Report on the Survey on "Social and Cultural Life and Ethics Education in the Middle Schools"

Abstract

Abstract Under the new trends toward reform and openness, the cultural life of society has a multifaceted and profound influence on the formation of the moral and intellectual quality and character of middle school students in this country. In order to carry out the spirit of the "Circular of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party on the Reform and Strengthening of the Work of Ethics Education in the Middle Schools and Elementary Schools," to promote a tighter and fuller integration of social education, family education, and education in the schools, so as to better cultivate middle school students as successors to the cause of the proletarian revolution with a deeper sense of vision and ideals, morals, education, and discipline, we launched an investigative survey on the subject of "Social and Cultural Life and Ethics Education in the Middle Schools." For the first step, this investigative study focused on the conditions of the extracurricular cultural life of middle school students in the urban areas, and studied the impact of such things as television broadcasts, magazines and other periodicals, audio- and videotapes, cultural installations, and family culture on middle school students, as well as the conditions, experiences, and problems of schools and other related institutions in the education of middle school students, in order to bring forth opinions and suggestions regarding how to strengthen and improve the work in these areas. The scope of the investigation encompassed thirteen municipalities, namely Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Shenyang, Qingdao, Xiamen, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Chengdu, Xian, Zhengzhou, Nanning, and Guiyang. The methodology of the investigation incorporated stratified random sample questionnaires (separating the key schools from the general schools, the regular middle schools from vocational middle schools, and upper middle schools from lower middle schools) and further investigation in the form of subsequent visits and forums conducted with regard to teachers, students, and the related cultural departments. We received 1 1,647 student responses, 1,000 teacher responses, 1,100 parent responses and 200 principals' responses. The following is a preliminary analysis of the results of the investigation.