'Health first, safety first': an analysis of the legal system and professional ethics for curriculum enactment in China

Nation-states have concerns about the health and wellbeing of their citizens and these concerns have directly or indirectly influenced educational reform and curriculum development. In 2000, China issued a directive of 'Health First' which applied to all elements of the education system. In its scale and scope, this represented a significant and far-reaching reform, ushering in a period where school leaders and teachers were expected to engage with new policy documents and develop curriculum practices to reflect the ambitions of 'Health First'. This article provides an opportunity to explore the complex and dynamic processes of teachers' curriculum enactment within the broader socio-political context. Our analysis offers a unique insight into the legal system in China and how this played an important role in teachers' decision-making and professional practice. Guided initially by grounded theory, 22 physical education teachers in the north of mainland China were interviewed to explore their experiences of the reform to the curriculum. To develop a better understanding of how 'Health First' was taken up and enacted by teachers and specifically recognising the characteristics of a non-western research context, we deployed two theoretical concepts - 'technologies of the self' and 'self-cultivation'. Our findings reveal, rather than prioritising 'Health First', curriculum enactment was predicated on 'safety first' as a result of the complex interplay between teachers' awareness of the legal system and their professional ethics, which led to these teachers interpreting the maxim of 'Health First' as 'safety first'.