Abstract: The aesthetic education policy in our country plays a decisive guiding role in school aesthetic education practice. Policy tools serve as the connecting mechanism between policy texts, goals and actions, providing insights into the causes of policies, grasping patterns, and better promoting the scientific development and improvement of national aesthetic education policies. This article collects and organizes aesthetic education policy literature from 1985 to 2022, analyzing 33 aesthetic education policy texts. Following a two-dimensional matrix analysis framework of “policy tools-policy content”, the current status of aesthetic education policies in China is presented through tool classification, text delineation, and policy encoding. The research reveals that current aesthetic education policies consist of three modules: “overall objectives, main tasks, and management guarantees.” These policies exhibit relatively limited use of “supply-type” policy tools, indicating room for improvement and adjustment. The impact generated by the use of “environmental-type” tools is more pronounced, suggesting the need for refining policy implementation guidelines. The use of “demand-type” tools is noticeably insufficient, indicating a need for strategies that enhance flexibility and precision.

Key words: aesthetic education policy, policy tool, choice optimization