Good person, good citizen? The discourses that chinese youth invoke to make civic and moral meaning

Xin Xiang, Xu Zhao, Siwen Zhang, Ashley Lee, Yiyu Li, Helen Haste, Zhi Liu, Megan Cotnam-Kappel

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Citations (SciVal)

Abstract

In a time of transition, China is formulating principles for moral and civic responsibility and action that will serve the new goals for an expanding world power. How do young Chinese people define the ‘good person’ and ‘good citizen’, and the qualities to which they should aspire, in this changing climate? How do these mesh with the public messages and the historical traditions from which they derive? Using discourse analysis we report data from 8th and 11th grade students in Shanghai and Nantong that reveal four discourses around civic and moral responsibilities, norms and goals. Discourse analysis enables us to identify the underlying explanatory narratives that attribute causality and consequence, position people and institutions, imply judgements and values, and prescribe acceptable or expected actions. The four discourses are (1) Obeying Rules and Laws; (2) Building and Maintaining Relationships; (3) Striving towards Moral Perfection and High ‘Quality’; and (4) Loving One’s Country and Contributing to Society.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)193-207
Number of pages15
JournalCitizenship Teaching and Learning
Volume13
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Sept 2018

Funding

The project was funded by Harvard China Fund, PI Robert Selman.

FundersFunder number
Harvard China Fund

    Keywords

    • Civic and moral responsibilities
    • Discourse analysis
    • Good citizen
    • Nantong
    • Shanghai

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • General Social Sciences

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