Media Releases

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) and Wofoo Social Enterprises collaboratively launched a project entitled "Character building – A shared mission for a better future". Findings from the second study under the project show most secondary school teachers perceived a decline in moral values among Hong Kong adolescents, highlighting concerns about their character development.

The second study was led by PolyU scholars: Professor Daniel Shek, Associate Vice President (Undergraduate Programme) and Chair Professor of Applied Social Sciences, and Dr Cecilia Ma, Assistant Professor at the Department of Applied Social Sciences. The study aimed to assess Hong Kong teachers' perceptions about adolescents' moral character, teachers' role in adolescents' development of character and moral behaviour, and the implementation of moral education in schools. Data were collected from 568 teachers from 11 local secondary schools through a self-administered survey.

Professor Shek noted that teachers surveyed generally perceived Hong Kong adolescents being materialistic and egocentric, with a lower sense of responsibility, and being less concerned about the society. Thus, it is important to nurture adolescents' psychosocial competence, especially in resilience and emotional control. He said the findings are encouraging, as most of the teachers surveyed not only agreed that schools and teachers play important roles in adolescents' moral and character development, but also expressed their willingness to receive more training in moral and civic education, in order to enhance both teaching quality and education diversity.  

Funded by Wofoo Foundation, the project consists of five studies, which aim at understanding the moral values, psychosocial competence and social behaviour of Hong Kong adolescent from different perspectives. Through the project, the research team also aspire to look into ways of improving Hong Kong's moral and character education as well as the related policies. Findings of the first study, focusing on the students' perspective, have already been released earlier.

At a press conference today (21 December), Professor Shek and Dr Ma shared the major findings of the second study as follows:

1. Almost 70% of the teachers surveyed perceive a moral decline among Hong Kong adolescents.
2. About 70% to 80% of the respondents perceive that Hong Kong adolescents are becoming materialistic and egocentric.
3. Over half of the respondents perceive their own students as friendly (84%), kind (80%), and empathetic (64%). However, more than 70% of them believe that there is room for improvement for the students in terms of sense of responsibility (73%), emotional competence (98%), and ability to cope with adversity (99%).
4. Over 40% of the respondents believe that their own students should take up greater responsibility in doing housework (45%), and be more caring about the country (62%) as well as the world (59%).
5. About 40% of the respondents perceive Hong Kong adolescents as lacking certain virtues, including respect for traditional culture (40%) and a sense of responsibility (37%).
6. The majority of respondents perceive a generally low level of social trust among Hong Kong adolescents. Over 80% of them perceive that their students do not trust the government, and have varied levels of trust in different political parties.
7. Most of the respondents perceive that family, school, peers, the media, and the Internet are influential agents of Hong Kong adolescents' character development. Over 90% of them considered family and peers as having the most powerful social influence on the youths.
8. Over half of the respondents indicate that the moral education of their schools is insufficient. Over 70% of them think that there is inadequate provision of knowledge related to life skills in formal school curriculum.
9. Over 40% of the respondents perceive that the moral and civic education implemented in their schools are positive and effective. Yet, over 30% of them indicate that the Education Bureau has provided insufficient support in moral and civic education.
10. Most of the respondents believe that in comparison with the Hong Kong adolescents in general, their own students have better moral character, with greater trust in society, and are less materialistic.

In conclusion, Professor Shek said the findings demonstrate that life skill training and moral education are paramount for adolescents' holistic development. The research team suggests that various sectors of the society should invest more resources for enhancing teachers' training in moral education and for supporting schools to step up such youth nurturing programmes.

Attachments:

1) Report of the Study (in Chinese, with English Executive Summary)

2) PowerPoint file of the Study Presentation (in Chinese only)

3) Major Charts (in Chinese only)