Values Education in English Language Learning

Overview

Resource Page on Promoting Values Education in English Language Learning

Welcome to the Resource Page on Promoting Values Education in English Language Learning

Fostering positive values and attitudes is a key part of education and it connects well with the curriculum framework for English Language Education, which embodies Knowledge, Generic Skills, Values and Attitudes that students are to develop. It is important for teachers to identify and create opportunities in the English language classroom to instil positive values in students by making use of values-rich English language learning resources.

The content of this resource page is adapted from the online Government Secondary Schools Teacher Symposium on Promoting Positive Values and Attitudes in English Language Learning which was conducted by the NET Section for Native-speaking English Teachers employed in government secondary schools on 28 January 2022. The focus of the event was the outcome of a joint discussion of both the organising committee of the Symposium and the Regional NET Coordinating Team, who both recognised the need to support English language teachers in prioritising and implementing values education, in response to the related directional recommendation made by the Task Force on Review of School Curriculum.

The main objective of this professional development event was to enable teachers to gain insight and knowledge in diverse ways of promoting positive values and attitudes in the English language classroom. The Teacher Symposium was composed of an introductory session on the promotion of values education, followed by feature presentations of frontline teachers and a reflection session where the NETs working in a variety of school contexts share ideas of implementing values education in the English classroom.   A selection of learning and teaching ideas have been included in the resource page.

It is hoped that this resource page will provide useful ideas for teachers to enhance values education both inside and outside the English language classroom.

Promotion of Values Education in English Language Learning

Values education is an essential element of whole-person education which aims at fostering students' positive values and attitudes through the provision of relevant learning experiences across the various Key Learning Areas

Values education is made up of three dimensions: Cognition, Affect and Action.  It takes these three dimensions to nurture positive values and attitudes in students.  In planning and designing relevant learning experiences, teachers need to (i) enhance students’ understanding of positive values and attitudes, as well as their skills in making moral judgements and decisions (Cognition); (ii) nurture students’ empathy and positive attitudes towards life (Affect); and (iii) provide students with authentic learning experiences so that they know how to put positive values and attitudes into practice (Action). 

The cognitive, affective and actional dimensions need to be considered in an integrated manner as absence of any of these dimensions will make the entire learning experience less impactful.  Nevertheless, some learning tasks or activities can be oriented towards a particular dimension with less emphasis on other dimensions.

Diagram illustrating the Integration of Cognition, Affect and Action, adapted from 6A.5 ‘Implementation Strategies of Values Education’ in Booklet 6A ‘Moral and Civic Education: Towards Values Education’ in Secondary Education Curriculum Guide (2017), CDI, EDB

Schools could promote values education through nurturing in their students the ten priority values and attitudes: ‘Perseverance’, ‘Respect for Others’, ‘Responsibility’, ‘National Identity’, ‘Commitment’, ‘Integrity’, ‘Care for Others’, ‘Law-abidingness', ‘Empathy’ and ‘Diligence’.

In the context of English language learning, values education can be implemented through various forms, for example, classroom learning and teaching, student competitions, school campaigns, learning environment and service-oriented activities.  Starting from the 2020/21 school year, schools have been invited to participate in ‘Promoting Positive Values and Attitudes through English Sayings of Wisdom’ (SOW Campaign), which is a territory-wide and cross-curricular campaign that connects English Language education with values education.  In the 2021/22 school year, the SOW Campaign aims to provide opportunities for schools to plan holistically their curricula by integrating essential curriculum initiatives, such as values education, Reading/Language across the Curriculum and multimodal literacy, extending students’ learning experience outside the classroom, and promoting cross-curricular collaboration.  Since the overarching theme of the campaign in the 2021/22 school year is ‘Hope’, schools are encouraged to devise a plan and organise a school-based 'Week of Hope', which is the highlight of the campaign showcasing their unique focus(es) and strategies adopted in promoting positive values and attitudes in the 2021/22 school year.

In support of the implementation of ‘Week of Hope’ or values education in general, the resource kit A Resource Kit for Promoting Positive Values and Attitudes through English Sayings of Wisdom has been developed by the English Language Education Section, CDI.  It aims to provide inspirations and suggestions on activities to enrich the school-based English Language curriculum and create an inspiring learning environment for the learning and teaching of the theme ‘hope’ in particular.  While the resource materials are intended for use in the upper primary and secondary English classrooms to organise the ‘Week of Hope’, school teachers could adapt the learning activities with reference to their school context and students’ needs and abilities to cater for learner diversity.

References:

‘Values Education’, CDI, EDB, accessed 10 May 2022.
https://www.edb.gov.hk/en/curriculum-development/4-key-tasks/moral-civic/index.html

This page provides teachers with essential information about values education and practical suggestions as to how they can promote positive values and attitudes in learning & teaching (L&T) practice.  Relevant curriculum documents and L&T resources are available online.

Booklet 6A ‘Moral and Civic Education: Towards Values Education’ in Secondary Education Curriculum Guide (2017), CDI, EDB.
https://www.edb.gov.hk/attachment/en/curriculum-development/renewal/Guides/SECG%20booklet%206A_en_20180831.pdf

This booklet is part of the CDC Secondary Education Curriculum Guide (2017) and serves to review and consolidate the experience and achievements in implementing values education at the secondary level.   Suggestions for the planning and implementation of values education, including moral and civic education, Basic Law education, at the secondary level are included.

English Sayings of Wisdom (SOW), English Language Education Section, CDI, EDB, accessed 10 May 2022.
https://www.edb.gov.hk/attachment/en/curriculum-development/kla/eng-edu/SOW/home.html

This website includes regularly updated information on the SOW Campaign, and resources developed for the learning and teaching of SOW and promotion of values education.  The resource materials, which come in various modes, such as videos, games, wallpapers and posters, and learning and teaching materials, help develop students’ cultural and language awareness, multimodal literacy as well as critical thinking skills.

‘Week of Hope’, English Language Education Section, CDI, EDB, accessed 10 May 2022.
https://www.edb.gov.hk/en/curriculum-development/kla/eng-edu/references-resources/hope.html

This website features the ‘Week of Hope’, a signature school-based activity for the SOW Campaign in the 2021/22 school year.  Schools are encouraged to design / organise their own activities that echo the theme concerned to create a learning environment conducive to English learning and the promotion of values education.  An e-resource kit for the ‘Week of Hope’ and other resource materials are available for download.

Feature Presentations

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In this part of the resource page, four serving teachers share with us how they have been promoting positive values and attitudes in their own unique English language learning and teaching contexts. Two of the sharing sessions, no. 1 and no. 4, are presented as a video and the other two, no. 2 and no. 3 are PowerPoint presentations.

In each presentation, a radar chart is displayed to illustrate the interaction between the three dimensions of Cognition, Affect and Action in promoting positive values and attitudes.  Different learning and teaching activities may be oriented towards Cognition, Affect and Action in varying degrees.  The radar chart above (on the right) visualises the extent to which the three dimensions are being addressed over the course of learning, and shows the variation in emphasis on Cognition, Affect and Action.

Please click on each entry to access the content of the presentation of each teacher.

 

Ms Lauren Minnie, NET, Marymount Secondary School 

Lesson Design & Implementation: Using Thinking Routines to Enhance Values Education in English Language and Literature Lessons

 

Ms Valerie Pritchard, NET, Concordia Lutheran School - North Point

Learning by Doing: Crossroads Foundation Hong Kong - Cultural Identity  

 

Ms Lyndsey Martin, NET, Yuen Long Merchants Association Secondary School

Positive Psychology in Values Education: Understanding the Key Concepts of Positive Psychology and Its Role in Values Education

 

Ms Mary Beth Osburn, NET, Fukien Secondary School (Siu Sai Wan)

Playful Learning in Unexpected Places: Promoting Values through English Micro-Messaging and More

Infusing Positive Values into a Unit of Work or Co-curricular Activities

The second part of the Teacher Symposium focused on the practicalities of implementing values education in English language learning and teaching.  Two examples, included below, are taken from A Resource Kit for Promoting Positive Values and Attitudes through English Sayings of Wisdom to illustrate the process and consideration involved in infusing elements of values education into a typical unit of work, as well as creating a language-rich environment for nurturing positive values and attitudes in the school.  Based on the given examples and the resources available, the participating teachers had to come up with their ideas and suggestions on how values education can be implemented inside and outside the English language classroom.

The following activity idea may be adapted and adopted for infusing elements of values education into an existing unit of work on Role Model or topics related to famous people.   

 

 

 

 

A Collection of Activity Ideas

Various learning and teaching ideas were shared by the Native-speaking English Teachers employed in government secondary schools at the Teacher Symposium 2022.  Please click here to download ‘A Collection of Activity Ideas’.  There is an index table displaying the range of activity ideas with highlighted language learning objectives and priority values for your easy reference.   You may simply click on any of the activities in the table for the details of the particular activity.

Disclaimer
To enhance the teaching content, teachers can exercise their professional judgment and consult relevant scholarly work when adopting the learning and teaching resources prepared by educators and other teachers. In support of the implementation of the English Language Education KLA Curriculum, teachers can also select appropriate parts of the resources for classroom learning or extended learning based on pedagogical consideration and the learning needs of students.