Curricula

What are the past and current SEL curricula in China?

Two Periods of SEL Development in China:

Pre-2011: Starting in 2002, several international SEL programs have been introduced into China mostly for research purposes. The programs included Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies, Second Step, and Strong Kids.
2011 and onwards: In 2011, UNICEF and the Ministry of Education in China started an SEL initiative that was piloted in five counties in 5 provinces: Guizhou, Yunnan, Chongqing, Guangxi, and Xinjiang, all in western China. By 2016, the program had expanded to 11 provinces in eastern, central, and western China at more than 500 elementary and secondary schools, affecting a student population of 200,000.

*Information on individual programs is from the website of the host organization.

An illustration of the PATHS Programmme for Schools (UK Version)

Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS)

- Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS) was first proposed by Greenberg and Kusché in 1993. It is based on the ABCD (affective-behavioral-cognitive-dynamic) model of development (Kam et, al. 2011). Designed specifically for school settings, PATHS helps students develop competence in social-emotional skills, self-control, positive self-esteem, interpersonal problem-solving skills, and relationships (Kusché & Greenberg, 2020).
- The content covers 40 lessons from Pre-K to grade 6, allowing for integration into regular classes and self-contained lessons that take place 2 to 3 times a week (Shi et al, 2022).
- The program was successfully implemented in Hong Kong (SAR) as part of the government's effort to promote social and humanities education (PSHE), and moral and civic education (MCE) starting in 2001 (Kam et al, 2011).

Second Step

The Second Step programs are a family of school-based social-emotional interventions developed by the Committee for Children as an extension to its existing program, Talking About Touching, which was merely personal safety skill training in response to child abuse and child sexual abuse (Committee for Children, 2018).
Second Step focuses on skills that would "prevent children from growing up to be abusers." These skills are grounded in empathy, problem-solving, and self-regulation. It adopts a holistic approach to SEL, which has four essential components: 1) Provides SEL throughout the child's day. 2) Reaches the child across developmental stages throughout their school career. 3) Supports educators' social-emotional competencies and well-being. 4) Supports a positive implementation environment (Committee for Children, 2023).

Learning Competencies for Second Step Middle School

Lesson descriptions for the SEL program

Strong Kids

The Strong Kids curricula were developed by the late Kenneth W. Merrel, PhD as part of the Oregon Resiliency Project at the University of Oregon in response to alarming challenges that troubled America's K-12 schools.
The programs have the following focus areas in teaching and learning (Merrell's Strong Kids):
- Skills known to prevent internalizing problems
- Identifying and increasing awareness regarding emotions
- Cognitive restructuring
- Empathy and perspective-taking
- Helpful communication skills
- Interpersonal problem-solving skills
- Stress reduction
- Anger management
- Behavioral change and goal setting
The SEL program has 12 evidence-based lessons for desirable impact on "cognitive, affective, and social functioning," and timely and quick usage (Merrell's Strong Kids).

UNICEF & Ministry of Education Partnership

In 2011, UNICEF partnered with the Ministry of Education in China (MoE) to pilot an SEL program in Guizhou, Yunnan, Chongqing, Guangxi, and Xinjiang. The program was internationally supported by the Northampton Centre for Learning Behavior (NCfLB) and based on the SEAL program in the UK. Locally, the program was developed by Beijing Normal University and experts from pilot provinces to integrate Chinese cultural values into the curriculum.
The goal was to nurture a "child-centered, mutually respectful, understanding and supportive" culture at schools to help students acquire an essential understanding of themselves, others, and communities. Key competencies included (UNICEF):
- Confidence and a sense of responsibility
- Positive interpersonal relationships
- Emotion management and moral qualities
- Readiness to tackle challenges in life
- Whole-child development
The program was supported by a series of standards-aligned textbooks which are in Chinese and accessible on the UNICEF China website (The website is in Chinese and not accessible in English).
However, there has yet to be an official report on the effectiveness of the program (Li & Hesketh, 2023).

UNICEF Ambassador Wang Yuan gets firsthand experience on social and emotional learningUNICEF Ambassador Wang Yuan highlights children’s social and emotional wellbeing during his visit to a village school in Cangyuan, Yunnan Province.

In Summary

Past and current SEL programs in China have been carried out for research purposes and pilot implementation in a limited number of provinces. Please note that the information above is based on a meta-analysis of SEL in China by Chen and Yu (2022). In their study, Chen and Yu (2022) propose the 2011 cutoff which has been used to inform our project. Therefore, the information on this page is not an exhaustive list of the SEL programs that have been implemented in China nor does it speak to the relative strength of each program.

During our literature review, it became evident that the existing studies on SEL in China are limited both in number and scope. Some promising sources are in Chinese only, thereby not immediately accessible to non-Chinese speakers. There have been no official reports on the programs' effectiveness from either the Chinese government or the international stakeholders like UNICEF. Nevertheless, we found studies that examined SEL programs that were confined to specific schools or municipalities. These studies will provide a much-needed glimpse into the factors that necessitated the implementation of SEL and the impact that such programs have had on Chinese students.

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