Understanding Citizenship Education with Social Structure and Agency Perspectives

This chapter establishes the conceptual and theoretical frameworks for the study of Chinese CE. It first identifies status, practice, and identity as three key dimensions in the conceptualization of citizenship. Building on this foundation, the chapter reviews studies on the typologies and effects of CE and introduces theories of social structure and agency to construct a holistic theoretical framework for understanding the dynamics of CE. It then outlines the development of Chinese citizenship in terms of status, practice, and identity and reviews studies on Chinese CE, with particular attention to an emerging but overlooked social structure in the CE field: the individualization of Chinese society. The chapter aims to explore how Chinese CE is shaped by multiple social structures, such as the official curriculum, high-stakes testing, and the individualization of Chinese society, as well as by individual agency.