The Research On The Moral Learning Of Contemporary Chinese University Students

Moral learning is an innovative way through which conventional moral-education transforms to modern moral-education. It is not only a quest for the innovation of moral theory, but reflects the value end-result of scientific development outlook and contemporary university student's growth needs. Moral learning is a social practice that reflects each individual's conscious construction of moral principles, social norms, internalization of moral attibutes as well as externalization of moral behaviors. It is an integrated learning of cognition and behavior, a configurative learning and choice learning as well. Moral learning does not necessarily mean moral learning practice among university students, but also includes counseling and guidance that tutors have delivered. Therefore moral learning is not a simple negation and alienation of moral education, but rather, an innovative probe into the concepts and methods of conventional moral-education. Moral learning and moral education,"two sides of one coin"amid a behavioral subject's moral development, are interrelated and intersupplementary, thus can never be separated.The study on moral learning emerged in Chinese academia at the beginning of 21st century. In spite of a short history, it has undergone a very rapid development. Study at present stage has three characteristics, i.e. it appears to be on the rise, it tends to develop with stages and have certain limitations. Its limitations are mainly manifested in a deficient respond to the times, an insufficient inclusiveness of interdisciplinary subjects, notably a blind eye on a further investigation of university students as the study subjects.Based on the aforementioned reality, this paper takes Marxist philosophy, ideological and political education; ethnics as well as psychology as research profiles, applies Marxist theories and the rules of educational psychology as theoretical paradigms; adopts a holistic methodology, i.e. with the features of social and cultural traditions as a setting, with university student's moral practice as a basis, with modern moral learning experience abroad as a reference; with theoretical exploration and paradigm construction of university student's moral learning as an objective to conduct an in-depth investigation on contemporary university student's moral learning. It is going to be elaborated in four aspects.Starting with tracing conventional theories, the author attempts to set up a theoretical construction in a multidisciplinary profile. First, subjects including Marxist philosophy, ideological and political education, ethnics and psychology and so on, have been taken as theoretical origins to reexamine the concept of moral learning. Based on which, the concept of morality, categorization of learning and the connotation of moral learning have been redefined. Second, a historic research methodology is going to be adopted to probe into Marxist theories'guidance to moral learning. Meanwhile, a range of Chinese and western moral learning theories and literature are going to be reviewed. Thereafter, a substantial theoretical paradigm attempts to be built up. Finally, based on the features of current social times in China as well as the internal specificity of each individual, the author is going to accommodate a multidimensional approach to generalize the substantive characteristics of present university student's moral learning, i.e. it is a unification of passivity and initiativeness, hereditability and openness, normativeness and joviality.Based on the above theoretical analysis, this paper intends to carry out an empirical review and a methodological construction on university student's moral learning according to their moral learning practice and implementation strategies--- the author starts with expounding the most distinctive features of contemporary China, i.e. globalization and China's social transformation are keeping abreast to boom, the popularization of higher education is pacing ahead, the build-up of a harmonious society is taking place steadily. Moreover, the author argues that contemporary Chinese university student's moral learning has to consider the features of the times. That's to say, we should hold a rational view on the impacts that globalization, China's social transformation, the popularization of higher education as well as the build-up of harmonious society have made on university student's moral learning. In the meanwhile, the author also analyses the advantages of university student's moral learning, e.g. their moral learning awareness has been increasingly strengthened, their moral learning capability has been increasingly enhanced and their moral learning conditions have been increasingly optimized. In the end, based on a comparative study, the author comes up with the point that moral learning in the United States of America tends to have following superiority, e.g. a united environment, a diversified methodology, an integrated content as well as a systemized theoretical paradigm; while the reality of moral learning in Japan is inclined to learn from other countries, to upgrade its moral learning concepts, to establish unique moral learning theories and to advocate its moral learning models. In a word, moral learning theories and experiences from both America and Japan can contribute to enhancing the effects of moral learning among university students in China.The analysis on action strategy is a major construct in this paper. It is argued that Chinese university student's moral practice shall be based on a humanity-oriented, an integrated and innovative principle. That's to say, university student's moral cognition can be appropriately motivated and perfected by introducing a just and fair team, university student's moral emotions can be well fostered and cultivated by using an emotion-experienced strategy, also university student's moral actions and behaviors can be optimized by setting up various exemplars. In one word, moral learning's developmental function, molding function as well as individual-sharing function are expected to be achieved. In conclusion, this paper examines contemporary university student's extended survival possibilities and conditions, based on which, the author argues that an extended moral learning model might be built up among university students. This extended moral learning model is based on Marxist's theory of people's overall development and lifelong learning. At the same time, this learning model has a basis on university student's extended characteristics in life and learning. Adopting a five-dimensional extended framework, the author takes subject's extension as a premise; content's extension as a core; channel's extension as a mediation; environment's extension as a breaking point; time's extension as a goal, to enable university students to consciously internalize certain social and moral norms and principles, then turn these internalized norms into moral habits and eventually allow them to become a moral learning model for university student's survival. This extended moral learning model tends to have extended, synthetic and developmental properties.