Finding the best education for their children is one of the main duties of parents. While it’s no easy task for families anywhere in the world, parents in China face special challenges. Public education, though free, has a heavy emphasis on ideological alignment with the Chinese Communist Party. Private education, home education, and education abroad are all options, but not every family can participate.
ChinaSource has been spotlighting the struggles of Christian parents as they navigate educational choices, and we want to bring these conversations to our readers’ attention in this post. As you read the article, remember to pray for our Chinese brothers and sisters as they follow God’s lead to the best way to educate their children.
Chinese Education: From Hallowed to Hollow
In his editorial for the summer 2011 ChinaSource Quarterly, Brent Fulton looks at the state of education in China and gives an overview of the other articles in the issue. Each one examines a different aspect of education—homeschooling, private school, and inequalities within the system. This is a great place to start, as it was written before the ascendance of Xi Jinping and the many changes he instituted. We can see what has evolved since then and what has stayed constant.
Christian Education in China—A ChinaSource Podcast
Brent Fulton facilitates a discussion on Chinese Christian education with Liu Xiaoyun, a director of a private school in China; Laurie Smith, an educational consultant; and Dr. Charlie Brainer, of Taylor University, who joins the discussion with insights into the history and development of Christians schools in China.
China’s Christian Education Today
In this article from 2014, John Cheng traces the many motivations behind parents’ desire for quality Christian education. He examines the harsh reality of China’s public schools and the difficulties of establishing and maintaining Christian schools. At the end of the piece, Cheng challenges readers,
This is an era of unbridled, advancing global capitalism. The rise of Chinese Christian education is facilitated by this global capitalism and, inevitably, this same force will swallow it up. Christian parents and students will face a test. Who will determine their choices, their actions and their future path? Christ or the world?
His article comes from the summer 2014 CSQ, “Partnering with Chinese Families to Educate Students in Christian U.S. High Schools,” which offers a wide-ranging view of how Chinese students fare when sent to the United States for secondary education.
The Importance of Christian Education for Chinese Christian Families
A long-time youth worker in China responds to the 2016 summer CSQ, discussing the need for Christian education in China, as not many families can send their children abroad. He ends with several searching questions for Christians in outside of China to consider, as we pray for our own children and ask God for discernment in educational choices.
Introducing Modern Chinese Education
While parents from China and the West usually put a high value on good educational opportunities for their children, their approaches are wildly different. Two experienced educators, with backgrounds in both China and the US, break down these differences and the cultural and historical reasons behind them. This article is an excellent orientation for anyone new to the Chinese educational system. It comes from the 2018 winter issue of the CSQ, “Teaching in China.”
The Chinese Educational System (Video)
In this 12-minute video from 2020, Amy Young, who taught in China for many years, lays out the similarities and differences between Western and Chinese educational systems. She talks especially about words that might sound the same between the systems but actually mean quite different things. This is a great orientation for anyone new to the subject.
Special Education in China
Parents may have challenges in finding a school that works for a child who develops typically. When it comes to children with developmental delays or learning disabilities, the challenges multiply. In China, learning disabilities are often misunderstood, and families can struggle with getting their children into appropriate environments. In September of 2022, we published this series, which relates the experiences of a man who had taught in China for many years. He gives a good overview of the resources available and challenges churches and other Christian organizations to find ways to assist families with special needs children.
Homeschooling in China
In the US, many Christian families decide to homeschool when the local schools don’t meet their kids’ needs, educationally and spiritually. But in China this decision has long-lasting ramifications. In this article from January 2024, an ex-patriate worker discusses the many factors that go into Chinese families’ decision to homeschool or not. She also encourages us all to pray for these families, that God will give them wisdom to make the choice that is best for their children.
Stories of Christian Families
This two-part series was published in the first half of 2024 and gives an updated view of the considerations Christian families in China must juggle as they decide how to educate their kids. Helen Wu works at a well-established Christian boarding school in Southeast Asia, and she gives us both the close-up view of individual families and children, as well as the broader social background that informs their decisions.
More Recent Reading
Christian School Education in China
Just as house churches have had to get creative in order to meet, so Christian parents are beginning to find ways to pool resources to provide their kids with a biblical education inside China.
The School on the Move—A New Long March
If it’s almost impossible to establish a bricks and mortar school, and few parents have the resources to homeschool middle and high school students alone, what is a solution? The author of this article says, take the school on the road. This innovative approach is a must-read!
God’s Way Is Higher than Our Way
We’ve heard from many people trying to make Christian education accessible for more children, but the reality is that most families will have to navigate local public schools and accredited private schools. In this article, one mother tells us the God-led way that her son has received an excellent education in an accredited school, while maintaining his Christian identity.
Image credit: Monkey Business via Adobe Stock.
Rachel Anderson
Rachel Anderson serves as the Assistant Content Manager at ChinaSource. Though she has never been to China, her ancestors were missionaries in East Asia and passed on a deep love and respect for those cultures. Rachel lives in Los Angeles with her husband and their five delightful children. View Full Bio
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