A Historical Investigation And Analysis On The Primary And Secondary School Moral Education Polices Since 1978

Education policy, as the main means that government supervises the education development, is also the intermediary between educational theory and practices. Moral education policy of the government gives the outline and limitation of what primary and secondary schools have to do and what primary and secondary schools are doing, so it is meaningful and important to be studied.This paper, using documentary research approach, makes an historical investigation and an analysis on the moral education policies of primary & secondary schools which our government has enacted since 1978. The historical development of moral education policies since 1978 can be divided into four periods: the recovery period (1978-1981), the exploration and construction period (1982-1989), the period of enrichment (1990-1999), and the innovation period (2000-2004). On the basis of the historical description, this paper concludes the main characteristics of the historical development of moral education policies since 1978. It is a gradual development, dominated and influenced by political situation and practical moral condition. Then this paper points out some problems of the moral education policies, such as the ignorance of the individual, the overemphasis on the inclination of knowledge, the overstress on the objectives of moral education that are very difficult to put into in action for the youngsters in the present society, and the inharmony of the contents of different moral education policies. In the end, some suggestions are provided to better the moral education policy.