Life and Values Education

Course (3 credits/ course)	Description
Issues in Education from Inter-cultural Perspectives	This course is also for the applied level of EdD study programme. Building on a board understanding of life and values education from a cross-disciplinary perspective, this course will focus on an inter-cultural discussion in education which includes the critical analysis of social, political, pedagogical and organisational issues relevant to educational settings in Hong Kong, Taiwan or Mainland China. As Hong Kong is a modern city comprising of Eastern and Western cultures, rich resources will be drawn from both the Eastern and Western traditions. Hence, students are required to address educational issues and propose solutions from the broader, culturally comparative perspectives, and demonstrate their knowledge, research capabilities and professional skills in the related areas.
Life and Values Education in the Holistic Curriculum	This course will examine critically and extensively on the theoretical conceptions, issues and respective pedagogies of life and values education. Focus will be put on how life and values education can help the education of the “whole person”. It will look at the principles of holistic education and the important roles life and values education can play in a holistic curriculum. Students are required to understand with competence scholarship of the field and to propose and critically appraise strategies for enabling young people to establish connections between mind and body, man and environment, and the individual and the world; to inquire about truth and meaning and understand their social and moral values from a cross-disciplinary perspective.
Research Methods for Life and Values Education	This course of the foundational level is designed to help students develop a critical perspective on research and research issues in life and values education, from both local and international points of view. Through analysis of the relevant literature, context, meaning and significance of research, students will become more perceptive interpreters of research in life and values education; appraise different approaches and methods in research in life and values education; and be able to locate research studies relevant to their own areas of interest. By the conclusion of this course students should have developed their own research questions, reviewed the relevant literature and selected the research methods most appropriate for their proposed research topics they are going to pursue in life and values education.
The Teacher as Educator	At the applied level of the Doctor of Education study programme, this module will examine critically the role of the teacher as an educator in schools. Education is an all-round personal 'formation' process that goes beyond the mere provision of 'information', or passing on knowledge. It must aim to develop reflective and critical thinking which brings not only the 'reformation' of ideas or behaviour, but also the 'transformation' of the life and soul/spirit of a pupil as a human person. In this module, students are required to critically analyse educational policies and processes in schools today and address issues around the teacher’s role as an educator, the education of pupils as persons, and explore how education can go beyond the concern for mental and intellectual development and bring about the transformation of life among pupils as human persons.