Abstract

China’s modernization led to the rapid and profound social transformation. The transition from traditional society to modern society is an arduous historical mission. It inherently requires the sound development of the citizenship and civil society. However，citizenship is not natural formation of humanity，it is developed through education. In our schools，civic education practice is weak. With the political，ideological and moral education as the core，our civic education can not effectively achieve the goal of cultivating modern citizens. Civil education is not only an educational ideal，but also a political ideal. The lagging behind of our civic education to some extent rooted in the flaws of civic education policy.

Civil education policies are the guidelines developed by the government，the ruling party and other public authorities，in a certain historical period，to conduct civic education，to develop basic civil values，to teach civic knowledge and civic skills，aiming at training qualified citizen of community. Civil education policies have the functions to guide and control civic education. Values of education policy stipulates the concept of civic education，training objectives specify the policy task of civic education，content of the policy frames the civic education curriculum，implementation of the policy decides the ways and means of civic education，security measures influence the policy effects of civic education.

Since the Reform and Opening up，elementary and middle schools’ civic education policies of China have experienced changes. In the stage of reconstruction，civic education policy aimed at training workers with socialist consciousness. It conducted the basic knowledge of political and moral education. In the stage of acceleration，policy on civic education established the goal of training citizens with“ideals，morality，culture and discipline”，and initially formed moral education policy system. In the stage of adjustment，civic education policy gave top priority to political orientation. The training objective adjusted to“builders and successors of socialist career of China”. In the stage of promotion，policies on civic education required to carry out quality education and formally set civics courses，with mental health education，legal education，science education and environmental education as important parts. In the stage of extension，moral training objective was revised to“qualified citizens”，with human rights education，public safety education included in civic education.

Elementary and middle schools’ civic education policies of China in transformation reflect progressive trends. Policy values-orientations emphasized the subjectivity in student. Policy targets gradually meet the practical needs of economic and social development. Policy changes gradually shift from the outer layer deep into the middle layer. Implementation of the policy turned from only relying on the classroom teaching，to both academic and practical activities infiltration. Policies security measures gradually turned from entirely relying on school to participation of the whole society.

There are also a number of shortcomings in the elementary and middle schools’ civic education policies of China. The political requirements are too high for the young students. Policy objective is limited and can not reflect the three-dimensional character of modern citizen. Policy content lacks of effective integration. Policy changes did not reach the core concept of civic education. The rule-by-leader thought，Confucian sage tradition，the lack of the evaluation mechanism，and the existence of path dependence all reasons of policies’ defects.

In our survey of policy implementation of Nanjing，Guangzhou，Wuhan，Hefei，Xi’an，and Kunming，it shows some deficiencies of implementation of civic education policy，such as policy makers did not involve in teachers and parents，academic courses are out of touch with reality，activity curriculum can not be fully carried out，the educational philosophy，teaching methods of teachers are to be improved，and so on. The main reasons include，“insiders input”policy-making model weakens the democratic and scientific character of the policies；implementation of the policy does not receive due attention and support；some teachers do not have the knowledge and skills of civic education；the lack of civic culture that needed by the policy implementation reduced the consequences of policy.

The comparative study shows that，the United States，the Unite Kingdom，and Japan all emphasize civic education policy formulation and implementation；the content of their policy outlines a complete system of modern civic education；civic education policy-making process involved in the whole society；global education is regarded as an important part of policy content.

To improve elementary and middle schools’ civic education policies of China，policies should raise the national citizen who is patriotic，obeying the law and of the cardinal virtues；the social citizen who has the civic consciousness，radical spirits and ability of participation in public life；the world citizen who has the tolerant spirit，global consciousness and the multicultural idea，and to strengthen the consciousness of the citizen to be equal in status and power-and-responsibility’s equality. Policy system should manifest the core idea of the civic education，the policy goal should aim at forming citizen characteristics；the content of the policy should include citizen knowledge，skills and virtues；policies should be implemented by disciplines，campus culture，networking and other channels；policies implements should depend upon the teachers troop construction，management system formulation and the citizen culture cultivation. The elementary and middle schools’ civic education policies in the social transformation period of our country should value the orientation of raising independent personality，raise thee-dimensional citizen. The policy content should construct the modern civic education system. The policy implementation should deepen teaching instruction reforms and carry out social practice. The policy safeguard should emphasize the teachers professional development and civic culture cultivation.

Social reforming is a long-term pursue goal，the civic education policy’s innovation also by no means can be realized in short time. Under the environment that lack of citizen culture，the civic education policy’s reform and the advancement are going to face all kinds of difficulties and pressure. It needs diligent work，and its success depends on government’s determination and the will.

Key Words：Social Transformation；Civil Education；Civil Education Policy；Policy Analysis