Policy making and curriculum change: Physical education and health in China

Abstract

In response to a national vision and the global demands for more future-oriented education systems, China launched a new round of curriculum reform in 2022. This paper examines how China, which has the world's largest public education system, seeks to enhance health outcomes through competence-based curriculum reform. The reform of physical education (PE) focuses on the integrated development of motor ability, healthy behaviour, and sports morality. Drawing on Kelly's (2009) theoretical work on curriculum and employing interpretive policy analysis ( Yanow, 2011), this study compares the 2011 and 2022 PE and health curricula, exploring the rationale behind these reforms, the conceptualisation of health, and the implications for teaching and assessment. Findings reveal that while the 2022 reform incorporates global principles of developmentalism, it remains deeply rooted in China's long-standing examination-oriented education system. Rather than replicating models used in other nations, the reform foregrounds a localisation strategy that merges international discourse with instrumental approaches tailored to the Chinese context. Although this balance between content and objectives supports curriculum enactment, it also restricts the role of school PE in promoting health and limits the full impact of core competences. Policy making in China provides a valuable insight into the structural tensions inherent in competence-based curriculum reform. As nations around the world (e.g. Australia, Japan, Norway and Scotland) continue to engage in curriculum reform ( Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2020), these findings may encourage stakeholders to reconsider how the relationship between PE and health is framed and translated into curriculum policy.