Evolving Perceptions of a 'Good Child' in Chinese Education

• In Event: Teaching and Teacher Education in China

Proposal

Education has always been deeply embedded in cultural, social, and historical contexts. Teachers’ educational and moral values are formed and shaped by the cultural traditions, societal expectations, and political discourses of their time. What is taught, and how it is taught, always reflects broader societal values and cultural assumptions. Yet culture is not static; it evolves over time as societies adapt to new social, political, and economic conditions.

The current study builds on the initial study conducted in 2013, in which a group of teachers were interviewed regarding their interpretations of “a good child”, specifically, what qualities are valued in a child and why. Cultivation of moral characteristics has always been an integral part of Chinese education, due to the influence of Confucianism. Currently, education in China continues to focus on cultivating desirable characteristics that can contribute to the development of socialism.

This research proceeds from the assumption that Chinese teachers’ moral and educational values have changed in response to broader cultural and societal change in China over the past 12 years. This study seeks to understand how Chinese teachers’ values have evolved across generations: what has changed in their values and what has remained the same, and why. By comparing teachers’ perspectives across time, this research aims to provide insight into how culture has transformed in China during the past decade. Specifically, we hope to identify what Chinese teachers value in a child, unfold the meanings of their values, and reveal what has changed in their values and the assumptions underlying their practice. We strive to understand how change and continuity in their values were constrained by changes in Chinese culture and education.

The current study employs a mixed-methods approach, with a combination of document analysis and in-depth interviews. Document analysis includes a comparative review of the 2001 and 2022 Compulsory Education Curriculum Guidelines and Standards to identify shifts in language, priorities, and values. The initial study involved in-depth interviews with a group of kindergarten teachers who were born in the late 1970s and early 1980s regarding their interpretations of “a good child”. A thematic analysis approach was employed to identify recurring themes in teachers' interpretations. To ensure consistency and comparability, the current study adopts the same approach by interviewing a new generation of kindergarten teachers who were born in the 1990s and 2000s in order to examine how teachers’ values may have evolved over time. These interviews were conducted in the spring and summer of 2025.

The findings from the 2013 study show that Chinese kindergarten teachers’ beliefs about the desirable qualities in a good child, were largely based on their interpretations of the moral values embedded in the 2001 Compulsory Education Curriculum Guidelines and Standards published by the Ministry of Education in China. Teachers still desired qualities that were rooted in Confucian traditions and contemporary socialist values in a child, such as honesty, respect, obedience, and conformity. Teachers also valued the qualities that were emphasized in Chinese culture such as diligence, responsibility, and cooperation in a child. In addition, the findings also indicated a shift in teachers’ perspectives from the traditional Chinese values as they began to emphasize the importance of individuality and independence in their interviews.

The preliminary findings from the ongoing study suggest that the new generation of teachers tend to value a broader range of qualities that they believe would lead to a successful and happy life. These include cognitive qualities such as curiosity, self-motivation, and concentration, emotional and behavioral qualities such as resilience, emotional regulation, and autonomy, and social and moral qualities such as empathy and compassion.

This shift reflects a growing alignment with global standards for holistic child development, as well as the new emphasis of the 2022 Compulsory Education Curriculum Guidelines and Standards. The 2022 guidelines have placed emphasis on well-rounded development, encouraging teachers to move beyond narrow academic benchmarks toward broader domains including emotional well-being and interpersonal competence. At the meso level, local initiatives and collaborations with Chinese universities and global organizations promote differentiated curricular practices and pedagogical exploration, which have helped teachers broaden their horizons and perspectives.

At the micro level, teachers’ evolving beliefs are shaped by their personal biographies, including experiences of growing up in authoritarian households with their parents from the 1970s and 1980s, which prompt their reflection on the limits of obedience-based values. At the same time, intergenerational family traditions and local parenting practices exert cultural continuity and normative pressure. Many teachers expressed the challenge of navigating the tension between honoring traditional virtues and addressing children’s contemporary emotional needs in a fast-changing society.

Authors

• Wei Liu, College of Education

• LIANG CHENXI