Chinese moral education reform in the last three decades represents the most significant decentralization of decision-making power since the foundation of People’s Republic of China in 1949. On one hand, it shows how de-politicized China’s moral education curriculum has become following the introduction of China’s “Open-door” policy and economic reforms and the resultant social transformations. On the other hand, it reveals persistent problems in moral education caused by political stresses and tight state control. To explain these tensions, Power and Moral Education in China analyzes the characteristics of power relationships in school moral education curriculum goal-setting, content and pedagogy selection, and implementation. The ultimate purpose is to identify not only what factors impact Chinese moral education curriculum decision-making at the school level, but also how and why. Through a multiple case study conducted during 2008 in three schools in Shenzhen City, and based on four major data collection instruments (observation, interview, questionnaire, and document review), Wangbei Ye analyzes how power relationships have evolved in school moral education, and how and why school power affects school moral education. Contrary to the common belief that Chinese schools are passively impacted by external forces in moral education curriculum development, this book suggests that school power is a “semi-emancipatory relationship” that acts as a major force shaping moral education. This means that although both the Chinese Communist Party and the state are positioned to control schools and moral education, schools nonetheless have the power to either negotiate for more influence, or partly emancipate themselves by collaborating with other external forces, responding to grass-root needs, empowering school teachers and adjusting internal school management style. This helps to explain the influence of Chinese schools in moral education and suggests a broader theory of power relationships in curriculum.

The book presents up-to-date research on moral education teaching and teachers in China. By providing an accessible, practical, yet scholarly source of moral education, education aims and teachers’ ethical roles in China, which is also an international concern, the author systematically reviews Moral Education curriculum, moral education pre-service teacher education, current policies and practices of Moral Education teaching and teachers. The book will be resourceful for researchers, practitioners and policymakers in moral education, citizenship education and teacher education.

A leading foreign policy thinker uses Chinese political theory to explain why some powers rise as others decline and what this means for the international order Why has China grown increasingly important in the world arena while lagging behind the United States and its allies across certain sectors? Using the lens of classical Chinese political theory, Leadership and the Rise of Great Powers explains China’s expanding influence by presenting a moral-realist theory that attributes the rise and fall of great powers to political leadership. Yan Xuetong shows that the stronger a rising state’s political leadership, the more likely it is to displace a prevailing state in the international system. Yan shows how rising states like China transform the international order by reshaping power distribution and norms, and he considers America’s relative decline in international stature even as its economy, education system, military, political institutions, and technology hold steady. Leadership and the Rise of Great Powers offers a provocative, alternative perspective on the changing dominance of states.

The book depicts a unique historical and cultural phenomenon, the philosophy of Chinese moral education, in an attempt to capture the essence of Chinese culture. While tracing the historical journey of this philosophy, the book rearranges and interprets the conceptual frameworks concerning moral education in various Chinese philosophical schools and religions. In so doing, it summarizes the ideas of human relations, man and nature, cosmology, moral virtues, and educational approaches, posing intriguing questions about how they have influenced Chinese characteristics, social norms, and value orientations. In particular, the book brings up discussions on the culture of family and state, the challenges that the philosophy had encountered in early modern and present China, as well as the prospect of regeneration of the philosophy and its significance for our world today. This is the book to read if you want to have a deep understanding about China and its belief and educational system.

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China’s rise, an increasing emphasis on international education benchmarking, and a global recognition of East Asian countries’ success in this regard have brought the issue of Chinese education to the forefront of public consciousness. In particular, the concept of a “Chinese education model” is one that has sparked debate and quickly become a major focus of education research around the world, especially in light of regional achievements vis-à-vis university rankings, bibliometric indices, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), and other such benchmarks. Chinese Education Models in a Global Age tackles this controversial issue head on by synthesizing a diversity of analyses from a world-class team of twenty-seven authors. It reveals that Chinese education models, which are present in many different geographic and institutional contexts, have an important influence on social and institutional norms as well as individual belief systems and behaviors in China and beyond. The first of its kind, this edited volume establishes a foundation for future research while providing a nuanced and tightly integrated compilation of differing perspectives on the role and impact of Chinese education models worldwide. It is essential reading for all scholars, policymakers, students, parents, and educators interested in the rising demographic and economic influence of people of Chinese descent on education around the world.