Ideopolitical shifts and changes in moral educatio

IdeopoliticalshiftsandchangesinmoraleducationpolicyinChinaWingOnLee*aandChiHangHobaUniversityofSydney,Australia;bHongKongInstituteofEducation,People’sRepublicofChinaMoraleducationisalwayscloselyassociatedwithpoliticsinChina,andtheterm‘moraleducation’isofteninterchangeablewithsuchothertermsasideologicalandpoliticaleducation.Officially,moraleducationisseenasanimportanttoolinupholdingthesocialistnatureoftheschoolandsociety.ThispaperexaminesthechangingpoliticalandideologicalorientationsinChina,andtheirimplicationsforpolicychangeinmoraleducationsince1978.ThepaperreportsonacasestudyonThenewthreecharacterclassicmovementinGuangdongprovince,afocalpointofopeningup.Thisdemonstratessomechangesintheorientationsofthemoraleducationcurriculum,includingthegrowingconcernaboutindividualwell-beingandthemoralqualityofcitizensthatwouldfitwithasocietythatisfastchangingunderthereformandopening-uppolicy,andbeingintegratedintotheworld.Itisarguedthatthereisaclearreorientationformoraleducationtobedisassociatedfrompolitics,andreplacedbyanemphasisonpersonalmoralquality,aswellasindividualwell-being,suchaspsychologicalhealth.IntroductionMoraleducationisalwayscloselyassociatedwithpoliticsinChina.Asamatteroffact,theterm‘moraleducation’(daodejiaoyu)isalsocalledideologicaleducation(sixiangjiaoyu)orpoliticaleducation(zhengzhijiaoyu)and/orideopoliticaleducation,andmoralqualitiesarecoinedasideomoraland/orideopolitical-moralqualities(sixiangzhengzhisuzhi)(e.g.seePeople’sRepublicofChina(PRC)StateEducationCommission1988a,b,1990).Thesethreetermsareusedinterchange-ablyintheliterature,andtheyareconceptuallyintertwinedwithoneanother.TheetymologicaltransferabilityofthesetermsrevealsthenatureofmoraleducationinChina,beingregardedessentiallyasameansofpoliticalsocialisation,intransmittingideologicalandpoliticalvaluesnotonlytothestudents,butalsotothepopulaceatlarge.ItisnoteworthythatChinaisoneofthefewcountriesthatrequiresstudentstostudymoraleducationinhighereducation.Asthe1988Noticeonreformingand*Correspondingauthor.FacultyofEducationandSocialWork,UniversityofSydney,NSW2006,Australia.Email:[e-mail]nVol.34,No.4,December2005,pp.413–431ISSN0305-7240(print)/ISSN1465-3877(online)/05/040413–19#2005JournalofMoralEducationLtdDOI:10.1080/03057240500410160strengtheningthemoraleducationworkinsecondaryandprimaryschools,issuedbytheChineseCommunistParty(CCP)(1988,p.356),putit,‘moraleducationisideologicalandpoliticaleducation.Itplaysanimportantroleinupholdingthesocialistnatureoftheschool’.Achangeofpoliticalcircumstancesalwaysgeneratesknock-oneffectsonmoraleducationdevelopmentinChina.Hence,moraleducationbothreflectspoliticalchangeandisalsotobeunderstoodintermsofpoliticalchange.Theaimofthispaperistoshowtheinter-relationshipsbetweenpoliticalchangesandmoraleducationchanges.Ideologicalshiftssince1978Theturnofthe1990switnessedanoveralldenunciationofCommunisminEastEuropeancountries.ChinahasremainedoneoftheveryfewcountriesintheworldthatstillupholdsCommunismasthestateideology.However,thisisfarfromimplyingideologicalstagnation.Onthecontrary,overthelast20years,thereweresubstantialandvibrantinternalideologicaldebatesunderthebrandnameofCommunismand,asaresult,newideologiesemergedwithintheideology.Tociteafewexamples:‘ReformandOpeningUpPolicy’,1‘FourCardinalPrinciples’,2‘FourModernisations’,‘primarystageofsocialism’,‘socialistmarketeconomy’,‘respon-sibilitysystem’,‘ThreeRepresents’andsoon.TheThirdPlenumoftheEleventhCCPCentralCommitteeheldin1978markedthebeginningofanewageofideologicaldevelopment.Theadoptionofthereformandopenpolicyhasbeenaccompaniedbydebatesnotonlyonpolicyissues,butalsoonmoralissues,whichareinherentlyrelatedtoideologicalissues.Thefrequencyofreview,discussionanddebatewassohighthatidentifiablenewissuesemergedalmosteveryotheryear.Analysingthegovernment’schangingperceptiontowardstheintellectuals,forexample,Franklin(1989)observesaseriesofwavesofdebates,whichcanbesummarisedinthefollowingperiods:1978–1989:Rehabilitationoftheintellectuals1980–1982:Theemergenceofguidelinesforintellectualexpressions1983–1984:Fromexpansionofacademicfreedomtoanti-spiritualpollution1985–1987:Fromliberalisationofintellectualexpressionstoanti-bourgeoisliberalisation1988–1989:FromfurtherextensionofmarketmechanismstofurtherstudentdemonstrationsTheideologicaldebatesduring1978–1989arefullyelaboratedinFranklin’spaper.Inthemain,during1978–1979,withtheadoptionoftheopening-uppolicy,DengXiaopingrevitalisedthesignificanceoftheintellectuals,sothattheycouldplayadualroleofcriticisingbothultra-leftist(suchas‘bureaucraticconservatism’)andultra-rightisttendencies(suchas‘individualism’),whichcouldhindertherealisationofsocialistmodernisation.However,thetidechangedduring1980–1982.TheCCPbegantolaunchcampaignsagainstthe‘criticalrealist’writerswhoweretoonegativetowardspartyleadersandproduceddestructivesocialandpoliticaleffects.TheCCPrequiredartistsandwriterstosupporttheFourCardinalPrinciplesandprovideabalancedviewofCCPhistory.414W.O.LeeandC.H.HoTheperiod1983–1984wasmarkedbyacombinationofrenewedpu