New pedagogical approaches to moral education in the People’s Republic of China

For the past three decades, local Chinese scholars have reflected on and criticised past pedagogical approaches; for example, employing immoral measures to realise moral goals, and rote memorisation of moral knowledge. Many believe that absorbing Western educational theories and practices into the native soil is essential. However, recent decades have witnessed endeavours to construct local theories with a focus on what is beneficial for China; for example, the Appreciation-based Mode of Moral Education (AMME), the Learning to Care Mode, the Dialogue Mode, the Activity-oriented Mode, the ‘Life-practice’ Mode, and the Emotional Approach. A great deal of attention has been devoted to developing an approach to moral education through daily activities rather than political indoctrination, promoting humanism, as well as enhancing the students’ autonomy. This paper reviews the new pedagogical approaches to moral education in Mainland China and examines how these approaches are being used in schools.