At the end of 1970s, the mainstream of American education reform was livelihood education and "returning to nature". According to relevant information, in the 1970s, American education exposed some drawbacks, such as the lack of social adaptability and basic training for primary and secondary school students. In order to solve these problems, two concepts appeared in American education reform in the 1970s: livelihood education and "returning to basics". Livelihood education is a kind of education initiated by Ma Lan, director of the General Administration of Education of the United States, in 197 1. He proposed that the essence of people's livelihood education is an education that adapts to the society with vocational education and labor education as the core. "Back to basics" began at 1976, initiated and promoted by the American Board of Basic Education, and became the mainstream of American education reform in the late 1970s.