Media

Towards a Holistic Education: Transforming Education Culture

05 Feb 2017

 

To bolster and nurture students’ whole-person development, the Holistic Competencies and Virtues Education Enhancement and Research Project (HAVE Project), launched under the University of Hong Kong’s Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CETL), hosted the “Knots of Hearts” programme to promote appreciation and consideration in Hong Kong. The programme’s two stages were successfully completed this January with over 120 secondary school students participating. The project will run more activities throughout the upcoming months and continue pushing the importance of holistic education.

Both stages of the “Knots of Hearts” programme were well received by students, teachers and principals. The first stage, the “Knots of Hearts Workshop”, was held on January 13 and 16 at the Concordia Lutheran School (North Point) and St. Margaret's Co-educational English Secondary and Primary School respectively. Altogether, around 20 volunteers and 100 students took part to craft heart-shaped charms. On January 20 and 24, each school had their own “Knots of Hearts Distribution Day” for the second stage in which students gave out the handmade charms near the Tin Hau and Nam Cheong MTR stations.

The HAVE Project, founded by CETL’s Dr. Cecilia K. Y. Chan, interviewed around 20 students regarding their thoughts on the programme, community and impressions of appreciation and consideration in Hong Kong today. As they wrote an array of positive and inspirational messages to attach to their charms, such as “Wishing you a smile every day” and “Never give up”, students also reflected on the persisting needs of society with many commenting that Hong Kong continues to lack a sense of sincerity and human connection. One student said, “Hong Kong people are not used to others showing care towards them. When we gave out the charms, some people probably thought it was strange. There definitely needs to be more love and care between people.”

The Vision of Dr. Chan and the HAVE Project

Dr Chan has spent the last ten years researching and creating resources for the development and assessment of the holistic competencies and virtues, which are essential to students’ whole-person development. With the HAVE Project, she is driving a shift in the education culture and believes that, unlike academic knowledge, out-of-class experiences and reflections are extremely important for these competencies to be successfully developed. Dr. Chan further thinks that students in Hong Kong and Asia need to be more flexible, open and creative, and not concentrate only on their academic pursuits and grades. With her firm view that there is a pressing need for holistic competencies and virtues to be balanced and simultaneously developed alongside academic knowledge, Dr. Chan has already gained support for the HAVE Project from education institutions in countries around the world, including Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea.

 “Our logo includes a caterpillar within a book, and a butterfly. It signifies that with hearts, we will nurture the next generation holistically and thus even a bookworm can transform and thrive into a magnificent butterfly,” Dr Chan explained. “Of course, all caterpillars will transform into butterflies, but just think, how brilliant this butterfly will become, how far it will fly during its life.”

“With hearts, we transform” – reflecting its logo, the project’s slogan asserts that with love and care, we can transform both ourselves and society. Dr Chan and her project team will continue to design and deliver interactive student-centred learning activities, including out-of-class opportunities, to target the development of holistic competencies and virtues. The HAVE Project will continue running its programmes in February. To find out more about the project, please visit our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/HAVEcentre/).

For enquiries regarding the HAVE Project, please contact Ms. Nellie Wong at 3917 1182 or wyyn@hku.hk.