The moral education curriculum and policy in Chinese junior high schools: changes and challenges
The purpose of this study was to examine China's moral education curriculum objectives; moral education effectiveness from the perspective of moral educators; the role of changing social context on moral education; a comparison of the effectiveness of moral education in rural and urban school districts; and their implications for moral education policy change in contemporary China. Quantitative data were collected from 25 Chinese middle schools to explore the effectiveness of moral education in Chinese middle schools. A content analysis of the moral education textbooks and instructional materials was conducted. The domain theory approach proposed by Turiel was adopted to analyze the existing problems of moral education in China. The results indicated that participants' experience had a significant effect on their view of the moral curriculum and teaching methods. The results also indicate that both experienced and veteran educators are more likely to believe that students respond positively to the current moral instruction than are inexperienced moral educators. The study did not find the role of participants' location to have any significant effect on their perception of the moral curriculum and teaching methods. Recommendations for future research include utilizing more mixed-method approaches. Further research should be undertaken concerning the effects of the changing social context for the implementation of the curriculum and teaching methods. In addition, further research is needed to determine the factors that influence the perception moral educators, especially when related to their experience and location.
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