought into present teaching has been done. Wei‟s (2016) exploration of Confucian conception of critical thinking in today‟s English teaching seemed outnumbered by the many studies on “critical thinking and English teaching.” Till today, however, there is no clear theory and operation system in developing critical skills in Myanmar‟s current foreign language teaching. Ma (2019) found that “content-based teaching mode, classroom questioning, argumentative discourse https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ 69 analysis, critical thinking assessment, the application of information technology” were listed as the five aspects of the hot issues. So far, Berthal (2017) pointed out, besides making connections between knowledge and practice, Confucius also encouraged his students to embrace people from different backgrounds. Sigurðsson (2017) devised the term of “transformative self-critical attitude” found in Confucian critical thinking as something neglected in the contemporary West. Wu (2018) concluded that ultimately, the purpose of Confucian education is to foster a student to become a junzi, the exemplary person depicted in Confucian classics (gentleman; literally, “ruler's son” or “noble son”). A junzi should always be 1) open to new knowledge and good at making connections between old and new information; 2) self-aware, self-reflective, and empathetic; 3) able to conduct analysis and recognize truth from false information; 4) able to consider information from multiple sources; 5) dare to doubt authority and draw accurate conclusions; and 6) good at doing evaluations to correct mistakes. Consequently, an ideal person in Confucianism is really a critical thinker who can “identify its strengths and weakness and change it in improved form”. According to Xueli (2010), “Critical thinking, interpreted broadly as skillful, reflective and responsible thinking that facilitates judgement, is an integral component of Confucian education. The improves of students‟ critical thinking capacities through approaches such as asking and responding to questions, engaging in reflective discussions, and forming one‟s own conclusions. Students are usually discouraged to stand out, to question and to challenge, in Myanmar teacher-student relationship. Students in following Western based education think that when measured across the cultural scopes of power distance and uncertainty avoidance, lectures developed as the most perceived effective technique preferred (self-reported by students). In summary, East Asian students who are in a traditional Confucian framework are more possible to be hardworking yet respectful and lacking critical thinking. Teachers seem to have suffered too. Confucian traditions of self-discipline and respect for authority might constrain learners‟ independence, innovative thinking and free expression in the classroom which can bound creativity and scientific development”. Confucian education thought, and its conception of critical thinking seems to appear as a kaleidoscope from which different people see (choose to see) different things under the push and pull of different features. 1.2 Western conception of critical thinking Today, critical thinking is viewed as a vital skill for talents of the 21 st century. According to Chaffee (2014), the original meaning of the word “critical” means to notice the essence of things and analyze it. Ennis (1962) expanded critical thinking as “reasonable, reflective thinking that is focused on deciding what to believe or do.” John Dewey (1923) defined critical thinking as “reflective thinking” and proposed a model developing from “suggestion, problem definition, hypothesis generation, reasoning, and hypothesis testing”. Ryan & Louie (2007) thought that critical thinking is regarded as the Western or Euro-American thinking with a history of 2,500 years. As the father and model of critical thinking, Socrates passed on a critical attitude that people should never take things for granted; instead, they should seek truth through evidence collection and reasoning. The 1930s perceived a growth of research interest in critical thinking in America. The cultivation of critical thinking skills has become the center of American educational reform during the 1980s. Thus far, innovative teaching methods including experimental education, team projects, jigsaw projects, case studies have facilitated the development of critical thinking skills among students. Since the 1990s, researchers around the world have continued to conduct thorough study in critical thinking. Scriven observed that under the influence of postmodernism, critical thinking took on the factor of “questioning and challenging the existing knowledge and social habitudes” as essential. Paul & Elder (2019) summarized critical thinking as “the art of thinking in such a way to: 1) identify its (the objective‟s) strengths and weaknesses, and 2) recast it in improved form (where necessary)” (Wu & Yin, 2018). Critical thinking abilities are highly valued as the higher levels of Bloom‟s taxonomy. “Western teachers are encouraged to emphasize the higher levels of Bloom‟s taxonomy. They have a good command of the lower levels of this taxonomy if students can analyze, synthesize, and evaluate freely what they have learned. Moreover, the higher levels of this taxonomy are supposed to lead to greater autonomy in thinking (Luo, 2021). In other words, critical thinking skills are far more significant than just mastery of knowledge. Western teachers frown upon those who teach only the lower levels of Bloom‟s taxonomy” (Victor & Storey, 2015). According to Bloom and his associates, the taxonomy comprised six levels, from lower levels to higher levels: “knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. The first three levels are considered lower levels, and the other three levels are seen as higher levels of this taxonomy. 2. RESEARCH OBJECTIVE Learning in Confucian terms is understood and practiced as learning for the sake of learning itself, as opposed to learning for the sake of a helpful purpose. Learning is considered characteristic of the competition- oriented conception of critical thinking in the contemporary West in the context of globalization. The aim of this study is threefold. First, it will discover conception of critical thinking from the Confucian philosophy. Second, 70 we will investigate language teachers‟ understanding of teaching and learning across the conception of critical thinking in western learning culture. 3. METHOD Teaching English as a foreign language in Myanmar perceives the meeting of two thinking patterns, including Confucian critical thinking and Western critical thinking. Therefore, it would be of great value to compare two critical thinking patterns in the process of TEFL to see how they interrelate for a better learning result. So far very few experimental studies have directly focused on how to apply Confucian educational principles to improve critical thinking skills, particularly in English teaching. An examination into a classroom observation, interview survey and questionnaire study were directed to explore the probable application of Confucian conception of critical thinking to TEFL in Myanmar. The interview survey and the questionnaire were adapted from Paul & Elder (2019). Data for this research were collected from postgraduate students and academics at selected universities. Purposive sampling technique was used which allowed the researchers to collect data from key informants. A mixed methods approach was adopted in this study. A questionnaire with predominantly closed ended questions was used to collect quantitative data. Qualitative data were collected by conducting follow-up interviews with some academic staff. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyze quantitative data from both students and academics. Some frequencies and percentages generated using SPSS were exported to MS Excel to produce charts and MS Word to produce tables. Interviews were recorded using recording applications on iPhone X smartphones. The recorded interviews were then transcribed using the Transcribe© software into MS word. Qualitative data were analyzed thematically. The strength of this study is the use of a mixed methods approach which allowed the researchers to triangulate the results. In this context, data collected using questionnaires from students and academic staff were used to confirm each other, and we drew the conclusions of the study based on the findings that were supported most by data sources. To ensure that the questionnaire was free from errors, its content was subjected to pretesting in two ways. First, the researcher asked experts in research in higher education to comment on the questionnaire focusing on clarity, question wording, validity and order of the questions. Second, the researcher piloted the questionnaire with 10 postgraduate students and 2 lecturers at the University. Postgraduate students and lecturers were used in the pilot study because they were similar to the target population of our study. Feedback from education experts and the pilot study was used to make corrections on the questionnaire. Ethical issues were addressed in two ways in this study. First, the researcher sought and were granted permission by the Rectors of selected universities. Permission to conduct this study through the university research ethics committee was sought. Second, before taking part in the study, participants were informed through a consent letter that they were taking part in the study voluntarily. The consent letter further informed participants that even if they had accepted to participate in the study, they were at liberty to withdraw at any stage of the study without giving reasons. The participants signed the consent letter to show that they had read the content and that they were taking part in the study voluntarily. 3.1 Case study of critical thinking development at the selected universities in Myanmar In January 2020, to incorporate elements of critical thinking in the classes of English to help foster critical thinking abilities among students has been made. The English department developed a three-step approach of “slowing down” “verification” and “awakening” to facilitate critical thinking among students as the article reported. “Slowing down” allows in-depth thinking for students to ask questions and to search for answers. Until finally they are roused to a new idea or conclusion, they test and verify their ideas or thoughts. The teacher in the process directed the students along the quest with questions and guidance, a very similar process Confucius enlightened his students. In the “enlightening approach” in Confucian tradition, Confucius said, “I do not enlighten (a person who is) not striving (to understand); I do not provide (the words to a person who is) not already struggling to speak. (Analects 7:8). According to Tan (2017), Confucius modeled how he as a teacher “fosters reflection and inferential thinking by providing the initial point of learning and expecting the student to make their own deductions and judgements”. 3.2 Classroom observation on critical thinking In January 2020, 50 students (17-20 years old) in the class were observed for a very cooperative English learning environment. In this classroom, 50 students were divided into 5 groups following a routine of role playing, watching video, group discussion and presentation. Each day the camp started with a game or craft to help the students break ice and warm up. Then they watched a TEDS talk and discussed about what they heard from the lectures. Then two groups formed one side to take on the other side formed by another two groups, debating on the topic. They started to work within their groups on the final project in the afternoon. For the final project, each group was asked to discuss their dream life, divide it into different life stages, talk about different challenges they might face and how to overcome the problems. Finally, each group was 71 going to present their dream life with the combination of PPT, videos and stage play. The students discussed with their partners, shared their ideas with group members, and worked together. These are my observations: i. The students enjoyed the hands-on experience with crafts and games that helped them get a handle of critical thinking. The students enjoyed the fun process and each member in the group contributed ideas and efforts. After that, each group reflected on what they had done right or wrong in the course and shared them with other groups. All the components of critical thinking; thinking, discussion, testing, creation, and reflection were covered. ii. However, the students did not feel contented in challenging their friends and teachers in projects like debating, in spite of they had good ideas and could express them well. They naturally drew back and let their teammates to speak for them after they shared their ideas in the group. iii. Besides being reluctant to challenge, students seem to be able to accommodate paradoxical thinking well. In face of one problem, they thought hard, thought long, and came up with very detailed solutions. 4. RESULT AND DISCUSSION The research in and practice of cultivating Confucian conception of critical thinking skills can provide students with the chance to understand and take charge of their learning. Students are able to fill in the six levels of Bloom‟s taxonomy of knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation after modeling and training. Their comprehension and application of their knowledge gave their groups to compete with other groups. They also have critical thinking naturally. It can be seen that the characters of group thinking attitude behind the “contextual critique.” According to a classroom observation, interview survey and questionnaire study, critical thinking skills are regarded as one of the major components of all examinations across subjects in teaching English as a Foreign Language in Myanmar. Therefore, foreign language learning comprises not only the mastering of language knowledge but also the cultivation of critical thinking skills. 4.1 Reflection on the Interview Survey To investigate Myanmar language teachers‟ understanding of teaching and learning across the Confucian conception of critical thinking, interview survey was made. The following presents the reflection on the interview survey of teachers. Table 1 Teachers‟ interview responses SN Theme Discussion 1 Asking and responding to questions Interviewee 1 We put more emphasis on fostering students‟ ability to question and think, to cultivate a serious scientific attitude. Interviewee 2 An ideal learner is also keenly aware of lifelong learning and daily improvement. Interviewee 3 The man who asks a question is a fool for a minute, the man who does not ask is a fool for life. (Mark Twain) 2 Engaging in reflective discussions Interviewee 4 The students adjusted to each other‟s critique thinking approaches and worked well together, which gave an encouraging hope for Confucian critical thinking and Western critical thinking to complement each other. Interviewee 5 An ideal learner should also be brave to admit mistakes and correct them. Interviewee 6 My Practice: How to engage quiet students in the classroom break away from whole group discussions. Whole-group activities remain a common method of instruction. Offer alternatives for discussions and presentations. Use roles to change the group work dynamic. Have private one-on-one conversations with students. 3 Forming one‟s own conclusions Interviewee 7 Confucian‟s enlightenment approach still works very well in facilitating questions and thinking for students. Interviewee 8 An ideal learner should be self-reflective and empathetic in study, interpersonal relationship, and business. Each day I reflect on myself upon three points. In transacting business for others, whether I have been faithful or not? In intercourse with friends, whether I have been sincere or not? And whether I have mastered and 72 practiced the instructions of my teacher or not? Interviewee 9 I believe that discussions can be an excellent strategy for enhancing student motivation, fostering intellectual agility, and encouraging democratic habits. They create opportunities for students to practice and sharpen several skills, including the ability to articulate and defend positions, consider different points of view, and enlist and evaluate evidence. In the interviews, how the teachers tried to create an active atmosphere in the class to encourage students to speak up, a favorable environment for critical thinking to blossom has been discussed. According to interviewees (1, 2 & 3), they agree with theme 1 as they emphasize on asking and responding to questions. Therefore, they have potential impact on it. According to interview data, an ideal learner is also keenly aware of lifelong learning and daily improvement, as Confucius said that if students can improve themselves in a day, do so each day, forever building on improvement. Moreover, they also suggest that an ideal learner should be self-reflective and empathetic in study, interpersonal relationship, and business. According to them, an ideal learner should also be brave to admit mistakes and correct them, as Confucius said that having made a mistake and not correcting it, is another mistake itself. An ideal learner can embrace new knowledge openly, nonjudgmentally yet carefully before he puts it into practice and develop wisdom from it. He raises energetic questions and problems, expressing them clearly and exactly. So, the teachers have potential impact on engaging in reflective discussions. According to interviewees (7, 8 & 9), teachers accept that students to gather and assess relevant information and come to well-reasoned conclusions and solutions, testing them against appropriate norms and standards. Critical thinking is self-directed, self-disciplined, self-monitored, and self-corrective thinking. It involves effective communication and problem-solving abilities and a commitment to overcome our native self- interest and sociocentrism. Thus, the teachers agree with forming one‟s own conclusions. 4.2 Reflection on the questionnaire survey The following table indicates the reflection on the questionnaire survey of students‟ views on the purpose of Confucian education (Table 2). Table 2 Students‟ views on the purpose of Confucian education (n=113) SN Statements Responses Calculation Decision Strongly disagree Dis- agree Some- times Agree Strongly agree Mean SD 1 A junzi should always be open to new knowledge and good at making connections between old and new information. 1% 7% 23% 28% 41% 4.01 1.00 Very important 2 A junzi should always be self-aware, self- reflective, and empathetic. 5% 7% 33% 44% 11% 3.49 0.95 Very important 3 A junzi should always be able to conduct analysis and recognize truth from false information. 5% 13% 35% 26% 21% 3.45 1.11 Very important 4 A junzi should always be able to consider information from multiple sources. 3% 4% 22% 34% 37% 3.98 1.01 Very important 5 A junzi should always be dared to doubt authority and draw accurate conclusions. 3% 8% 14% 37% 38% 3.99 1.05 Very important 6 A junzi should always be good at doing 2% 6% 23% 34% 35% 3.94 1.00 Very important 73 evaluations to correct mistakes. Average 3% 8% 25% 34% 31% 3.81 1.05 Very important Note: 1.00-1.80=Considered as not important 1.81-2.60=Considered as somewhat important 2.61-3.40=Considered as important 3.41-4.20=Considered as very important 4.21-5.00=Considered as extremely important According to the data, students‟ views on the purpose of Confucian education has been considered as very important. Students considered as very important in item 1 that they should always be open to new knowledge and good at making connections between old and new information. Critical thinking skills are regarded as one of the major components across subjects. Students‟ ability to analyze, suggest, define problems, reason, test hypotheses, interpret, explain, solve problems, and innovate is assessed. Consequently, how to foster students‟ growth as critical thinkers has become a matter of importance for Myanmar educators across the educational spectrum. It has been also found that they should always be dared to doubt authority and draw accurate conclusions. The Means of the data have different in numbers, they are considered as very important according to the limitation 3.41-4.20, that means considered as very important. Berthel (2017) found the component of critical thinking implanted in Confucianism the same way it is in liberal ideals for education. Central to the Myanmar education mission is the concept that genuinely valuable learning is not categorized by the memorization of a body of information but slightly necessarily requires an ability to respond instinctively and appropriately to numerous situations, engage meaningfully with those around us, and cultivate the wherewithal to relate peacefully and effectively with all. It has been found the following traits of an ideal learner in the Confucian education tradition that resemble those of a critical thinker through classroom observation analysis. An ideal learner is all ears and eyes for new information and is perceptive about them, as Confucius says, “I use my ears widely and follow what is good in what I have heard; I use my eyes widely and retain what I have seen in my mind. Knowledge will follow if we consistently do it” (Analects 7:27). Table 3 shows the teacher participant‟s views on the practice of Confucian conception of critical thinking. Table 3 Teacher participants‟ views on the practice of Confucian conception of critical thinking (n=69) SN Statements Responses Calculation Decision Never Seldom Some- times Often Alwa ys Mean SD 1 Besides making connections between knowledge and practice, we encouraged our students to accept people from different backgrounds. 11% 27% 22% 18% 22% 3.13 1.32 Important 2 Our students are trained to have an ability to respond naturally and appropriately to numerous situations, engage meaningfully with those around us, and cultivate the ability to interact peacefully and efficiently with all. 5% 17% 30% 24% 24% 3.45 1.17 Very important 3 We train our students to be keenly aware of lifelong learning and daily improvement. 15% 19% 25% 21% 20% 3.12 1.34 Important 4 We train our students to be brave to admit mistakes and correct them. 13% 14% 22% 24% 27% 3.38 1.35 Important Average 11% 19% 25% 22% 23% 3.27 1.31 Important 74 Note: 1.00-1.80=Considered as not important, 1.81-2.60=Considered as somewhat important 2.61-3.40=Considered as important 3.41-4.20=Considered as very important 4.21-5.00=Considered as extremely important According to Table 3, the teachers suggest that Confucian thoughts encourage people to learn by thinking analytically and critically. These thoughts are consistent with that, a critical thinker should be good at conducting analysis, drawing accurate conclusions, and articulating thoughts. Myanmar students are trained to have an ability to respond naturally and appropriately to numerous situations, engage meaningfully with those around them, and cultivate the ability to interact peacefully and efficiently with all. Table 4 expresses the teacher participant‟s views on the practice of Western conception of critical thinking. Table 4 Teacher participants‟ views on practice of western conception of critical thinking (n=69) SN Statements Responses Calculation Decision Never Seldom Some- times Often Always Mean SD 1 Students are encouraged to emphasize the higher levels of Bloom‟s taxonomy. 5% 21% 30% 33% 11% 3.24 1.06 Important 2 Students are trained to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate freely what they have learned to have a good command of the higher levels of taxonomy. 4% 13% 31% 30% 22% 3.53 1.09 Very important 3 The higher levels of taxonomy are believed to lead to greater autonomy in thinking. 6% 15% 33% 28% 18% 3.37 1.12 Important 4 Critical thinking skills are far more important than just mastery of knowledge. 1% 18% 31% 33% 17% 3.47 1.00 Very important 5 Myanmar teachers teach only the higher levels of Bloom‟s taxonomy. 14% 14% 22% 34% 16% 3.24 1.27 Important Average 6% 16% 29% 32% 17% 3.37 1.12 Important Note: 1.00-1.80=Considered as not important, 1.81-2.60=Considered as somewhat important 2.61-3.40=Considered as important 3.41-4.20=Considered as very important 4.21-5.00=Considered as extremely important According to Table 4, the teachers suggest that students need to be trained Western conception of critical thinking. These thoughts are similar that students are encouraged to emphasize the higher levels of Bloom‟s taxonomy and critical thinking skills are far more important than just mastery of knowledge. Meanwhile, Myanmar students are trained to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate freely what they have learned to have a good command of the higher levels of taxonomy. The following table points out the comparison of teacher participants‟ views between practice of Confucian conception of critical thinking and Western conception of critical thinking. 75 Table 5 Comparison of teacher participants‟ views between practice of Confucian conception of critical thinking and Western conception of critical thinking (n=69) SN Statements Responses Calculation Decision Never Seldom Some- times Often Always Mean SD 1 Teacher participants‟ views on the practice of Confucian conception of critical thinking 11% 19% 25% 22% 23% 3.27 1.31 Important 2 Teacher participants‟ views on practice of western conception of critical thinking 6% 16% 29% 32% 17% 3.37 1.12 Important Average 8.5% 17.5% 27.0% 27.0% 20.0% 3.33 1.22 Important Note: 1.00-1.80=Considered as not important, 1.81-2.60=Considered as somewhat important 2.61-3.40=Considered as important 3.41-4.20=Considered as very important 4.21-5.00=Considered as extremely important Confucian conception of critical thinking is expected to be on an equal footing with the Western conception of critical thinking, which makes their meeting and combination possible. Thus, it can be decided that Confucian critical thinking is comparable with Bloom‟s taxonomy of educational objective, very correlated with the skills of critical thinking. Wu (2018) claimed about “the urgent necessity to explore how to properly apply the Confucian view of critical thinking to benefit students‟ development in both East Asian and Western countries”. In contrast, critical thinking cannot be divided from basic skills. Higher-ordered thinking activities are constructed on mastering fundamental knowledge. Having outstanding elementary knowledge and skills is an advantage of the students (El Islami et.al., 2018). There is great value in understanding and applying Confucian conception of critical thinking in developing critical thinking skills among Myanmar students; and its theoretical framework and empirical work needs other study. The next consequence is that Confucian conception of critical thinking is well-suited with Western conception of critical thinking with the identical components of analysis, synthesis and evaluation, and its exclusive background, solution-based orientation could complement the Western conception of critical thinking. The third implication is that, reliving approaches and methods in Confucian education tradition for the cultivation of critical thinking skills is of importance, incorporation of other research findings in critical thinking and TEFL is necessary as well, especially in reaching the full capacity of the six levels of Bloom‟s Taxonomy. Finally, cultural factors are to be considered in contextualizing and participating Western conception of critical thinking into Confucian conception of critical thinking to produce good results. Figure 1 Students‟ views on the purpose of Confucian education (n=113) Mean=4.01 Mean=[VALUE] Mean=[VALUE] Mean=[VALUE] Mean=[VALUE] Mean=[VALUE] 0,00 0,50 1,00 1,50 2,00 2,50 3,00 3,50 4,00 4,50 5,00 Making connections between old and new information Being self- aware, self- reflective, and empathetic Recognizing truth from false information Considering information from multiple sources Drawing accurate conclusions Doing evaluations to correct mistakes Students' views on the purpose of Confucian education 76 According to the figure (1), students‟ views on the purpose of Confucian education has been considered as very important. Students consider that they should always open to new knowledge and good at making connections between old and new information. They also think that they need to draw accurate conclusions. Then, they discuss that considering information from multiple sources is very important. In conclusion, it is shown that Myanmar teachers agree with Confucian conception of critical thinking and highly accept it as very important in education. Nevertheless, culture is watery, not stiff, exclusively in the age of globalization. In a study, Kaur & Noman (2015) shared a finding indicated that, “collectivist teachers will accept individualistic practices of teaching which are similar to their own cultural beliefs”. Therefore, the East is meeting the West with unlimited opportunities. The suggestion is that critical thinking is both a skill, and an important component of humankind. Confucian education thought, with “to be fully human” as its main concern, could spread rich findings in this area worthy of future research. 5. RECOMMENDATION Re-experiencing the value of Confucian conception of critical thinking and discovering its application in today‟s English teaching is assumed in today‟s world by many researchers from home and abroad that finally stands on its own for its implication. This study has tried to explore the Confucian conception of critical thinking, its compatibility with the Western conception of critical thinking, and its implication for TEFL in Myanmar. This research hopes to point to the diverse instructions for more research in the future including empirical research into the application of Confucian critical thinking in actual classroom teaching in general, and in TEFL in particular, and if the two could complement each other; exploration of the situation and outcome of the integration of Western critical thinking and Confucian critical thinking; how Confucian critical thinking plays out in Myanmar, Asia, and the world. 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