The purpose of this paper is to consider whether any single philosophy of teaching can provide teachers with the freedom necessary to meet the needs of the diverse range of students they face in classrooms and move those students toward flexibility, creativity, and freedom. Using the writings of Chuang Tzu, a Taoist philosopher from the fourth century BCE, I discuss the three most central factors he considered to be limitations to true understanding and impediments to complete freedom (conceptualization, attachment, and language), and I consider how these factors apply to educational philosophies, particularly whole language and eclecticism. The paper closes by considering how Chuang Tzu understood “effective” actions and “true freedom” and the implications of these understandings for teachers.
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