Prof. Daniel Shek, Associate Vice President (Undergraduate Programmes) and Chair Professor of Applied Social Sciences, spoke to excel@PolyU about the research project he is leading on character building among Hong Kong adolescents and the hidden problems his team has discovered.
Could you introduce the project and explain its significance?
I have long been concerned that the emphasis on academic performance in Hong Kong overshadows character education. This is particularly important because our society’s over-advocacy of consumerism and individualism may be making adolescents materialistic and self-centred. With that in mind, and with funding from Wofoo Social Enterprises, my team launched a project entitled “Character building – A shared mission for a better future”, which will comprise five studies.
We have already conducted the first study, surveying 2,474 students from 20 local secondary schools, to gain information on the students’ perceptions of their own characters, psycho-social competence and social behaviour, and those of local adolescents in general. We also sought their views on their own family and social lives.
What were the major findings?
One of our major findings was that family and school were among the most important factors influencing character development among most of the students, and only a minority considered the influence of media and the internet to be important. Around 80% of them thought of themselves as respecting others and having compassion, while about 70% perceived themselves doing well in respecting and caring about others.
Are there any hidden problems in moral and character development that concern you?
While most of the students perceived themselves as respecting and caring about others, less than a third thought they cared enough about the community, Hong Kong or the country.
On a more personal scale, they reported that over half of their fathers and around a third of their mothers communicated with them inadequately. Although they had positive perceptions of their school lives, more than a third considered that punitive and coercive educational techniques were used in their schools.
What are the possible ways to address these hidden problems?
We call for collaboration from family, school, the community and the government to create a more nurturing and supportive environment for adolescents’ character development, such as providing them with more opportunities to participate in prosocial activities and positive youth development programmes, as well as to improve teacher training in related areas.