Exploring Learning Themes in Taiwan’s Early Childhood Education and Care Curriculum Framework: Insights from Confucian Educational Philosophy of “Benevolence (Ren)”

Author's Information:

Yu-Hsing Chang

Department of Early Childhood Education and Care, Minghsin University of Science and Technology, Hsinchu Taiwan

Hsiu-Chin Lin

Department of Early Childhood Education and Care, Minghsin University of Science and Technology, Hsinchu Taiwan

Yu-Ci Yu

Department of Early Childhood Education, National Taitung University, Taitung, Taiwan

Muhammad Rafiq-uz-Zaman

Department of Education, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Punjab, Pakistan

Yi-Huang Shih

Center of Teacher Education, Minghsin University of Science and Technology, Hsinchu, Taiwan

Vol 03 No 04 (2026):Volume 03 Issue 04 April 2026

Page No.: 389-392

Abstract:

Anchored in the educational philosophy of benevolence (Ren, 仁), Taiwan’s Early Childhood Education and Care Curriculum Framework articulates nine learning goals and emphasizes the cultivation of six core competencies in young children. The framework systematically incorporates life education, multicultural education, aesthetic education, and moral education as key dimensions to support the holistic and balanced development of young learners. This paper adopts Confucius’s concept of benevolence (Ren) as a central interpretive lens to provide a philosophical analysis of the learning themes embedded within Taiwan’s Early Childhood Education and Care Curriculum Framework.

KeyWords:

young children, early childhood education, life education, multicultural education, aesthetic education, moral education

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