A one-day event entitled Roots: Chinese Culture’s Moral Qualities and Life Education was held today (8 July) at The Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK). Attracting nearly 100 educators, the event was organised by EdUHK’s Centre for Religious and Spirituality Education (CRSE) to present its projects related to the promotion of Chinese culture education.
Since its establishment in 2006, the CRSE has devoted its efforts to promoting the moral qualities and life education of Chinese culture. This year, four Chinese culture learning projects were launched: the Chinese Culture-based Life Education Project, the Study of Chinese Classics, In Praise of Filial Piety and From Self-cultivation to Regulation of Family. In celebration of the CRSE’s 10th Anniversary, an event titled Roots: Chinese Culture’s Moral Qualities and Life Education was held to present the results of the four projects.
Delivering the opening speech for the event was Professor John Lee Chi-kin, who said, “With Chinese people being the majority group in Hong Kong society, most of our moral values originate from Chinese culture. Understanding their cultural roots facilitates children’s moral development. As filial piety is one of the most important elements in Chinese culture, the projects and results presented in this event evolve around this theme.”
“Through promoting filial piety, schools are teaching children to reflect on the meaning of life and to be grateful to their parents and ancestors,” Professor Lee added. “It also helps students extend their love and care to society.”
Students of St Francis of Assisi’s Caritas School were invited to perform and share their experience in participating in the projects. Teachers of Buddhist Lam Bing Yim Memorial School (SPSD by HKBA) also shared theirs. Teacher Ms Vanessa Wong said, “Through reading illustrated books and watching related videos, the students were helped to understand the importance of filial piety and the value of a harmonious family, in addition to the enhancement of their subject knowledge.”
At the event, students of EdUHK presented their experience in organising in-school services and learning activities related to Chinese culture at the partner schools. Mr Peter Chan Ka-lok, a student in the Department of Chinese Language Studies, who re-created The Twenty-four Filial Exemplars in the context of contemporary life, said, “Crossover is a current trend for cultural creations, so I attempted to combine the morals exemplified in traditional stories with contemporary real-life situations: for example, the story of a Hong Kong child encountering the main characters from The Twenty-four Filial Exemplars. By integrating these elements, the content becomes more fun and more appropriate for the tastes of today’s children.” Mr Chan said he hopes that children can learn to appreciate the beauty of Chinese culture through these stories and be able to pass on the related moral qualities.
Concluding the opening speech, Professor Lee said “According to ‘Learning to Learn 2+’ and the Kindergarten Education Curriculum Guide (Provisional Final Draft), learning about Chinese culture and values education are regarded as important trends in the future of Hong Kong education. These projects integrate the related elements, and we invite educators to use these practices as a reference for responding to these trends.” Special thanks were given to the donors for the projects, namely the Fung Sun Kwan Chinese Arts Foundation, Dr Kwong Kai-to and the Rural Training College Alumni Association, and the Po Shin Kwong Ming Charity Education Foundation, whose generous support have sustained the work of the CRSE.
For media enquiries, please contact Mr Ben Lau of the CRSE at EdUHK (Tel: 2948 8279 or Email: benlau@eduhk.hk).
