"There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, lying tongues, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers." (Proverbs 6:16-18)
The Ministry of Education recently introduced a new curriculum called ‘Character and Citizenship’ (CCE) which will incorporate the current ‘Civics and Moral Education”. The aim is to promote a “student-centric, value-driven education”. Clearly from the name itself one can tell that the thrust of the program is to help the students to have a strong foundation in values on one hand, and what it means to be a Singaporean on the other. It can play an important role in helping the Government to fulfill its pledge to strive for ‘inclusive growth’ that will benefit all Singaporeans.
This initiative is timely in that there are obvious signs in the breakdown of the traditional social values especially among the younger generation with the current emphasis on materialism in our society. There is also a need to promote strong nationalism with the increasing number of ‘new’ citizens coming from the non-traditional sources.
Values education has always been linked to moral education. Parents, communities and government have always expected schools to develop students who would contribute to the society in which they live. This expectation is centred on making society better for all, not just for some, or for one individual. School is therefore seen as an appropriate place where ethical and performance values which formed the foundation of good character development are promoted. It is endeavor to provide opportunity for moral actions, creating a caring community.
Notwithstanding the admirable goals the ministry sets out, I doubt it will produce the intended results. It is a known fact that the current ‘Civic and Moral Education’ is a subject that our students disliked the most. I wonder whether they internalized what they have learned, how much actually go into their thoughts and actions. One has to bear in mind that inculcate values are not the same as teaching academic subjects where the results are more predictable. Our students do need to expose to some real life challenging experiences and have role models to imitate.
In the olden days students looked up on their teachers as their role models. The old adage that "teachers need to be themselves what they want their children to be" is as true today as it has ever been in education. Role Modelling remains a powerful and effective strategy for teaching values and for moral education. Today with more teachers coming from a generation which hardly goes through struggles in life, it is a big question whether they can fulfill their calling in this aspect. This is not helped by indulgent parents who spent little quality time with their children.
Values education has been implemented by western countries long ago such as The United States and Australia without much success. Well, notwithstanding my reservation, it is still better to give it a try and hope for the best.
This initiative is timely in that there are obvious signs in the breakdown of the traditional social values especially among the younger generation with the current emphasis on materialism in our society. There is also a need to promote strong nationalism with the increasing number of ‘new’ citizens coming from the non-traditional sources.
Values education has always been linked to moral education. Parents, communities and government have always expected schools to develop students who would contribute to the society in which they live. This expectation is centred on making society better for all, not just for some, or for one individual. School is therefore seen as an appropriate place where ethical and performance values which formed the foundation of good character development are promoted. It is endeavor to provide opportunity for moral actions, creating a caring community.
Notwithstanding the admirable goals the ministry sets out, I doubt it will produce the intended results. It is a known fact that the current ‘Civic and Moral Education’ is a subject that our students disliked the most. I wonder whether they internalized what they have learned, how much actually go into their thoughts and actions. One has to bear in mind that inculcate values are not the same as teaching academic subjects where the results are more predictable. Our students do need to expose to some real life challenging experiences and have role models to imitate.
In the olden days students looked up on their teachers as their role models. The old adage that "teachers need to be themselves what they want their children to be" is as true today as it has ever been in education. Role Modelling remains a powerful and effective strategy for teaching values and for moral education. Today with more teachers coming from a generation which hardly goes through struggles in life, it is a big question whether they can fulfill their calling in this aspect. This is not helped by indulgent parents who spent little quality time with their children.
Values education has been implemented by western countries long ago such as The United States and Australia without much success. Well, notwithstanding my reservation, it is still better to give it a try and hope for the best.
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