Research on the Application and Effectiveness of Social and Emotional Learning in Chinese Education

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-440-2_11How to use a DOI?

Keywords

SEL; mental health; Chinese education

Abstract

Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) has gained global prominence as a critical component of holistic education, yet its integration within China’s historically exam-oriented system remains nascent. This study examines the current state of SEL implementation in Chinese education, focusing on policy frameworks, practical applications, and systemic challenges. While national reforms, such as the National Medium- and Long-term Education Reform and Development Plan Outline (2010–2020) and the China Education Development Outline (2016–2020), have institutionalized SEL as a strategic priority, disparities persist between urban and rural regions. Urban schools in cities like Beijing and Shanghai have pioneered SEL through specialized courses, extracurricular activities, and psychological counseling, supported by OECD survey data highlighting Chinese primary students’ strong SEL competencies. However, secondary students lag in emotional regulation, reflecting systemic issues such as resource gaps, insufficient teacher training, and persistent academic pressures that marginalize SEL. The study identifies limited program depth, underutilized counseling resources, and educators’ misperceptions of SEL as moral indoctrination rather than skill development. To address these challenges, the paper proposes multi-level solutions: strengthening policy enforcement, integrating SEL into evaluation systems, enhancing teacher professionalism through targeted training, and fostering school-family-community collaboration. Findings underscore the urgency of balancing academic rigor with socio-emotional development to cultivate resilient, well-rounded learners, advocating for systemic reforms to ensure equitable SEL access across China’s diverse educational landscape.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Jingwei Liu
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/07/10
TI  - Research on the Application and Effectiveness of Social and Emotional Learning in Chinese Education
BT  - Proceedings of the 2025 11th International Conference on Humanities and Social Science Research（ICHSSR 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 89
EP  - 96
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-440-2_11
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-440-2_11
ID  - Liu2025
ER  -