Supervisor's Speech

by Dr. Andrew W.H. Wang

Dr. Chow, Dr. Li, Ladies & Gentlemen,

I took out my file and went through the speeches I have prepared in the past years and noted that very little was said on the subject of advancement of Ethics & Character.

I paused and gave it some thoughts.

Times have changed the face of Hong Kong in the last three years. Deeper structural changes are taking place every minute of the day.

Monopoly has been broken down.

Consumers' rights are more pronounced and the society as a whole is as transparent as it can be. On top of that, old economies have been replaced or are to be replaced by new economies. The birth of internet breaks down all communication barrier and lands its population in a "global village" scenario.

Overnight, we are so close to each other yet we are so far apart.

In a faceless society, lies and falsity become the norm. Human interaction, eye contact, feel and touch to experience the joy and pain of the other person become unnecessary. We are witnessing another cultural revolution through the birth of the World Wide Web, only this time, on a global scale.

Knowledge becomes so easily available that we may no longer appreciate the value of it. This brings forth to me the thoughts of a distinguished scholar who said "It's not information, data, facts, or facts alone I seek and try to convey; it's wisdom in dealing with these facts, and wisdom in applying these facts to my dealings with nature and human nature. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but a lot of knowledge without character means disaster". To balance against the forces of the future that our children will encounter, I believe the roles of the schools are truly more important than before in the induction of morals and values to the next generation.

Social critics argue that the lack of morals and values in the classroom contributes to, or causes, anti-social behavior among children. They believe that there are two additional reasons to teach morals in the classroom.

- To achieve a certain level of maturity, people need qualities such as good judgment, honesty, empathy, caring, persistence, self-discipline and moral courage to develop strength of mind, heart and will.

- Schools are better community centers for the teaching and learning of what it takes to create civil and caring societies.

If we were to have a Gallop Poll tomorrow, I know more and more educators, politicians, and parents would wish to see more moral values taught in schools and to develop standards of right and wrong. That being the case, the answer lies within a rejuvenated and refurbished concept of character education. But, what is character education? How do you create and implement a character education program? And, will the program work once it is in place?

"Character education can be defined as strategic instruction that promotes social and personal responsibility and the development of the good character traits and moral virtues that make this possible."

A proper Character Education Programme according to the Center for Advancement of Ethics & Character, Boston University, should subscribe to the following 11 principles :-

- Character education promotes core ethical values as the basis of good character.

- Character must be comprehensively defined to include cognitive, emotional, and behavioral development.

- Effective character education requires an intentional, proactive and comprehensive approach which promotes the core values in all phases of the school.

- The school must be a caring community.

- Students must have opportunities to improve their character development through moral action.

- Effective character education includes meaningful and challenging academic curriculum that respects all learners and helps them succeed.

- Character education should strive to develop a student's inner motivation to achieve a quality moral judgment.

- The school staff must become a learning and moral community willing to share responsibility for the character education of themselves and their students.

- Character education requires moral leadership from both staff and students.

- The school must recruit parents and community members as full partners in the character building effort.

- The evaluation of character education should assess the character of the school, the staff's functioning as character educators, and the students' manifestation of good character.

I believe that character education is an essential and inescapable mission of schools today and thus must be done consciously and well. The mission is to engage the next generation in the formation of the enduring habits that comprise good character. The Chinese community has a reservoir of moral wisdom, much of which exists in our great stories, works of art, literature and philosophy and that this treasure must be a regular part of schooling.

The teacher is central to the entire enterprise and must be selected, educated and encourage with this mission in mind.

I hope by this paper, I have sowed a seed for the future.

But the seed will not germinate without water.

I am grateful to say that our two schools have never been short of "water".

We have been blessed with the generosity of upright Ning Po citizens of Hong Kong who not only give their time but their hard earned money to support our schools.

The recent endowment by our Chairman, Dr. Y.C. Chow to this school is a case in point. As my speech comes to end, you are expected by politeness to applause. Before you do so, it has to be acknowledged that the real heroes and heroines are your Principal, the teaching staff and the graduates. Please therefore direct your round of applause to them. A further round of applause please to the members of the school board which is chaired by Dr. Li, the pillar and strength behind our good schools.

My best wishes go to those who are graduating today. Life ahead of you is good provided you are good to life!