The Application of Laozi&#039;s Leadership Spirit in Contemporary Higher Education

Pang  Wenyao,; Marivic  B. Mutong,

The Application of Laozi's Leadership Spirit in Contemporary Higher Education

Discipline: Education

Abstract:

This paper examines the application of Laozi's leadership spirit in con-temporary higher education, focusing on the practice of integrating Laozi's ideas into teaching and policies, as well as the enlightenment of Laozi's educational philosophy for teachers and students. Employ-ing a qualitative design, an interview with two deans, 10 teacher rep-resentatives, and 6 class monitors from the School of Electrical Engi-neering at Shaanxi Polytechnic Institute of Industry was conducted. The study found that the school effectively integrates Laozi's "govern-ing by doing nothing" via flexible curricula, process-oriented teaching, and relaxed policies. This balances academic freedom with institu-tional constraints while fostering student autonomy and sustainable development. The areas of Laozi's philosophy inspire self-manage-ment through non-intervention, soft communication to resolve con-flicts, process-focused learning, and moral modelling, promoting edu-cational harmony.

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