‘중국소년선봉대’를 통해 본 중국의 어린이 교육

Abstract

The “Chinese Dream” is an ideological policy and a systematic mechanism of Xi Jinping’s government that is being established at all levels of Chinese society. The meaning of “Chinese Dream” can be summarized as “the realization of a great rejuvenation of the Chinese people.” To realize the dream, the Chinese government has prioritized “fostering and practicing core socialist values,” which suggests uniformity in thought and action by all members of the Communist Party and citizens in China, stressing material and moral prosperity. The implication is that the nation’s political and social development through the core socialist values of prosperity, democracy, civility, harmony, freedom, equality, fairness, respect for law, patriotism and others provides the framework wherein individual ideals are realized. To fully implement this ideology in the most systematic and efficient way, “First Button Education” is suggested as a national educational policy. Xi Jinping said that core socialist values are like buttons on clothing, meaning that the first buttons of life are the most important to do correctly or else the rest of the buttons will not match. For this reason, education must occur under a well-organized system. The stance of the current Chinese government stressing this policy is apparent in a speech titled, “Educate and Practice the Core Socialist Values from an Early Age.” One of the key ideas in the speech is “to start from an early age.” This suggests that, beginning from oneself and spreading throughout society, the early practice of core socialist values will develop noble ideas and an upright character. The author asserts that, amidst all of the factors involved in realizing the Chinese Dream, the current government is particularly focusing on the education of primary school students. At the heart of this focus on education lie the Young Pioneers of China, which precedes the Communist Youth League of China which has a major role in the Communist Party in China today. In this article, the author introduces the Young Pioneers of China and briefly explains its values as there have been no previous studies on the Young Pioneers of China in Korea.