POSTGRADUATE DIPLOMA IN EDUCATION

PGDE Assignment Cover Sheet

Programme: * PGDE (Full-time) / PGDE (Part-time)

Year of Study: *1 / 2

Major: English Primary

Course: * Major Methods / ES Strand 1 / ES Strand 2 (ES Sub-class )

Educational Inquiry

Course Code: EDUC6760 Student Name: Chung Man Fong Flora

Course Teacher: Dr. Simon Mak Student No: 2001821504

Mr. Ka Lok Wong

Due Date: 19 July, 2021 Student Email: [email protected]

*please delete as appropriate

Assignment Topic:

Student Declaration:
This assignment is entirely my own work except where I have duly acknowledged other sources in the text and listed those sources at the
end of the assignment; I have not previously submitted this work to this University or any other institution for a degree, diploma or other
qualification; I understand that I may be orally examined on my submission.

I have read the booklet “What is Plagiarism” (available at http://www.hku.hk/plagiarism/page2s.htm) which gives details of plagiarism, and
I have observed all the requirements set out in the booklet.

Signed: Flora Chung Date: ______19 July, 2021______

Task 4B --- Issue Analysis: Analysis of Value and Moral Education in Schools

Part A: Overview of Value and Moral Education in Schools

One of the fundamental goals of Hong Kong school education has always been to develop
pupils' moral and national values. Moral and Civic Education was designated as one of the
Four Key Tasks in the Education Bureau's 2001 curriculum overhaul. The development of
positive values and attitudes in pupils has become an important aspect of the primary and
secondary school curriculum framework.
In 2012, the “Moral and National Education Curriculum Guide (Primary 1 to Secondary
6)” illustrates the curriculum framework, curriculum planning, learning and teaching,
assessments and the use of learning and teaching resources to help teachers to prepare and
implement this subject. It is suggested that Moral education be integrated and incorporated
into the school curriculum and that the modes of implementation be school-based. ‘The
Moral Education subject aims at cultivating students’ positive values and attitudes through
a continuous and systematic learning experience. It is hoped that students can acquire
desirable moral and national qualities, enrich their life and establish their identity
recognition in the domains of family, society, the country and the world. Apart from that,
the subject emphasizes the development of students’ independent thinking and autonomy
so that they are able to distinguish right from wrong, and make informed decisions in a
caring and reasonable manner.’ (The Curriculum Guide, 2012)

The rationale behind the policy is that by learning in various areas and dimensions of the
school curriculum, students can gain a deeper understanding of relevant knowledge, skills,
values, and attitudes. Our youth's value system is influenced by many forms of culture and
knowledge available in our ever-changing society. A subject-based approach is advocated
by Moral Education. It is a twelve-year program that is supposed to be complete. The use
of a spiral learning technique (Bruner, 1960) allows students to learn gradually across
several key stages, allowing them to achieve more depth and breadth in their
understanding of the curriculum.

Although Education Bureau has implemented strategies and given resources to develop
Moral Education, there are gaps and challenges encountered by the schools and teachers in
the reality. Apart from the emphasis put on moral education, the government has also
stressed the development of students’ national identity in the school curriculum this year.
With extra elements added, teachers need to reallocate time and teaching materials when
planning Moral and National Education. The effectiveness of National Education is still
uncertain as it has not yet been fully implemented. Thus, emphasis on Values and Moral
Education will be focused in the following part.

Part B: Analysis of the policy of Value and Moral Education

The application of MNE is one among the main targets for evolution in many primary and
secondary schools in Hong Kong. The EDB proposed that schools should have allocated
sufficient lesson time for the implementation of MNE and made it as a stand-alone subject.
The ultimate goal is to cultivate knowledge, skills, values and attitudes of students so as to
achieve the overall curriculum aims and promote whole-person development.

There are, however, many gaps and challenges encountered by the schools and teachers in
the reality when implementing Moral Education. For example,

- Students come from different family backgrounds. Their parents do not understand
the importance of moral values.
- With online schooling for these two years, students are becoming less interactive
with the others. Some of them are experiencing social communication disorders and
they only want to get entertainment by using electronic devices or playing video
games.
- Most of the students do not know the benefits of learning moral values in their lives
because this subject is not tested.
- Students are not interested to know and practice moral values because there are no
bonus marks for their good deeds.
- Great use and misuse of technology and online information are considered as the big
challenge for promoting values and moral judgement as they instill messages like
violence, cheating, online bullying, etc.

In my school, Life and Moral Education lesson is assigned once a week (40 minutes) for
every class. As one of the panel heads of this subject, I also planned the curriculum
according to the guidelines provided by the Education Bureau, which includes the domains
of personal growth, family, school and society.

During COVID-19, however, it was hard to conduct interactive games and group work
online. Without experiential activities, service learning and exchange programmes, we had
to think of other activities to promote Life and Moral Education. While this was a
challenge for the students, it was also a chance for student development.

The students in my school are mainly from well-off families. They do not understand how
it is like for those who cannot attend school and need to stay in a sub-divided unit all day
long for three months with other family members. Instead of following the planned
curriculum, we teachers revised our action plan. We changed the theme from ‘honesty’ to
‘gratitude’ as we found that it is more related to the situation. To draw students’ attention
about people who suffered from Covid-19, we selected some video clips about ‘children
living in poverty’, ‘the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on low-income families’ to let
them know how fortunate they are and that they need to be grateful for what they possess.
We also showed them how hard-working the community workers like doctors and nurses,
school staff, cleaners are during the pandemic and encouraged students to express their
gratitude through writing thank-you cards to them. To ensure the virtue of ‘gratitude’ is
demonstrated, we joined the programme launched by the EDB called ‘Expressing
gratitude, to cherish, be proactive and optimistic’. We encouraged students to take micro-
videos, design cards and creating new lyrics with old songs to express their gratitude.
Through this programme, students’ digital technology is further improved through
‘Learning by doing’ (John Dewey, 1938) as students must interact with their environment
in order to adapt and learn. Their reading and writing skills are also elevated with such
life-experience.
This revised action plan was considered as a good opportunity for students to show their
gratitude. It combines the writing skills, IT skills. It arouses their social awareness of
people living in poverty.

The above mentioned challenges correspond with the theories that I learnt in Cycle 6 ---
Curriculum Development in School Contexts. Morris P. (2010) mentioned that the
intended curriculum plans are not always achieved in practice. Teachers often have to
handle various requests and unexpected incidents. In this case, online teaching due to
Covid- 19. Because of the gap between the intended curriculum and the implemented
curriculum, we teachers should not just deliver a pre-packaged curriculum.

School curricula have intended, implemented, null and hidden elements (Morris &
Adamson, 2010). The school curriculum defines the view of society about ‘what is worth
learning’, commensurates with students’ abilities at different stages and with their ways of
perceiving and learning about the world. We instill the concept ‘learning experiences’ to
enhance the effectiveness of learning when students learn to write to express words or
phrases about gratitude.

Part C: Roles of teachers

In Hong Kong, teachers play a significant role in the development of MNE. Teachers
should connect MNE to other disciplines and related learning experiences or activities
when building the curriculum. As learning settings, the curriculum could be linked to
student enhancement programs and life events.

Teachers should function as learning facilitators. Teachers can have an impact on pupils
by serving as a role model and interacting with them on a daily basis. They should be
aware of students' emotions and place a high priority on their engagement and self-
reflection. They should use multi-perspectival, autonomous, and reasonable thinking to
resolve problems among students.

Through student-centred and diversified learning models, students are helped to be

proactive and build their identities in the personal, family, social, national and global
domains. During classroom learning, teachers can guide students to discuss and reflect on
life events and related issues. Students will learn to refine their values and resolve value
conflicts so as to make reasonable judgements and act accordingly.

Collaboration skills, communication skills, critical thinking skills, problem-solving

abilities, and self-management skills are all intimately tied to the MNE subject at different
crucial phases. Teachers can plan a complete and systematic curriculum based on the
learning objectives and curricular materials of different key stages.

Part D: Implications on Professional Development

Moral Education does not have to be conducted solely during class lessons, according to
the previous analysis. Through cross-curriculum, teachers can introduce moral education
aspects into related instruction. Students' engagement and learning effectiveness can be
improved by implementing diverse learning activities such as subject-based, co-curricular
learning activities.

In order to improve the influence on learning, schools may also organize a variety of life-
wide learning activities based on their students' interests and requirements, such as student
award programs, community service, and competitions.

In terms of pedagogical reasoning and action, I have learnt to adopt a combination of the
constructivist and integrative approaches. Constructivism is the theory that learners
are actively involved in the learning process. They do not just passively ingest the material
(Bruner, 1990). The integrative approach involves multiple academic disciplines (Kumari,
2014). Common language is used cross-curricular and this is important for improving
reading and writing skills.

The education value of Moral Education reminds kids that it is the thought that counts.
Individual or task work not only practices reading, writing and technology skills, it teaches
virtues from within.

(1566 words)

References:
1. Bruner, J. (1960). The Process of Education. Cambridge, MA: The President and
Fellows of Harvard College.

2. Bruner, J. (1990). Acts of Meaning: Four Lecturers on Mind and Culture. Harvard
University Press

3. Curriculum Development Council. (April 2012). Moral and National Education

Curriculum Guide (Primary 1 to Secondary 6).

Retrieved from
https://www.edb.gov.hk/attachment/en/curriculum-development/moral-national-
edu/MNE%20Guide%20(ENG)%20Final_remark_09102012.pdf

4. Dewey, J. (1938). Experience and education. New York: Collier Books, Macmillan.

5. Exploring the Alignment of the Intended and Implemented Curriculum Through

Teachers’ Interpretation

Retrieved from
https://www.ejmste.com/download/exploring-the-alignment-of-the-intended-and-
implemented-curriculum-through-teachers-interpretation-a-4687.pdf

6. Jeffs, T. & Smith, M. (eds.) (1990) Using Informal Education. An alternative to

casework, teaching and control? Milton Keynes: Open University Press.

7. Johnson, L. & Morris, P. (2010) The Curriculum Journal: Towards a framework for
critical citizenship education

8. McCarthy, C. L., & Sears, E. (2000). Deweyan pragmatism and the quest for true
belief. Educational Theory

9. Morris, P. (1996) Hong Kong School Curriculum: Development, Issues and Policies

10.Morris, P. & Adamson, B. (2010) Curriculum, Schooling and Society in Hong Kong:
Hong Kong University Press

11.Vijaya Kumari, S.N. (2014). Constructivist approach to teacher education: An

integrative model for reflective teaching. Journal on Educational Psychology