Exploring teacher challenges in conducting moral education in Hong Kong kindergartens: an exploratory study

INTRODUCTION Throughout history across the world, moral development and character formation have been considered to be among the most important goals of school-based education (Lee, 2002; Lickona, 1991; Molnar, 1997; Nucci, 1989; Park & Chu, 1996; Ryan & Bohlin, 1999; The Korean Association of Education, 1997). Although the structure, content, and educational practices of moral and character education approaches differ across countries as a function of their respective traditional, religious, societal, and cultural backgrounds they share similar educational aims to help students grow into well-established and functioning members of society. This chapter will take up these issues as they play out within moral and character education in Korea. Moral and character education for youth varies in structure based on who is being taught (the students), where they are being taught (the setting), and in what form instruction occurs (differing curriculums, such as specific programs or following an example in everyday settings). Within Korea, moral and character education is closely related to one another, with "moral subject education" and "character education" comprising two complementary components within the educational system as a whole. However, the more common and typical form is the curriculum-based moral education-"moral education as a curriculum." Let us begin with a look at the key terms used in Korean moral education, their definitions, and their relation to one another. First is "moral education" and "moral education as a curriculum"—hereafter mentioned as MEC. The ultimate goals of these two forms of education do not differ, but the time periods, objects, and the settings in which each form of education occurs are different. "Moral education" is a broader concept that encompasses the formal and informal learning of morals in common settings such as home, schools, and society. MEC is an official and systematic interaction between the teacher and student that takes place in a classroom setting that helps students learnknowledge, values, behaviors, and other skills needed to understand and habituate the expected moral lifestyle of a functioning adult in Korean society. The Moral Education Curriculum presents general guidance for how to teach the characteristics, goals, and content of moral education as a nation-wide standardized subject in Korean elementary and middle schools. A second key distinction is the differentiation between MEC and character education (hereafter referred to as CE). These two terms are similar with respect to general goals, but each approach reaches its goals with different methods and emphasizes different aspects of the topic. Historically, MEC was the central point of moral education following the first introduction of moral education in all levels of schooling in South Korea in 1973. However, over time increasing attitudes of rudeness, self-centeredness, physical violence, and bullying accompanied the competition of students trying to get into higher-ranking schools. As a result of these broader effects of the educational environment, MEC was criticized as a knowledge-based curriculum that students "know of but do not put into practice." As a consequence, CE was promoted as an effective plan to overcome this problem. The issues thought to be addressed by CE are larger than those of MEC. Good character, which is the goal of CE, is demonstrated in people's lifestyles as a whole and is influenced by their school, home, and society. In Korea, there are two types of academic activities-curriculum-based activities and extracurricular activities, with CE belonging to the latter type (Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation, 2011). In Korea, on May 31st, 1995, the concept of CE was made public via a written report, "The Agenda of Education Reform for the Establishment of a New Educational System." It was produced by an Ad hoc Committee of Education Reform and basically states that education needs to change in such a way that it positively enhances the development of sound moral character and creativeness in students. To this end, "Practical CE" needs to be strengthened throughout all educational activities in the school. This became the case that would "reinforce practical character education" through extracurricular activities such as discussion (debates), experiences, and community service in 1995 (K. C. Heo, Jo, Kim, Yu, & Lee, 1994; S. H. Heo, 1998; Kang et al., 2008; Lee, 2002). However, CE has expanded to become more curriculum-based in recent years, and has been integrated with MEC. This is because, despite the attention that was directed toward CE, the effects of CE have not been evident. The assumption is that this ineffectiveness was because CE has not been integrated within curriculum-based activities that take up the majority of school hours. In March 2012, the national curriculum was reformed under "Project based character education"—a plan that was created in response to the significant amount of violence among students. Each school level came up with goals that reflect core values, and students were encouraged to initiate, explore, experience, and put these values into practice. Referring to this event, it was declared that MEC is to become the "central curriculum for character education," and it was said that "Considering the role and mission that schools hold in CE today, MEC is to become its core, supervising curriculum" (2012 Revised National Curriculum, Notification No. 2012-14, Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology). This led to an increased emphasis on the significance of MEC in the school curriculum. Whereas MEC typically focuses on teaching students to understand moral values and develop a sense of moral judgment, and, in addition, encourage them to put these teachings into practice as its main goal within the classroom setting, CE encourages acomprehensive approach to improving character and virtue through curriculum-based activities (including MEC), creative extracurricular or experiential activities, and optimistic climate building through the modeling of good deeds within the student body. Therefore, the knowledge about moral values taught in MEC can be put into practice more easily through extracurricular activities or experiential activities in the bigger subject field of CE. The remainder of this paper focuses upon the specific systems and the practices of moral education as a curriculum and its relation to character education. Together these components comprise the approach to moral education in Korea.

This paper is to inquiry into the conceptual model of religious education in school curriculum focused on 7th revised curriculum, subject matter and teacher training system. We have to consider the related variables for the operation of school curriculum: student, school, teacher. In school curricula of Korea, religious education can be practiced as a elective course of subject, discretion activity and special activity, latent curriculum etc. And also it should be considered student’s right of option and autonomy of private school, because at least those are the important variables effect upon the religious education in school curriculum. Now I’d like to abstract results of this paper as followed. First, it should be considered student’s right of option for religious education in private school curriculum. But at this case, also under the name of education it should be justified precondition of purpose, content, approach method. If not, it easy to access to pejorative meaning as a religious indoctrination. Second, in case of conflict between student and school, I think that a proper method is to adjust the related variables. Third, if the purpose of religious education in school based on religiosity, it can be cover the understanding of religious culture, affectionate domain of religiosity, behavioral religiosity. Finally, in order to accomplish such an conceptual model of religious education in school, it should be set a condition for teacher training system, subject matter etc.

Integrating moral values into early childhood education remains a critical issue for educators and policymakers worldwide. This study explores the implementation of moral values education in public and religion-based kindergartens in Yogyakarta. Using a descriptive quantitative approach, data were gathered through surveys and interviews from a sample of 20 kindergartens, ten public and ten religion-based, across five districts. The research focuses on how core moral values such as politeness, honesty, responsibility, and cooperation are taught and incorporated into daily learning activities. Results indicate that both public and religion-based kindergartens emphasize similar core values, though religion-based institutions place added importance on religious practices like daily prayers. Storytelling is more frequently employed in religion-based kindergartens to teach moral values. In contrast, public kindergartens utilize more diverse strategies, including group activities and discussions. Teachers in public kindergartens often encounter challenges with inconsistency between home and school environments regarding moral education, while those in religion-based kindergartens report difficulties managing children during religious activities. The findings underscore the need for improved home-school collaboration in public kindergartens to ensure consistency in moral education. In contrast, religion-based kindergartens could benefit from adopting more interactive and reflective teaching methods to foster critical thinking in children. Teacher training programs should focus on equipping educators with culturally sensitive strategies for moral education. Although this study offers valuable insights, its findings are geographically limited to Yogyakarta, and future research should broaden the scope to include different regions and assess long-term impacts on children’s moral development.

Erken çocukluk döneminde din ve ahlak eğitimi ile ilgili uygulamalar ülkemizde ve dünyada çeşitli açılardan tartışılmaktadır. Söz konusu tartışmaların odağında hem bu tür bir eğitimin imkânı hem de içeriği yer almaktadır. Farklı ülkelerde uzun yıllardır uygulanmakta olan erken çocukluk dönemi din eğitimi yaklaşımlarının etki alanlarını ve uygulama sonuçlarını ortaya koymanın bu tartışmalara farklı bir bakış açısı kazandırması kaçınılmazdır. Bu bağlamda makalenin amacı dünyada uygulanmakta olan The Good Shepherd, The Godly Play, The Gift to the Child ve Waldorf yaklaşımının ahlak eğitimi ile ilgili boyutunu, gelişim özellikleri, din eğitimi yaklaşımları, öğrenme ortamları, yöntem, materyal, yaş, içerik ve değerlendirme açılarından karşılaştırmaktır. Erken çocuklukta din eğitimi teorilerini kıyaslamayı amaçlayan bu makale doküman incelemesi yöntemiyle hazırlanmıştır. Yaklaşımlar incelendiğinde; tamamının oyun ve eğitsel oyuncakları öğretimin merkezine alarak kişilerarası iletişim, doğa ve toplum bilinci gibi konulara odaklandıkları görülmektedir. Godly Play ve The Good Shepherd yöntemleri belli bir dine ait temel hikaye ve özellikleri aktarmaları bakımından dini öğrenme yaklaşımına uygunken; The Gift to the Child ve Waldorf yaklaşımları ise herhangi bir dini öğretiyi benimsememeleri yönüyle dinden öğrenme yaklaşımına uygun gibi görünmektedir. Godly Play ve The Good Shepherd yöntemlerinde materyal ve yöntemlerin Montessori yaklaşımına uygun olarak belirlendiği görülürken, The Gift to the Child ve Waldorf herhangi bir yaklaşıma bağlılık göstermez.

Reviewed by: Christianity and Moral Identity in Higher Education Gary Railsback, Dean of the School of Education and Diane Wood, Doctoral Student Perry L. Glanzer and Todd C. Ream. Christianity and Moral Identity in Higher Education. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. 2009. 288 pp. Cloth: $80.00. ISBN-13: 978-0230612402. In Christianity and Moral Identity in Higher Education, Perry Glanzer (Baylor University) and Todd Ream (Indiana Wesleyan University) explore moral education in American higher education, its demise, current directions, and future possibilities. Writing for students, scholars, and administrators in both secular and Christian colleges and universities, they argue that the demise of the pervasive moral and character education that was central to America's colleges in the colonial period "stems from the failed quest to find a nonsectarian or universal form of humanism as a basis for moral education" (p. 3). They divide their book into four parts. In Part 1, "Moral Education in Contemporary Higher Education," Glanzer and Ream pose a fundamental question, "Do we even agree about what 'moral development' means or what fostering it entails?" The authors offer a framework for understanding contemporary discourse on moral education, tracing the origins, conflict, and dissolution of a common meta-identity and approach to moral education. Glanzer and Ream then review the work of important scholars in cognitive and moral development, acknowledging that contemporary scholars do not agree on either the definition or process of moral development. They conclude Part 1 by exploring how universities might address identity conflicts and the current fractured state of moral education. Glanzer and Ream note that they have not included a nonsectarian humanism approach to moral development, primarily because they do not believe such an approach exists. For them, the American higher education system represents a vast collection of varying perspectives on moral identities, and they suggest that each institution's task is to explore and understand its respective community's moral order. In Part 2, "A More Human Education: Moral Identity and Moral Orientation," Glanzer and Ream challenge our thinking about current issues facing higher education in moral education by posing the following pivotal question: "Should universities or professors move beyond the current limited professional forms of ethics education?" They present several views that urge both avoiding and embracing moral education, before positing that education is not a neutral endeavor. Moral education and forms of ethics education "become transformed when undertaken for specific identities and moral traditions" (p. 98). The authors acknowledge that most universities promote moral ideals beyond what is required for a profession. They do so, however, by attempting to appeal to the broad, diverse human experience. The authors contend that when moral education moves beyond the minimum required of a profession and attempts to address the broader human experience, it results in either a "less than human form of moral education" or in "attempt[s] to promulgate broad agreement about what it means to be a good human" (p. 98). Universities provide an incomplete form of moral education, they explain, when they focus only on isolated roles or facets of human identity, such as "citizen," rather than on the whole of being human. Providing less-than-whole-human moral education is required in a secular culture with legal precedence in the First Amendment and the reality of the world-views held by pluralistic faculty and students. The authors suggest three approaches to promulgating agreement about what it means to be a good human being and how to foster a more human education: "common ground humanism," "secular humanism," and "religious humanism." First, common ground humanism comes from the academic community and from a political process in which the community finds consensus on what makes for human flourishing. Second, secular humanism derives from the humanities and addresses the meaning of life, thus moving beyond the simple focus on human flourishing found in the research and political approaches used in common ground humanism. However, Glanzer and Ream suggest that this approach may be appropriate only for Ivy League institutions and identify five weaknesses, which limit its use to that context. [End Page 347] Third, religious humanism comes from a set of Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish universities that continue to approach their academic and...

Otizm; sosyal iletişimde yetersizlikler, duygusal tepkilerin gösterilememesi, tekrarlanan takıntılı davranışlar gibi belirtilerle kendini gösteren bir gelişim bozukluğudur. Otizm belirtileri yaşamın ilk yıllarında kendini göstermektedir. Bu durum otizm teşhisi konulan çocukların eğitimine erken yaşlarda başlanmasına imkân tanıması bakımından avantaj olarak değerlendirilebilir. Tanısı koyulmuş otizmli bireylerin eğitimi gerek özel eğitim okullarında gerekse kaynaştırma yoluyla devam ettirilmektedir. Otizmlilerin, din ve ahlak konusundaki eğitimi ise tartışma konusu olmuştur. Otizmlilerin dini kavram ve olguları anlamlandıramayacağına yönelik çalışmalara karşın olumlu sonuçlara ulaşılmış araştırmalar da mevcuttur. Ahlak ve değerler eğitimi konusunda da benzer zıtlıkları içeren araştırmalara rastlanmaktadır. Ülkemizde otizmlilerde din ve ahlak eğitimine dair bilimsel araştırmalar mevcut olmamakla birlikte 2010 yılında, DKAB derslerinin zorunlu olarak otizmli bireylerin eğitim programlarında yer alması konuyu gündeme taşımıştır. Buradan yola çıkılarak bu araştırmada, otizmlilerde din ve ahlak eğitiminin imkanına dair tartışmalara değinilerek, birbirine zıt görüşler içeren konu, otizmlilerin eğitiminde aileden sonra en etkili bireyler olan öğretmenlerin görüşlerine açılmıştır. Yarı yapılandırılmış görüşme tekniğiyle yapılan araştırmanın çalışma grubunu Konya ili merkez ilçelerinde (Karatay, Meram, Selçuklu) bulunan özel eğitim okullarında ve bünyesinde otizm sınıfı bulunan ortaokullarda görev yapmakta olan 30 özel eğitim ve bu okullarda derslere giren 6 DKAB öğretmeni oluşturmaktadır. Araştırma sonucunda, çalışmaya katılan öğretmenlerin otizmlilerde din ve ahlak eğitiminin imkanına yönelik farklı görüşlerde oldukları ancak din ve ahlak teması altına giren birtakım konularda otizmlilerin bir eğitime ihtiyacı olduğu noktasında fikir birliğine sahip oldukları görülmüştür. Yapılan çalışmanın literatürdeki tartışmalara, öğretmenlerin görüş ve tecrübelerinin katılması yönüyle katkı sağlayacağı düşünülmektedir.

Adolescent problems in Hong Kong have brought questions about their moral development and mental health to light. Moral education for preschool children will be strategically important to address these issues because applying early educational interventions to preschool children will effectively enhance their personal development. This article highlights the inadequacy of the Hong Kong preschool curriculum guides in the promotion of moral development in children. The lack of a consensus about the values and character that preschool children should develop is a fundamental problem of implementing preschool moral education in Hong Kong. If moral education is regarded as a school curriculum, either formal or informal, the objectives, content and assessment should be closely adhered to one another. In addition, the learning and teaching activities should also be in line with student’s developmental characteristics and experiences. The O-C-A model is then proposed for moral education in the preschool settings of Hong Kong. Advice has also been made for the promotion of moral education in Hong Kong’s early childhood settings.

Kohlberg’s theory of moral cognitive development is temporarily the most influential theory in moral development psychology in the west and is still applied into practice and proved effective by moral theorists and educators all over the world. This paper takes this theory as the basis to analyze some problems existing in college moral education in China. It also suggests effective strategies to improve college moral education in China, i.e. Chinese colleges should reform the mode of moral education to increase students’ moral judgment competence, respect the developmental rules of moral cognition, make full use of the “Zone of proximal development” theory for moral education to develop students’ moral autonomy, attach great importance to “moral regression” period, and guide the Chinese moral education to transit from “teach how to obey” to “teach how to choose.”

An analysis is presented of the problems that have existed for over 20 years in the moral education curriculum in primary schools of China. These include the separation of moral education from children's lives, the moralizing and memorization used as the basic methods of teaching and learning, and the overlaps between courses on society and ideological moral character. The paper then introduces the main innovations in the contemporary reform of the primary moral education curriculum, including lifelong moral education as its theoretical foundation and making the development of children's morality relate to life, with ‘real’ everyday life events as source materials for textbooks. Embodied in the textbooks are some new ideas behind the revised educational objectives, such as putting oneself in another's position, ecological interdependence, ‘win‐win’, dialogue, sharing and diversity. As the curriculum is child centred so the textbooks use a dialogical pedagogy. In conclusion the paper considers ongoing and new challenges for moral education in primary schools to be faced by the curriculum reform.

Habituation is the most common used form of moral education in early childhood education in Indonesia. However, this method has been found to be insufficient in contributing fully to young children’s moral development. An alternative method currently being promoted is the narrative method which involves the use of stories and storytelling. These two techniques provide children with justification to do good deeds and allow them to be critical of their actions. This research examined the best practices of teachers in the use of narrative method for the Moral Education of young children. Best practices show how we can use them to improve the teaching of Moral Education among young children and can serve as useful alternative to habituation. The findings revealed that there are five ways in which the kindergarten use stories and storytelling in teaching and learning moral education for young children, namely: to repeat the story; to include clear example; to explain the story; to dramatize the story; and to modify the story.

This study explores the philosophical and theological foundations in the development of the Islamic Religious Education (PAI) curriculum for elementary schools. The study aims to synthesize a holistic approach that integrates religious, moral, and academic dimensions to strengthen students' character and faith. The research methodology employed is a qualitative approach, utilizing an extensive literature review to analyze relevant principles in Islamic philosophy and theology. The study focuses on developing the PAI curriculum based on a philosophical-theological framework derived from the Qur'an and Hadith. The main findings indicate that integrating these foundations supports a comprehensive learning experience, which not only encourages students' moral development but also enhances their understanding of Islamic teachings. The results highlight the significant role of philosophical and theological foundations in shaping an educational environment aligned with religious and educational goals. Additionally, the study underscores the importance of continuous curriculum evaluation to ensure its relevance in addressing modern educational challenges. This research contributes to the literature on curriculum development by offering a framework applicable in various educational contexts while emphasizing a balanced approach to religious education.

At present, China is vigorously promoting the formation of new quality productive forces that will enable high-quality development, and the new quality productive forces themselves are green productive forces, which translates into the field of education, where the greening of education is to be promoted. Moral education is located in the first of the "five educations" in Chinese education, and it is undoubtedly of great significance to expand moral education from interpersonal moral education to ecological moral education. The main problems facing the construction of ecological moral education include lagging in the new direction of "big moral education," insufficient exploration of the mechanism of educational articulation, and imperfect construction of the relationship structure of various elements of moral education in schools. Based on this, we review the development and research on the construction of ecological and moral education in China and foreign countries and reflect on the implications for the construction of ecological and moral education in China and foreign countries to strengthen the government's implementation and supervision of ecological, moral education, to enrich and improve the construction of ecological, moral education curricula in schools, and to set up a platform for cooperation on "big ideology and politics" in order to promote the popularization of ecological, moral education.

One of the most pertinent policies in early childhood education in Hong Kong’s postcolonial era is the rise of moral education. This chapter begins by outlining different theories and polar views (e.g., traditionalism and progressivism) on moral development and discusses how the interwoven relationships of music and play facilitate children’s moral and character development. Subsequently, the chapter traces the historical and recent development of education policy on moral education in Hong Kong. The last section examines how kindergarten principals and teachers in Hong Kong have conceptualized and responded to moral education, and the challenges encountered by them in implementing this important policy agenda in Hong Kong. The findings identified 15 moral areas that are valued by the practitioners and revealed three characteristics of moral education in Hong Kong that are integrated with musical play: (i) game and story as major strategies, (ii) emphasis on resolution of conflicts and law-abidingness, and (iii) national identity development.KeywordsMoral educationCitizenship educationCharacter educationPlay-based learningNational identity Principal perceptions

The article, dedicated to the actual problem of spiritual and moral development and education of bachelors of the pedagogical direction, presents a meaningful analysis of the possibilities and prospects of educational and other organizations carrying out educational activities in the implementation of spiritual and moral development and education of students in social and pedagogical conditions. The directions of interaction between educational organizations and students are determined as a condition for the spiritual and moral development of students in the educational process of the university. The ideas of enlightenment and educational activities for the spiritual and moral development of students of the university, the teachers themselves, based on the basic national values and traditions of national culture. The article presents the fundamental principles of spiritual and moral education and development of bachelors. The main directions of work on the formation of basic concepts included in the structure of self-consciousness are proposed. The role of the consolidating participants in the educational process in the spiritual and moral education of young people is determined. An attempt has been made to analyze educational programs focused on solving the problems of education, development and socialization of university students.

International Handbook of the Religious, Moral and Spiritual Dimensions in Education