“Law-abidingness” and “empathy” added as priority values and attitudes to nurture students’ positive values and attitudes

     The Education Bureau (EDB) today (December 3) issued a circular memorandum to all primary and secondary schools informing them that "law-abidingness" and "empathy" were added as the priority values and attitudes to strengthen the implementation of values education in schools.
 
     A spokesman for the EDB said, "The cultivation of positive values and attitudes among students has been a key learning goal of primary and secondary education. We expect the next generation of Hong Kong to act righteously, have a broad knowledge base, be able to demonstrate skills such as rational thinking, ethnical judgment and effective communication skills, and to be socially responsible and equipped with a sense of national identity, love for Hong Kong, and international perspectives. Schools are nurturing in their students the priority values and attitudes, including perseverance, respect for others, responsibility, national identity, commitment, integrity, and care for others. In October this year, in view of students' learning and development needs, the Curriculum Development Council (CDC) recommended setting 'law-abidingness' and 'empathy' as priority values and attitudes in order to enable students to understand that law-abidingness is the basic responsibility of citizens for the benefits of the community. They can also learn to empathise and put themselves in others' shoes, respect different opinions and in turn help create a harmonious and caring society."
 
     The spokesman said, "EDB welcomes the recommendation from the CDC. Enhancing promotion of values education, with a view to nurturing students' positive values and attitudes such as law-abiding awareness, mutual respect, and the sense of inclusion and friendship, can further equip students to face challenges in life and study. We will continue to provide learning and teaching resources and teacher training programmes to support the implementation of values education in schools, thus cultivating positive values and attitudes among students."
 
     Schools may, in accordance with their school mission and own context, student needs, etc., implement holistic curriculum planning and design appropriate school-based values education and learning activities to enhance students' understanding and recognition of the importance of law-abidingness and empathy, enabling them to put into practice in their daily life and promote to others.
 
     To support schools in incorporating related learning elements into the existing values education curriculum, the EDB will produce diversified learning and teaching resources on an ongoing basis. Professional development programmes will also be organised to better equip teachers with the strategies for holistic curriculum planning. In addition, EDB will produce leaflets and pamphlets for parents to synergize different stakeholders in the promotion of values education.