The COVID-19 epidemic has caused many adolescents to experience bereavement, which has brought attention to death education. Using three assessment criteria, namely behavioural, political and cognitive, this paper separately assesses whether death education is discussed as a controversial issue in the classroom in the Chinese context. The article presents the view that death education is not a controversial issue but a sensitive one. And it demonstrates possible ways of implementing death education in Chinese classrooms through an example.
Ackroyd, J. (2007). Research Methodologies for Drama Education . Trentham Books.
Backer, L. C. (2006). The Rule of Law, the Chinese Communist Party, and Ideological Campaigns: Sange Daibiao (The Three Represents), Socialist Rule of Law, and Modern Chinese Constitutionalism. Transnational Law & Contemporary Problems, 16, 29.
Bailey, C. (1975). Neutrality and Rationality in Teaching. In D. Bridges, & P. Scrimshaw, Values and Authority in Schools (pp. 124-132). Hodder and Stoughton.
Bakioğlu, E., Korkmaz, O., & Ercan, H. (2020). Fear of COVID-19 and Positivity: Mediating Role of Intolerance of Uncertainty, Depression, Anxiety, and Stress. Intern a tional Journal of Mental Health and Addiction , 19, 2369-2382. https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/fear-of-covid-19-and-positivity:-mediating-role-of-bakio?lu-korkmaz/d5a8c052266c51dd1b245d5de410a44d7767b41e https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-020-00331-y
Barrett, B. J. (2010). Is “Safety” Dangerous? A Critical Examination of the Classroom as Safe Space. The Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 1 , Article 9. https://doi.org/10.5206/cjsotl-rcacea.2010.1.9
Barry, M. M., & Margaret M. (2000). Death Education: Knowledge, Attitude, and Perspectives of Irish Parents and Teachers. Death Studies, 24, 325-333. https://doi.org/10.1080/074811800200487
Beecher, H. K. (2007). A Definition of Irreversible Coma. International Anesthesiology Cli n ics, 45, 113-119. https://doi.org/10.1097/AIA.0b013e318142cb9e
Blackburn, R. (1976). Marxism: Theory of Proletarian Revolution. New Left Review, No. 97, 3.
Botkin, J. R., & Post, S. G. (1992). Confusion in the Determination of Death: Distinguishing Philosophy from Physiology. Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, 36, 129-138. https://doi.org/10.1353/pbm.1993.0060
Branch, M. L., & Brinson, S. A. (2007). Gone But Not Forgotten: Children’s Experiences with Attachment, Separation, and Loss. Reclaiming Children and Youth, 16, 41-45.
Bugen, L. A. (1981). Coping: Effects of Death Education. Journal of Death and Dying, 11, 175-183. https://doi.org/10.2190/JQPA-QFHW-VQ7A-MCAK
Cotter, R. P. (2003). High Risk Behaviors in Adolescence and Their Relationship to Death Anxiety and Death Personifications. Journal of Death and Dying, 47, 119-137. https://doi.org/10.2190/38CT-E5MB-12NG-YXAR
Dearden, R. F. (1981). Controversial Issues and the Curriculum. Journal of Curriculum St u dies , 13, 37-44. https://doi.org/10.1080/0022027810130105
Deleuze, G. (1968/2014). Difference and Repetition . Bloomsbury.
Durkheim, É. (1912). The Elementary Forms of Religious Life . Oxford University Press.
Feifel, H. (1969). Attitudes toward Death: A Psychological Perspective. Journal of Consul t ing and Clinical Psychology, 33, 292-295. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0027565
Gasster, M. (1968). The Death and Transfiguration of Confucianism. Philosophy East and West , 18, 205-213. https://doi.org/10.2307/1398262
Hand, M. (2008). What Should We Teach as Controversial? A Defense of the Epistemic Criterion. Educational Theory, 58, 213-228. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-5446.2008.00285.x
Hand, M. (2013). Framing Classroom Discussion of Same-Sex Marriage. Educational Theory , 63, 497-510. https://doi.org/10.1111/edth.12037
Hegel, G. W. F. (1977). Phenomenology of Spirit (A. V. Miller, Trans.). Clarendon Press.
Herrero, P. R., De La Herrán Gascón, A., & Sempere, P. G. (2013). Impact of a Teacher-Training MOOC on the Pedagogy of Death during the Pandemic. Death Studies, 47, 804-813. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2022.2132549
Herrero, P. R., De La Herrán Gascón, A., Pérez-Bonet, G., & Sánchez-Huete, J. C. (2022). What Do Teachers Think of Death Education? Death Studies, 46, 1518-1528. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2020.1817176
Hess, D. E. (2009). Controversy in the Classroom: The Democratic Power of Discussion . Routledge.
Hunter, M. A. (2008). Cultivating the Art of Safe Space. Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance, 13, 5-21. https://doi.org/10.1080/13569780701825195
Ilyse, J., & Mariko N. W. (2008). Death and the Afterlife in Japanese Buddhism . University of Hawaii Press.
Jiang, Q. (2022). Psychological Support and Demand for Death Education among Chinese College Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Mediating Role of Neutral Death Attitude. Nursing Open , 10, 172-181. https://doi.org/10.1002/nop2.1292
Kastenbaum, R. (2000). The Psychology of Death. Springer.
Kavaklı, M., Ak, M., Uguz, F., & Türkmen, O. O. (2020). The Mediating Role of Self-Compassion in the Relationship between Perceived COVID-19 Threat and Death Anxiety. Turkish Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 23, 15-23.
King, J., & Hayslip Jr., B. (2002). The Media’s Influence on College Students’ Views of Death. Journal of Death and Dying, 44, 37-56. https://doi.org/10.2190/HGXD-6WLJ-X56F-4AQL
Knight, K. H., & Elfenbein, M. H. (1993). Relationship of Death Education to the Anxiety, Fear, and Meaning Associated with Death. Death Studies, 17, 411-425. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481189308253386
Lai, H., & Chen, Y.-C. (2019). Chinese Metaphorical Expressions in Talking about the End-of-Life Journey. In H. Tao, & H. J. Chen (Eds.), Chinese for Specific and Profe s sional Purposes: Theory, Pedagogical Applications, and Practices (pp. 189-212). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-9505-5_9
Lee, P. C. (1995). Understanding Death, Dying, and Religion: A Chinese Perspective. In J. K. Parry, & R. Angela (Eds.), A Cross-Cultural Look at Death, Dying, and Religion (pp. 172-182). Wadsworth Pub Co.
Leviton, D. (1969). The Need for Education on Death and Suicide. Journal of School Health , 39, 270-274. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1746-1561.1969.tb04318.x
Maglio, C. J., & Robinson, S. E. (1994). The Effects of Death Education on Death Anxiety: A Meta-Analysis. Journal of Death and Dying, 29, 319-335. https://doi.org/10.2190/KEA9-2G73-AMJM-MNP6
Manzano, B. F. S., Herrero, P. R., & De La Herrán Gascón, A. (2023). “Mum, When We Die, What Do You Think Happens?” A Qualitative Study of Views on Death Education among Spanish Families. Death Studies, 48, 64-74. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2023.2186536
Masel, E. K., Schur, S., & Watzke, H. H. (2012). Life Is Uncertain. Death Is Certain. Buddhism and Palliative Care. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 44, 307-312. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2012.02.018
McClatchey, I. S., & King, S. (2015). The Impact of Death Education on Fear of Death and Death Anxiety among Human Services Students. Journal of Death and Dying, 71, 343-361. https://doi.org/10.1177/0030222815572606
Parfit, D. (1984). Reasons and Persons. Philosophical Books, 25, 220-224. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0149.1984.tb01925.x
Piaget, J. (1952). The Origins of Intelligence in Children . International Universities Press. https://doi.org/10.1037/11494-000
Raccichini, M., Biancalani, G., Franchini, L., Varani, S., Ronconi, L., & Testoni, I. (2022). Death Education and Photovoice at School: A Workshop with Italian High School Students. Death Studies, 46, 279-286. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2022.2052206
Rawls, J. (1993). Political Liberalism . Columbia University Press.
Reiss, M. J., & White, J. (2014). An Aims-Based Curriculum Illustrated by the Teaching of Science in Schools. The Curriculum Journal, 25, 76-89. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585176.2013.874953
Rosenstone, R. A. (1986). History in Images/History in Words: Reflections on the Poss i bility of Really Putting History on Film (or What a Historian Begins to Think about When People Start Turning His Books into Movies) .
Sabriseilabi, S., & Williams, J. (2022). Dimensions of Religion and Attitudes toward Euthanasia. Death Studies, 46, 1149-1156. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2020.1800863
Satici, B., Gocet-Tekin, E., Deniz, M. E., & Satici, S. A. (2021). Adaptation of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale: Its Association with Psychological Distress and Life Satisfaction in Turkey. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction , 19, 1980-1988.
Schonmann, S. (2002). Fictional Worlds and the Real World in Early Childhood Drama Education. In L. Bresler, & C. M. Thompson (Eds.), The Arts in Children’s Lives: Co n text, Culture, and Curriculum (pp. 139-151). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-47511-1_12
Shu, W., Miao, Q., Feng, J., Liang, G., Zhang, J., & Zhang, J. (2023). Exploring the Needs and Barriers for Death Education in China: Getting Answers from Heart Transplant Recipients’ Inner Experience of Death. Frontiers in Public Health, 11 , Article 1082979. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1082979
Simmons, L. C., & Schindler, R. M. (2003). Cultural Superstitions and the Price Endings Used in Chinese Advertising. Journal of International Marketing, 11, 101-111. https://doi.org/10.1509/jimk.11.2.101.20161
Smilie, K. D. (2022). Death Education’s “Period of Popularity”: Lessons for Contemporary P-12 Schools in the United States during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Death Studies, 46, 65-77. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2021.1902427
Smith, T. L., & Walz, B. J. (1995). Death Education in Paramedic Programs: A Nationwide Assessment. Death Studies, 19, 257-267. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481189508252729
Stylianou, P., & Zembylas, M. (2016). Dealing with the Concepts of “Grief” and “Grieving” in the Classroom: Children’s Perceptions, Emotions, and Behavior. Journal of Death and Dying, 77, 240-266. https://doi.org/10.1177/0030222815626717
Tang, L., Li, Y., & Zhang, L. (2014). Medical Staffs’ Attitudes toward Death Education and Their Learning Needs. Journal of Nursing Science, 29, 66-68.
Tu, J., Shen, M., & Li, Z. (2022). When Cultural Values Meets Professional Values: A Qualitative Study of Chinese Nurses’ Attitudes and Experiences Concerning Death. BMC Palliative Care, 21, Article No. 181. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12904-022-01067-3
Wang, X. H. (2005). Research of the Life Education on University Student . Master’s Thesis, Central China Normal University.
Warnick, B. R., & Smith, D. S. (2014). The Controversy over Controversies: A Plea for Flexibility and for “Soft-Directive” Teaching. Educational Theory, 64, 227-244. https://doi.org/10.1111/edth.12059
Warren, W. G. (1989). Death Education and Research: Critical Perspectives . Haworth Press.
Wass, H. (2004). A Perspective on the Current State of Death Education. Death Studies, 28, 289-308. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481180490432315
Xu, B. (2013). For Whom the Bell Tolls: State-Society Relations and the Sichuan Earthquake Mourning in China. Theory and Society, 42, 509-542. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11186-013-9200-5
Yick, A. G., & Gupta, R. (2002). Chinese Cultural Dimensions of Death, Dying, and Bereavement: Focus Group Findings. Journal of Cultural Diversity, 9, 32-42.
Zhang, H. L. (2015). [Analysis and Reflection on the Development of Death Education at Home and Abroad]. Journal of Nursing (China), 22, 29-32.
Zheng, R., Bloomer, M. J., Guo, Q., & Lee, S. F. (2021). New Graduate Nurses’ Coping with Death and the Relationship with Death Self-Efficacy and Death Anxiety: A Multicentre Cross-Sectional Study. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 77 , 795-804. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.14621