Exploring the Path of Cultivating Primary School Students’ Chinese Cultural Identity through the Activities Intangible Cultural Heritage into Schools ()
1. Research Background
Cultural identity, as the cornerstone of China’s national unity, drives the preservation of national spirit and historical heritage. Intangible cultural heritage (ICH), a living embodiment of Chinese civilization, carries profound historical memories while bridging emotional connections to strengthen cultural identity. Integrating ICH into school education thus serves dual purposes: safeguarding cultural continuity and fostering youth identity formation—particularly under the “double reduction” policy emphasizing quality education.
Globalization presents challenges to youth cultural values, necessitating innovative approaches to cultivate Chinese cultural identity amidst multicultural influences. While China has made significant progress in ICH preservation, its incorporation into basic education—especially primary schools—remains understudied, with existing research overly focused on higher education and lacking empirical evaluation frameworks.
This study examines Jinhua City, Zhejiang—a region with 32 national ICH projects (e.g., Wuzhou kiln ceramics, Dongyang woodcarving)—where school-based ICH programs have demonstrated early success. Employing a mixed-methods design (surveys, observations, interviews), we assess cultural identity development through three dimensions: pre-class cognition, in-class attitude, and post-class behavior, establishing measurable pathways for ICH education in primary schools.
2. Status of Research
2.1. The Current Research Status of “ICH Entering Campus”
In recent years, there has been a gradual increase in research on the introduction of ICH into schools, and people’s attention to it has also been constantly improving. The introduction of ICH into campuses has been promoted by national policies and has become an important way to inherit and protect ICH. It has achieved significant results in primary and secondary schools as well as universities.
The current academic research on the theory of “ICH entering campuses” has formed a relatively complete academic framework. ICH education, as an integrated concept, introduces folk culture into schools through representative works of ICH, becoming a part of school culture and student growth. This form of education not only provides an effective way of inheritance for the protection of ICH, but also offers a new path for educational reform to connect with cultural life.
Previous studies have emphasized the high coupling between ICH resources and the educational goals of universities. It is proposed to transform ICH resources into educational resources to form an ICH education system, in order to strengthen the functions of moral education and aesthetic education. At the practical level, academic research has explored the multi-level framework of ICH curriculum design, including micro level, such as students’ understanding of cultural heritage, meso level, such as support from educational institutions, and macro level, such as policy frameworks. These frameworks help to understand the complexity of ICH education and its significance in modern society. At the same time, some studies emphasize that the introduction of ICH into campuses requires the integration of local cultural characteristics, and through in-depth exploration of local cultural connotations, the construction of an ICH inheritance path suitable for regional development.
The current academic community particularly emphasizes the significant role of introducing ICH into campuses for constructing cultural identity. Firstly, the “ICH in Campus” activity can effectively enhance students’ sense of national pride and cultural identity by exposing them to and understanding ICH. Not only can it help inherit local culture, but it also inspires students’ patriotism and cultural belonging, enhancing their sense of national pride and cultural identity. Secondly, the “ICH in Campus” activity enriches campus cultural life and becomes an important carrier of quality education. The integration of ICH into campus activities combines traditional culture with modern education systems through innovative teaching methods and curriculum design. By integrating ICH into campus cultural construction and curriculum development, a deep integration of traditional culture and modern education has been achieved. This combination not only helps students better understand traditional culture, but also stimulates their interest and love for traditional culture. At the same time, the introduction of ICH courses can also enhance students’ comprehensive qualities, such as creativity, hands-on ability, and teamwork spirit.
The introduction of ICH into campuses also demonstrates many important values that cannot be ignored in practical dimensions. By integrating ICH into campus education, students can intuitively understand and experience traditional culture, which helps to inherit and protect ICH, thereby enhancing their sense of identity and pride in national culture. By incorporating ICH into campus activities, we can cultivate cultural confidence and national pride among young people, while also helping to build a harmonious society and promote cultural diversity.
However, although some achievements have been made in the current research on the integration of ICH into campuses, there are still significant shortcomings that constrain the improvement of theoretical depth and practical effectiveness. Firstly, existing literature has mostly focused on performance related ICH technologies, while research on other types of ICH such as traditional craftsmanship is relatively lacking. Secondly, most studies use case descriptions and other methods to provide in-depth descriptions of specific cases, while neglecting the overall picture of “ICH entering campuses”. It is imperative to establish a quantitative analysis framework. Again, the research mainly focuses on schools and students, neglecting the participation and important role of other entities such as teachers and inheritors of ICH.
2.2. Research Status on Cultivating Primary School Students’
Chinese Cultural Identity
In recent years, with the acceleration of globalization and the challenges of cultural diversity, cultivating Chinese cultural identity among primary school students has become an important issue in the field of education. The academic community has conducted multidimensional research on this topic, exploring both theoretical construction and practical paths in depth. However, there are also limitations in research perspectives and a single methodology. The following is a review and evaluation of existing achievements from four aspects: current theoretical foundation, current situation analysis, practical strategies, and research prospects.
The definition of the connotation of Chinese cultural identity is the logical starting point of research. Existing research generally believes that Chinese cultural identity is a multidimensional composite concept. Yang Man, Lv Lijie, and others proposed in their “Investigation and Improvement Strategies for Primary School Students’ Identification with Excellent Traditional Chinese Culture” that cultural identity includes three progressive levels: cultural symbol identity, cultural identity, and value cultural identity [1]. This model is widely used in the empirical research of primary school. For example, in the report “Research on the Cultivation of Cultural Identity in Primary School Chinese Language”, researchers found through textbook analysis that although the explicit presentation of cultural symbols can stimulate students’ interest, the lack of correct value guidance can easily lead to superficial cognition.
In addition, such studies generally emphasize the special significance of the primary school stage, that is, primary school students are in a critical period of value formation. The characteristics of this stage play a double-edged sword role in the formation of their Chinese cultural identity. On the one hand, they have a high acceptance of excellent Chinese culture and are highly susceptible to infection under appropriate methods. On the other hand, the shaping of their cultural identity requires both resisting foreign cultural shocks and achieving a balance between tradition and modernity.
The current cultural cognition of primary school students shows significant differentiation characteristics. A survey shows that 70% of students can list traditional festivals, but only 30% understand their deep cultural significance. The differences between urban and rural areas and regions cannot be ignored: students in the eastern region have higher scores in symbol identity than those in the western region, and the identity of ethnic minority students is more prominent. Gender also has a significant impact, with women having a deeper level of cultural identity. Studies have shown that this is largely influenced by the emotional aspect of their gender. It is worth noting that modern culture has a stronger attraction to primary school students, and the popularity of media such as popular music and short videos has put traditional cultural education at risk of being silenced [2].
From the perspective of identity categories, through the analysis of group representation results, there are various types of traditional cultural identity among primary school students that urgently need to be improved in practice, such as equal identity, passive identity, and representational identity. Primary school students who identify with equality do not show a strong tendency towards recognition and consensus towards traditional culture. Primary school students with “passive identification” score lower in the dimension of cultural identity, and have lower levels of conscious maintenance and emotional support for excellent traditional Chinese culture. Primary school students with cognitive identity have a higher understanding of traditional cultural symbols and will consciously maintain excellent traditional Chinese culture while respecting “other cultures”. Primary school students who have a deep sense of identity are able to consciously maintain excellent traditional Chinese culture and show a high emotional attachment to traditional culture in cultural activities, in order to strengthen their own identity and belonging. These primary school students show a lower cognitive preference for traditional cultural ideograms that have been solidified through practical testing, which may be related to their limited understanding of the conceptual values behind cultural symbols, but not deep recognition of their appearances. Primary school students with “superficial identification” have a strong understanding of fixed traditional cultural symbols and corresponding cultural knowledge, but only know the knowledge from “books” and do not apply it in practice or rely on emotions. They show a very indifferent attitude in specific practice.
The existence of such problems is related to the narrow teaching practice area and relatively concentrated research perspective at present. After studying the literature, it was found that the problems in educational practice and research mainly focus on three aspects: firstly, the mechanization of teaching methods. Most classrooms still focus on imparting knowledge, resulting in low student participation, excessive emphasis on knowledge accumulation, and neglect of the transformation mechanism of “cognition emotion behavior”; Secondly, there is insufficient integration of disciplines, and the practice and research in the Chinese language subject are relatively concentrated. The cultivation and exploration of cultural identity are not sufficient in teaching practices in other fields; Thirdly, most schools lack regular cultural practice bases, which makes it difficult to translate knowledge into action. These issues reflect the complexity and systemic challenges of cultivating cultural identity.
In response to the current situation, the academic community has proposed a “trinity” practical framework and innovative teaching methods. At the level of curriculum design, emphasis is placed on the deep development of implicit cultural elements. Interdisciplinary integration has become a trend, as evidenced by cases such as the production of New Year paintings in art classes and the appreciation of traditional Chinese music in music classes. Multi sensory experiences can effectively enhance cultural perception.
The innovation of teaching methods focuses on technology empowerment and project-based learning. AR technology restores historical scenes of cultural relics, and short video platforms carry out innovative forms such as “poetry connecting the dragon”, which are in line with the digital living habits of primary school students. Project based learning brings Chinese excellent culture to life through activities, guiding students to shift from passive acceptance to active exploration. The collaborative mechanism between families, schools, and communities is seen as the key to breaking through resource bottlenecks. Families need to achieve daily immersion through activities, while schools need to collaborate with social resources such as museums and ICH inheritors to build a “walking classroom”. This type of practice not only compensates for the singularity of school education, but also integrates cultural identity into practical life.
However, existing research still has significant limitations. Firstly, there is an urgent need for methodological breakthroughs. Most empirical studies rely on self-reported scales and lack support from neuroscience or long-term tracking data; Secondly, there is insufficient research on differences, and although there is some attention paid to the special characteristics of groups such as migrant children and ethnic minority students, there is a lack of multidimensional comparison and analysis; Once again, there is a lack of international comparative perspective, and experiences such as Singapore’s “Cultural Puzzle” curriculum and Japan’s “Community Cultural Inheritance” are worth learning from.
3. Research Methods
This study evaluated the cultivation of Chinese cultural identity through ICH integration in primary schools. Using stratified random sampling, we selected 1200 students (Grades 3 - 6, 60 per school) from 20 primary schools in Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province, ensuring representativeness through:
Geographical diversity: Schools were sampled from urban (n = 10), suburban (n = 6), and rural (n = 4) districts;
Socioeconomic balance: Inclusion of both public (n = 15) and private schools (n = 5) with varying funding levels;
Gender proportionality: Male-to-female ratio maintained at 1:1 based on municipal enrollment data.
The three-dimensional survey (pre-class cognition, in-class attitude, post-class behavior) employed a simplified 3-point Likert scale (1 = rejection, 2 = indifference, 3 = interest) to accommodate young respondents’ cognitive characteristics, with demonstrated reliability (Cronbach’s α = 0.82). Data were analyzed via SPSS 26 using frequency distributions and mean comparisons with 95% confidence intervals (see Table 1).
4. Discussion
4.1. The Necessity of Introducing ICH of Traditional Skills into Schools
Students have a vague understanding of the concept of ICH, and their understanding is superficial. Data analysis shows that before the implementation of the ICH curriculum on campus, primary school students had a lower level of understanding of the concept of ICH and the level of understanding of the ICH involved in the curriculum. Students had not fully grasped the definition of “ICH”, and their cognition is limited to a few well-known ICH projects. They lack a clear understanding of the concept of ICH and have not delved into the technical details and cultural background of ICH.
In addition, the cultural values conveyed by intangible cultural heritage on campus are insufficient. Only 40% of students have a clear understanding of the Chinese cultural identity values contained in the introduction of traditional ICH
Table 1. The research scale for this study.
Index Classification |
Indicator Name |
Pre class cognition |
Acceptance |
Understanding the concept of ICH Subhead |
Acceptance of ICH |
Accuracy |
The level of understanding of ICH on campus |
Clearly understand the values of Chinese cultural identity conveyed by the ICH entering the campus |
Attitude during class |
Satisfaction level |
Satisfaction with the integration of intangible cultural heritage into campus resources |
Satisfaction with the interactive teaching mode |
On campus and off campus teachers |
Online teaching |
Course assessment format |
Recognition |
Recognition of the integration of intangible cultural heritage and curriculum |
Communication form |
Communication content |
The Chinese cultural identity values conveyed |
After class behavior |
Socialization |
Active participation |
into campus before class, indicating that most students find it difficult to link ICH skills with values such as “craftsmanship spirit” and “patriotism” before the implementation of ICH courses, and some students have insufficient understanding of the connotation of Chinese culture before the course is launched.
4.2. Feasibility of Introducing ICH of Traditional Skills into Campuses
The high interest of students provides subjective conditions The average acceptance of ICH by students before class is relatively high, indicating that students generally have a certain interest in this field. Traditional ICH skills are practical and can provide students with immediate feedback through tangible results (such as completing a work). The production process often gives students a sense of achievement, which meets the psychological needs of young people and is in line with the educational philosophy of “learning by doing”.
Strong teaching staff has solidified the foundation of the curriculum. Primary schools in Jinhua City often invite teachers from outside the school to teach, most of whom are inheritors of ICH at or above the city level, providing strong support for the teaching of traditional skills in the curriculum. For example, the Central Primary School in Luobu Town, Jinhua City, invited Huang Hongzhuan, a representative inheritor of the city level ICH of PuGong paper kite making skills, to teach at the “Kite Making Skills” themed ICH into the campus activity; Jinhua Foreign Language Experimental School invites Wen Guoxiang, a representative inheritor of the “Wuzhou Tie Dyeing” municipal ICH, to give lectures on tie dyeing techniques. However, further exploration is needed on how to integrate Chinese cultural identity into the transmission of skills among ICH inheritors.
4.3. The Effectiveness of Traditional Arts ICH in Cultivating
Chinese Cultural Identity on Campus
Overall, the introduction of traditional ICH into schools has a good effect on cultivating Chinese cultural identity. The following will be discussed from three aspects: course development, values, and post class feedback.
The integration of traditional ICH into campus teaching often adopts a teaching mode that combines course teaching with practical experience. This dynamic teaching method effectively enhances classroom participation. The curriculum cleverly integrates multi-dimensional sensory experiences such as visual (such as craft demonstrations), auditory (storytelling of skills), and tactile (direct contact with materials), which are in line with the cognitive characteristics of primary school students. Compared to traditional subject courses, teachers enjoy greater freedom in the teaching process, and students show higher interest in such ICH courses. As a result, their recognition of the dissemination forms and content of traditional craft ICH in the curriculum is at a relatively high level.
The recognition of the Chinese cultural identity values conveyed by students in class is significantly higher than the recognition of the clarity of the Chinese cultural identity values conveyed by the introduction of traditional ICH into campus before class, indicating that the introduction of ICH into campus activities has to some extent enhanced students’ sense of Chinese cultural identity. Through the course of incorporating ICH into the campus, students have achieved a transformation from skill acquisition to value recognition. For example, Shangyang Primary School in Yiwu City has implemented the activity of incorporating ICH into the campus based on local cultural characteristics, which has led to the internalization of “root carving education” into the school’s “root carving culture”. While building campus culture, it has subtly deepened students’ identification with local culture and Chinese culture. Taking the Paper Cuttings course of “Red Paper Cuttings for the first time, a hundred flowers for a hundred years” in Yiwu Xingfuhu Primary School as an example, students have gone through a deepening process from “Paper Cuttings method learning” to “pattern meaning understanding”.
Students showed a high tendency to actively participate, indicating that the ICH education model has effectively achieved a transition from “passive acceptance” to “active participation”. This transformation is not only reflected in attitudes, but also translated into concrete cultural practices. This “learning for practical use” effect provides sustainable impetus for the campus inheritance of ICH.
4.4. The Current Problems of Traditional Skills ICH Entering Schools
Currently, the inheritance and teaching of traditional ICH in most schools are still in the exploratory stage, lacking a scientific and systematic evaluation and assessment mechanism. Many schools’ ICH courses only stay at the level of “experiential teaching”, lacking clear teaching objectives, which makes it difficult to quantify teaching effectiveness. For example, the Paper Cuttings course may only require students to “complete a work”, but does not set specific skill levels (such as cutting fineness, pattern complexity, etc.), making it difficult to objectively measure learning achievements.
At present, common assessment methods mainly focus on showcasing achievements, such as the “ICH” themed learning achievement exhibition held multiple times by Huhaitang Primary School, while neglecting to consider dimensions such as student participation, progress, cultural identity, and understanding in the learning process. The introduction of ICH into schools is often regarded as an “extracurricular activity”, and its assessment results are not effectively linked to the comprehensive quality evaluation system of students, the teacher performance evaluation mechanism, and the school’s characteristic development strategy, resulting in insufficient attention from all parties.
Some primary schools often choose a certain ICH (such as Paper Cuttings, clay sculpture, opera, etc.) as a school characteristic project when carrying out the activity of “ICH on Campus” and implement it regularly for a long time. Although this approach helps deepen students’ understanding of specific ICH projects, it can easily lead to a decline in students’ interest, difficulty in maintaining learning enthusiasm, and is limited to a single project, which is not conducive to students’ comprehensive understanding of the diversity of excellent traditional Chinese culture and hinders the cultivation of Chinese cultural identity. With the theme of “traditional skills in the Spring Festival”, Qianxi Township Central Primary School carried out comprehensive practical activities including lotus lantern production, Paper Cuttings art, throwing pot games, Jinhua local rice dumpling production, etc., setting a model for intangible cultural heritage activities on campus.
Research has found that students’ enthusiasm for social sharing after class is low, with only a few students using social media to showcase their learning outcomes. The frequency of discussing ICH topics after class is significantly lower than classroom participation, and the completeness of introducing ICH knowledge to family and friends is also low. This phenomenon may be related to the lack of sharing channels and social incentive mechanisms. Only a few courses include sharing sessions, and a large number of ICH works have not been digitized or included in growth records, which in turn affects recording and dissemination. It is recommended that the school pay attention to the relevance to students’ lives when selecting ICH course content. For example, the Qingming Cake Making Skills course at Binhong Primary School in Jinhua City received a warm response after class, and many students and parents participated in the production, which invisibly promoted the inheritance of Chinese culture.
5. Research Limitations
There are several methodological limitations in this study that need to be improved in future research. Firstly, in terms of external validity, as the sample only selected 20 primary schools in Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province, the research conclusions may not be fully applicable to other regions and cultural backgrounds of primary school students. As a national level intangible cultural heritage project enrichment area, Jinhua’s cultural inheritance practice may have systematic differences from other regions. Future research should expand the sampling scope to include urban and rural schools in provinces with different levels of economic development in the eastern, central, and western regions, and consider the cultural specificity of ethnic minority areas to improve the universality of research conclusions.
Secondly, there is a risk of social desirability bias in the measurement method caused by self reporting scales. Elementary school students may tend to provide answers that meet social expectations rather than truly reflecting their cultural identity status. To compensate for this deficiency, it is recommended to adopt a mixed research method: on the one hand, cross validation can be conducted through multiple reporting sources such as teacher assessment scales and peer evaluations; On the other hand, introducing behavior tracking technology, such as recording objective indicators such as the frequency and duration of students’ participation in intangible cultural heritage activities; It can also be combined with neuroscience techniques such as EEG and fNIRS to measure students’ neural response patterns when exposed to traditional cultural stimuli. This multi method triangulation can more comprehensively and accurately evaluate the formation mechanism of cultural identity.
6. Suggestions for Future Development
6.1. Deepen Educational Innovation and Promote Curriculum Integration
In order to better integrate traditional intangible cultural heritage into primary school education, we should deepen educational innovation and promote the organic integration of intangible cultural heritage education and primary school curriculum. On the one hand, we should strengthen the infiltration of disciplines and naturally integrate intangible cultural heritage elements into existing primary school subjects. For example, in Chinese class, we can introduce intangible cultural heritage projects based on the content of the text. In art class, we can guide students to draw intangible cultural heritage patterns or make handicrafts. In music class, we can teach intangible cultural heritage songs or instrument performance. On the other hand, develop school-based curriculum for intangible cultural heritage suitable for primary school students, focusing on fun and practicality, such as Paper Cuttings, clay sculpture, etc., so that students can learn to play and learn to play. At the same time, promote project-based learning, with intangible cultural heritage projects as the theme, through group cooperation, practical operations, and other methods, to enable students to have a deep understanding of intangible cultural heritage, cultivate practical abilities and innovative spirit.
6.2. Strengthen Home School Cooperation and Integrate Community Resources
Home school cooperation and community resource integration are also important forces in promoting the integration of intangible cultural heritage into primary school campuses. Schools could organize family-oriented ICH activities (e.g., paper-cutting workshops, parent-child clay sculpture competitions) to strengthen family bonds while transmitting ICH culture. At the same time, parents with intangible cultural heritage skills are invited to the classroom to teach students about intangible cultural heritage knowledge. In addition, schools should actively integrate community resources, such as collaborating with cultural centers and museums, organizing students to visit intangible cultural heritage exhibitions, and expanding learning channels.
6.3. Emphasize Practical Output and Stimulate Creative Vitality
Practice is an important criterion for testing learning outcomes and an effective way to stimulate the creative vitality of primary school students. Schools should design intangible cultural heritage practical projects suitable for primary school students, such as intangible cultural heritage small-scale production, theme painting, etc., to allow students to practice hands-on. At the same time, regular exhibitions of intangible cultural heritage works on campus are held to showcase students’ creative achievements and enhance their sense of achievement. In addition, students can be encouraged to innovate in intangible cultural heritage skills by combining modern life, such as designing stationery, accessories, etc. with intangible cultural heritage elements.
6.4. Strengthening Resource Security and Promoting Sustainable Development
In order to ensure the continuous implementation of intangible cultural heritage in primary school campuses, schools need to seek policy support and provide funding, venues, and other guarantees for the activities. At the same time, strengthen teacher training, improve teachers’ intangible cultural heritage skills and teaching abilities. In addition, establish a resource sharing mechanism to share intangible cultural heritage education resources with sister schools, communities, etc., to achieve optimized allocation [3].
6.5. Improve the Evaluation System and Establish a Feedback Mechanism
Schools should establish a comprehensive evaluation system and design evaluation methods suitable for primary school students, such as observation records, work evaluations, etc., to comprehensively understand students’ learning situation. At the same time, establish a multi-party feedback mechanism to collect feedback from students, teachers, parents, and various sectors of society, promptly identify problems and make improvements, and provide decision-making references for future intangible cultural heritage education.
7. Conclusions
This study takes primary schools in Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province as a sample, focusing on the campus inheritance practice of traditional skills intangible cultural heritage, and deeply explores its mechanism and implementation path in cultivating Chinese cultural identity among primary school students. The following conclusions are drawn.
From the perspective of research background and current situation, in the wave of globalization and informatization, young people face multiple challenges in cultural values. Integrating intangible cultural heritage into campus education is an important way to inherit culture and cultivate cultural identity among young people. However, the current campus inheritance of traditional intangible cultural heritage skills faces many challenges in the basic education stage, especially in primary schools. There are problems such as broad research perspectives, inadequate consideration of stage characteristics, and shallow exploration of internal relationships.
In terms of the introduction of traditional skills and intangible cultural heritage into schools in Jinhua region, it is both necessary and feasible to carry out such activities. The necessity is reflected in the vague and superficial understanding of the concept of intangible cultural heritage among primary school students before class, as well as insufficient transmission of cultural values; The feasibility lies in the high interest of students, as well as the strong teaching staff of primary schools in Jinhua City, inviting more municipal and above intangible cultural heritage inheritors to teach.
In terms of the effectiveness of cultivating Chinese cultural identity, the introduction of traditional intangible cultural heritage into schools has shown good results. Students highly recognize the presentation and teaching content of intangible cultural heritage courses, effectively promoting their recognition and acceptance of Chinese cultural values and concepts. Moreover, students provide positive feedback after class and increase their participation and initiative.
However, there are also some problems at present, including the lack of clear evaluation and assessment mechanisms, the urgent need to expand relevant teaching resources on campus, and the need to improve students’ enthusiasm for actively spreading Chinese culture.
Based on the above research findings, in the future, measures such as deepening educational innovation to promote curriculum integration, strengthening home school cooperation to integrate community resources, emphasizing practical output to stimulate creative vitality, strengthening resource guarantee to promote sustainable development, and improving the evaluation system to establish feedback mechanisms can be taken to further promote the introduction of traditional cultural heritage into schools and enhance the Chinese cultural identity of primary school students.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.