Film Education for Chinese Children: Historical Context, Conceptual Discernment, and Contemporary Situation (Abstract)

Since its introduction to China, film has been a popular tool for social education and, for a long time, has been used as a means of patriotic education and political propaganda by the Communist Party and the government. In April 2022, the Ministry of Education in mainland China issued new art curriculum standards for nine-year compulsory education. These standards make film compulsory content in primary schools and an optional independent subject in middle schools. The new standards aim to transform film education by emphasizing it as an art form and promoting learning through artistic experience and aesthetic practice. This has the potential to broaden the role of film education, preparing children for participation in a democratic society and a digital world. This paper examines the motivations behind this reform and its potential implementation. It divides the evolution of film education for Chinese children into four historical periods, reflecting the contradictions between official will and civil society. The article also discusses recent tendencies and motivations of the Chinese government's film education policies for children, highlighting how they align with global trends in a specific context. Finally, the article analyzes three practical film education modes based on primary and secondary schools in The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. These cases reconcile the contradictions between civil society and official ideology and demonstrate the collaborative nature of film-making as a form of education.