Life and moral education in mainland China: School experiences, challenges, and prospects

In mainland China, life education has experienced continuous development in recent decades; however, there are no unified standards or guidelines for implementation. The development of life education is not led by the mandates from the government “from top to bottom,” but primarily by the non-governmental forces “from bottom to top.” This chapter aims to introduce the connotation and content of life education in the mainland China context and demonstrate provincial, regional, and school-based experiences. This chapter also specifically introduces four major forms to implementing life education, namely specialised curriculum, curriculum integration, special topics education, and practical activities. Although life education has received much attention in mainland China, the existing exam-oriented education system, insufficient governmental support, and other problems that have emerged from school practice urge for a more scientific life education system. This chapter suggests some future directions to enrich school life education, including developing systematic theories and national-level curriculum guidelines, integrating educational resources, and training for life education teachers. Copyright © 2021 selection and editorial matter, John Chi-Kin Lee, Stephen Yam-Wing Yip and Raymond Ho-Man Kong; individual chapters, the contributors.