Primary and secondary school principals and other educators gathered at The Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd) on 27 April 2016 to attend the inauguration ceremony of a talk series entitled “Enriching Life: Embracing Life Challenges Together with Our Children and Adolescents with Positive Attitudes” organized by the Centre for Religious and Spirituality Education (CRSE) at HKIEd.

The Lau Chor Tak Foundation sponsored the series that aimed at promoting the understanding of life education and raising awareness of the spiritual wellbeing of children and adolescents among educators and individuals in society.

In his welcoming speech, Professor John Lee Chi-kin, Vice President (Academic) and Director of CRSE, said studies had shown that not all school children in Hong Kong felt content with their lives. Facing fierce competition in the Hong Kong society, some parents might develop a mentality of “winning at the starting line” and neglected the importance of school children’s personal and spiritual development.

“We hope that we can explore how schools, teachers and parents can promote the spiritual wellbeing and healthy life development of school children with the help of experts and academics in the talk series, as well as help students develop positive values at different stages of life,” Professor Lee said.

CRSE has been inviting schools to discuss life development stories through case studies to facilitate a deeper understanding of the topic among parents and frontline teachers. At the inauguration ceremony, Dr Philemon Choi Yuen-wan, President of the Youth Global Network, was invited to share his views on servant leadership and the need for life education in a keynote speech. In addition, representatives from two schools that had achieved remarkably in life education, namely, the Po Leung Kuk Riverain Primary School and Stewards Pooi Tun Secondary School, also brought with them real-life stories from their campuses.

Other themes in the upcoming talks will include “The Role of Class Teachers in Helping Youngsters Live Up To Challenges in Growth”, “Life Education and Experiential Learning: Strengthening Students’ Quality of Life and the Ability to Overcome Adversities”, “Early Identification of Children with Self-Harm Tendencies”, “Tips for Parents to Improve Quality of Life: First-hand Experience from a Teacher and an Academic”, “Life Education and Cooperation between Schools and Parents”, and “Fighting An Uphill Battle: Equip Prospective Teachers to Help Youngsters Develop Positive Values and Strength Against Adversity”.

Since 2008, CRSE has been promoting life education through concerted efforts with various stakeholders including school management teams, teachers, parents, social workers and students. Projects such as “Planning Life Education in Primary and Secondary Schools”, “Little Life Leaders”, “Bridging Life Stories: Collaborative Project between Schools and Parents” have facilitated this objective and are built on the belief that the development paths of school children can be brightened with positive attitudes.