Chinese teachers’ perceptions of the ‘good citizen’: Implications for implementing China’s civic education curriculum

Conceptions of ‘good citizen’ have implications for defining the goals of civic education and formulating civic education programmes. In Mainland China, the concept of ‘good citizen’ is clearly defined by the authorities in official curriculum guidelines. Teachers’ perceptions of ‘good citizen’, however, may differ from any official definition and these perceptions may actually influence teachers’ approaches to the implementation of civic education in schools. The study reported here employs qualitative methods to compare how ‘good citizen’ is defined in the China’s official civics curriculum and junior high school teachers’ perceptions of ‘good citizen’. The purpose of the study is to investigate the extent of congruence between these two levels and to identify strategies for designing an effective civic education curriculum in China. This article argues that an effective civic education curriculum must consider teachers’ conceptions of ‘good citizen’ and teachers’ awareness of citizenship alongside ‘official’ statements.