Understanding and cultivation of nature connectedness in China: An analysis of national moral education school textbooks for primary students

Most of the research about nature connectedness has been conducted in Western countries and is characterised by dualism between humans and nature. This article examines how China understands and attempts to foster children’s connection to the natural world. Analysis of the current moral education primary school textbooks in China reveals that the principal way in which the relationship between humans and nature is portrayed is that humans are seen as an intimate part of nature. Nature is seen as beautiful, living, mysterious and wise. The textbooks do not advocate, as Western scholars often do, taking children outdoors to experience and connect with wilderness. Instead, they guide children to ‘discover nature’ within their own living environment, even within human-made objects, fostering an understanding that nature is omnipresent and integral to human existence. They assert that the improvement of human life and of nature are not in tension but intricately linked.