Teachers and values education in China: Perceptions, practices, and implications

It is a widespread assumption in many cultural contexts and within the moral and values literature that teachers are moral exemplars. In China, there is a particularly long and paternalistic tradition of regarding teachers as moral guardians and moral authorities who shall not be challenged by students or parents. However, in the wider context, the notion of ‘teacher as moral authority’ is becoming problematic as teaching is increasingly defined by many “in terms of the acquisition and practice of skills of pedagogy and management in a contractually defined framework of professional responsibilities and obligations” instead of a reference to moral obligations and personal virtues and values. It is in this context that our research explores mainland Chinese teachers’ perceptions and practices of cultivating moral values in education and reflects on what shapes these perceptions and practices. We conducted online semi-structured interviews with 20 secondary teachers in mainland China and analysed the data using a thematic analysis approach. Our primary findings show that the teachers regard moral education to be an important part of their professional responsibility. However, they also hold strong beliefs of ‘parental determinism’ according to which parents, instead of teachers, should be responsible for shaping children’s moral values. Such teacher perceptions are in contrast with conventional Chinese/Confucian values about teachers as moral authorities, and reflect the changing roles and status of teachers, and teacher-student and teacher-parent relationships in contemporary China. Copyright © 2023 ICLT.