A Study on Integrating Core Values of Chinese Culture into Language Teacher Education for Sustainable Development

This study explores how core values embedded in traditional Chinese culture can be aligned with the principles of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and applied to Chinese language teacher education. Using the Hong Kong Education Bureau’s Recommended Texts as the research corpus, a categorical analysis was conducted based on three affective–moral levels—individual, family/peers, and community/nation/world—to examine twelve priority values identified in the curriculum framework. The findings indicate that diligence, perseverance, empathy, filial piety, and national identity are widely distributed across primary and secondary levels, demonstrating strong alignment with ESD emphases on personal development, social responsibility, and cultural continuity. The study suggests that Chinese language teachers should adopt developmentally appropriate instructional strategies and pedagogical discourse to support the internalization and enactment of values. It further proposes a values internalization and transformation framework structured around value levels and learning stages, clarifying the mediating role of Chinese language education in linking personal cultivation, social responsibility, and ESD within a Chinese cultural context.

Keywords

core values of Chinese culture, education for sustainable, development values education, language teacher education, classical Chinese texts

source

International Journal of Chinese Language Education; Jun 2026; Issue No. 19; p. 129-151

Language

Chinese