Values Education at University
With recent claims that society has become too materialistic and has lost sight of its values, there are increasing calls for values education to become an integral part of education at all levels. The importance of this for Hong Kong has been emphasized by the Education Department’s recent curriculum reform document, Learning to Learn, which promotes the teaching of values and attitudes across the curriculum. With growing emphasis on lifelong education, values education should not stop at school level but should also be a deliberately planned component of university education.
There are two ways in which values education can be addressed in formal education. One is directly, through focusing on moral and ethical issues relevant to a specific curriculum area. At university level, an example of this is the professional ethics component of certain business courses. The other way of addressing values education is indirectly, through appropriate modelling that will encourage students – and even teaching staff – to continually examine and modify their own behaviours in ways that will promote good character, mental and emotional well-being, and a harmonious working environment.
