IEFInternational Education Forum3083-49022981-8605Bio-Byword Scientific Publishing Pty. Ltd.10.26689/ief.v4i4.14886ArticleThe Moral Foundation of Craftsmanship: A Historical and Comparative Inquiry into College Teachers’ Professional Ethos in Chinahttps://artdesignp.com/journal/IEF/4/4/10.26689/ief.v4i4.14886YangXi2026442026-04-28Rooted in the “morality-first” tradition, the Chinese craftsmanship spirit integrates ethics with expertise, positioning moral cultivation as the foundation of professional excellence. Within higher education, this spirit underpins teachers’ professional identity and their capacity to shape students’ moral and academic character. Through a comparative analysis of China’s Confucian “reverence for morality” and Western traditions of virtue ethics, this study reveals that the erosion of morality-centered professionalism among college teachers compromises instructional quality and disrupts the intergenerational transmission of professional ethics. To address this decline, three pathways are proposed: internalizing ethical consciousness through reflective practice; constructing evaluation systems aligning value recognition with performance incentives; and embedding student-centered cultural transmission in pedagogy. Collectively, these strategies aim to restore the moral foundation of teacher professionalism, renew the cultural legacy of morality-centered craftsmanship, and cultivate virtuous educators and students who embody the ethical essence of China’s pedagogical tradition while engaging with global educational discourses.

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