Abstract: Moral education thinking returning to a public stance is based on public values and public welfare to understand and grasp the national mission and social responsibilities that moral education ought to undertake. It guides moral education toward the teaching and cultivation of individuals’ public character and sense of public responsibility, as well as toward the exploration and pursuit of public welfare for the nation and society. Returning to a public stance highlights the important demands of moral education in the new era, and it is reflected in its commitment to public space, public values, and the self-transcending nature of the public dimension. To better return to a public stance, moral education should, at the conceptual level, gradually shift from cultivating individual persons to nurturing public-minded individuals; in terms of spatial thinking, greater emphasis should be placed on the integration of physical, social, and cyber spaces, thereby advancing the construction of public spaces for moral education; in curriculum, teaching, and value transmission, the effective communication of socialist core values and common human values should be achieved through a combination of explicit and implicit approaches. Simultaneously, multidimensional public practice activities should be constructed to promote the organic integration of moral education and public practice, thereby better fostering a new generation with public moral character and spirit.

Key words: public nature, public stance, moral education, new generation of the era, public space