Leveraging student diversity to integrate values education into English Language learning and teaching

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Background

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) states that all children should be provided with the opportunity to feel comfortable and confident to participate fully in learning-friendly classrooms, irrespective of their backgrounds and abilities (UNESCO, 2004). Aligned with this principle, the core mission of Islamic Dharwood Pau Memorial Primary School is centred around building an inclusive environment where students from different backgrounds have equal opportunities to learn and feel respected. In pursuit of this mission, the school's English Language teachers capitalised on their students' diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds by using them as one of the entry points to nurture proper values in students and foster their whole-person development.

This article illustrates how values education was integrated into English Language learning and teaching through leveraging students' ethnic and cultural diversity using two school-based P1 units, in which students learnt about respect for others and respect for Chinese and other cultures while developing their language knowledge and skills.

Level

P1

Strategies used

1. Integrating the four language skills
   One language skill often reinforces another (Brown & Lee, 2015). Therefore, to help students connect their learning of the four interrelated language skills and to facilitate their transfer of these skills across various contexts, all language-related tasks in the two units were designed in an integrative manner. Tasks involving receptive skills, such as reading a descriptive text about family members, were thoughtfully aligned with the productive tasks, such as writing a similar descriptive text about one's family members. Apart from that, to help students develop the necessary language skills for meaningful communication, authentic materials and contexts were extensively used.

2. Promoting students' uniqueness in relation to their ethnic and cultural backgrounds
   Each student is a unique individual, with their diversity shaped by a combination of factors including learning experience, family background, cultural heritage and socioeconomic status (Curriculum Development Council, 2024). Taking this into account, teachers made efforts to acknowledge the uniqueness of students, focusing specifically on their ethnic and cultural backgrounds, which are a significant facet of diversity within the school. They tailored learning and teaching materials and tasks to incorporate these backgrounds, with the aim of cultivating respect for others and diverse cultures among students.

3. Integrating values education organically into English Language learning and teaching through Chinese cultural contexts
   One of the major renewed emphases outlined in the Primary Education Curriculum Guide (2024) is strengthening values education. In response to this directive, teachers endeavoured to integrate values education organically into their daily teaching practices. This integration involved identifying specific proper values to be nurtured in designated textbook units and fostering these proper values across the cognitive, affective, and actional dimensions. They also made use of Chinese cultural contexts, such as Chinese classic stories and animals distinctly tied to China, to nurture these proper values, aiming to enrich students' understanding of Chinese culture.

4. Adopting different pedagogical strategies
   Various pedagogical strategies were adopted to cater for students' learning needs and promote active participation among students in values-related lessons. One such strategy included strategic questioning. Teachers skillfully asked varied kinds of questions tailored to individual students' learning needs and ethnic and cultural backgrounds to support or extend their learning of different proper values. Another strategy employed was hot seating. Recognising the potential challenges students from different backgrounds might face in comprehending complex concepts in values-related lessons due to their age, teachers engaged them through character role plays and interactive interviews to facilitate understanding of these concepts.

What happened

1. Identifying the key learning objectives
   Two specific units, namely "Meet the Family" and "Amazing Animals", were chosen since they were considered highly relevant to students' diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds and some of the priority values. Teachers started by identifying the key learning objectives of the two units, which were aligned with the tasks students were engaged in throughout the learning process. The following table shows an overview of the learning objectives in the two units:

   Learning domains	The unit on the theme, “Meet the Family”	The unit on the theme, “Amazing Animals”
   Language skills	Reading Recognising capital and small letters Recognising the beginning and end of sentences Recognising base words in new words (e.g. “mother” in “grandmother” and “day” in “holidays”) Making predictions about the content of a text	Reading Decoding words by using knowledge of letter-sound relationships (e.g. “h” in “hippo”, “z” in “zebra” and “r” in “roar”) Recognising high frequency words (e.g. “my”, “are”, “for” and “not”) Making predictions about the content of a text
   	Listening Recognising key words in short simple texts	Listening Recognising key words in short simple texts
   	Writing Writing a description of a person using simple adjectives (e.g. “nice” and “kind”)	Writing Writing a description of an animal using vocabulary on familiar topics (e.g. animal body parts)
   	Speaking Maintaining good posture Maintaining eye contact Using appropriate voice levels	Speaking Maintaining good posture Maintaining eye contact Using appropriate voice levels
   Vocabulary	Learning words related to family members and hobbies (e.g. “baby sister” and “hiking”) Learning adjectives describing people (e.g. “hard-working”, “caring” and “gentle”)	Learning words related to animal body parts (e.g. “trunk” and “paws”), and sounds and movements animals make (e.g. “growl”, “purr”, “fly”, and “float”) Learning adjectives describing animals (e.g. “cuddly”, “agile” and “fearless”)
   Grammar	Using the question word, “who” to ask about people (e.g. “Who is …?”) Using third-person singular pronouns to talk about people (e.g. “He/She is …”) Using possessive adjectives to show relationships and possession (e.g. “My/His…”)	Using “have/has” to talk about body parts (e.g. “It has …”) Using “can” to talk about what animals are able to do (e.g. “It can …”) Using the present continuous tense to talk about what animals are doing
   Proper values	Understanding the importance of showing respect for classmates and parents	Understanding the importance of showing respect for Chinese and other cultures




2. Engaging students in a variety of receptive and productive tasks and utilising diversified learning and teaching materials
   Teachers engaged students in a variety of receptive and productive tasks aimed at enhancing their language proficiency, catering for their diverse backgrounds and learning needs, and deepening their understanding of different proper values through real-world contexts. They also utilised diversified learning and teaching materials to enrich students' learning experiences. The following tables outline the key receptive and productive tasks as well as the learning and teaching materials used in different parts of the two units.

   The unit on the theme, “Meet the Family” (The unit was divided into two parts, with the first part focusing on family members and the second on parents.)

   Part 1 – Family members

   Learning domains	Receptive/Productive tasks and learning and teaching materials	Purposes
   Reading Listening Vocabulary Grammar	Receptive tasks: Reading the authentic e-book, “The Family Book”, written by Robert Rosen about different family members and their hobbies Listening to authentic songs about family members and celebrating differences among people on an online platform	To enable students to acquire the target reading and listening skills, vocabulary and grammar items To align the text type students are exposed to in the reading task with that of the subsequent writing task To enhance students’  interest in reading and listening to English using the authentic texts
   Proper values	Productive tasks: Taking photos of one’s family and sharing them on an e-learning platform Viewing the photos of one another and identifying the similarities and differences among themselves Students identifying similarities and differences among themselves by looking at one another’s family photos	To provide an opportunity for students to share with one another their uniqueness in relation to their family and ethnic and cultural backgrounds, and foster their mutual understanding and respect by guiding them in appreciating the similarities and differences among themselves To foster respect for classmates through the cognitive and affective dimensions of values education To enhance student engagement through purposeful, meaningful and communicative tasks
   Speaking Proper values	Productive tasks: Discussing different ways to show respect for classmates Taking action to demonstrate respect for classmates in school Students exploring ways to show respect for their classmates	To guide students in exploring ways to show respect for one another To provide an opportunity for students to apply their knowledge in a real-life context To foster respect for classmates through the cognitive and actional dimensions of values education To enhance student engagement through purposeful, meaningful and communicative tasks

   Part 2 – Parents

   Learning domains	Receptive/Productive tasks and learning and teaching materials	Purposes
   Reading Listening Proper values	Receptive tasks: Reading the Chinese classic story, “Fanning the Pillow and Warming the Quilt”, to learn about the traditional Chinese virtue of filial piety  Learning the pronunciation, composition and meaning of the Chinese character, “孝” Watching an authentic video about what a mum and a dad painstakingly do to take care of their children on an online platform Learning different positive adjectives to describe parents	To broaden students’ understanding of respect for others, from classmates to parents To nurture students’ empathy for their parents using Chinese cultural contexts To guide students in learning how meaning is embedded into the Chinese character, “孝”, through its component parts To foster respect for parents through the cognitive and affective dimensions of values education To enrich students’ understanding of Chinese culture through learning about the traditional Chinese virtue of filial piety
   Speaking Proper values	Productive tasks: Reflecting on how one had been taken care of by one’s parents Students reflecting on how they have been taken care of by their parents Discussing different ways to show respect for parents, including those that are culturally-specific (e.g. touching parents’ feet and addressing parents using specific words) Keeping a record of what one had done to show respect for one’s parents Students keeping a record of what they have done to show respect for their parents	To guide students in appreciating the love and care from their parents To guide students in exploring ways to show respect for their parents To provide an opportunity for students to apply their knowledge in a real-life context To foster respect for parents through the cognitive, affective and actional dimensions of values education To enhance student engagement through purposeful, meaningful and communicative tasks
   Writing Speaking Vocabulary Grammar Proper values	Productive tasks: Writing a description of one’s parent (or family member) Making a video presentation to introduce one’s parent (or family member) and sharing it on an e-learning platform	To provide an opportunity for students to apply the knowledge, writing and speaking skills, vocabulary, grammar items, and proper values acquired in a real-life context To foster respect for parents through the actional dimension of values education To enhance student engagement through a purposeful, meaningful and communicative task

   The unit on the theme, “Amazing Animals” (The unit was divided into two parts, with the first part focusing on general animals and the second on national animals.)

   Part 1 – General animals

   Learning domains	Receptive/Productive tasks and learning and teaching materials	Purposes
   Listening Reading Vocabulary Grammar	Receptive tasks: Reading an authentic e-book, “Safari Animals”, written by Simms Taback about different Safari animals Listening to an authentic song about animals on an online platform	To enable students to acquire the target reading and listening skills, vocabulary and grammar items To align the text type students are exposed to in the reading task with that of the subsequent writing task To enhance students’ interest in reading and listening to English using the authentic texts

   Part 2 – National animals

   Learning domains	Receptive/Productive tasks and learning and teaching materials	Purposes
   Reading Listening Proper values	Receptive tasks: Reading a non-fiction text about different national flags and animals related to students’ ethnic backgrounds Watching videos of different national animals on an online platform and expressing how they feel about them Learning different positive adjectives to describe the national animals Students learning the national animals related to their ethnic backgrounds and positive adjectives describing the animals	To enhance students’ understanding that they all have different ethnic and cultural backgrounds, and foster their mutual understanding and respect by guiding them in appreciating different cultures To foster respect for diverse cultures through the cognitive and affective dimensions of values education
   Reading Listening Proper values	Receptive tasks: Learning about the national flag and animal of China Reading different texts about the giant panda including its body parts, and sounds and movements they make Watching an authentic video about the giant panda on an online platform and expressing how they feel about it Learning different positive adjectives to describe the giant panda	To transition students from a general respect for diverse cultures to a focused respect for Chinese culture To nurture students’ empathy for the giant panda To foster respect for Chinese culture through the cognitive and affective dimensions of values education To enrich students’ understanding of Chinese culture through learning about the national flag and animal of China
   Speaking Proper values	Productive tasks: Discussing values-related questions in class, including why the giant panda is the national animal of China, why there is the giant panda in Hong Kong, what has been done to conserve them, and how we can show our empathy and care for the giant panda Making a video presentation to introduce the giant panda to one’s family members or friends and sharing it on an e-learning platform	To guide students in understanding the significance of the giant panda as the national animal of China and the relationship between Mainland China and Hong Kong To provide students with an opportunity to take on the role of an ambassador to promote the giant panda to the people around them who might not know much about it because of their ethnic and cultural backgrounds To foster respect for Chinese culture through the cognitive, affective and actional dimensions of values education To enhance student engagement through purposeful, meaningful and communicative tasks
   Writing Speaking Vocabulary Grammar Proper values	Productive tasks: Writing a description of a class mascot of one's own choice of an animal Making a video presentation to introduce one's choice of the class mascot and sharing it on an e-learning platform	To provide an opportunity for students to apply the knowledge, writing and speaking skills, vocabulary, grammar items, and proper values acquired in a real-life context To foster respect for diverse cultures through the actional dimension of values education To enhance student engagement through purposeful, meaningful and communicative tasks

3. Employing various pedagogical strategies in values-related lessons
   Various pedagogical strategies, including strategic questioning and hot seating, were adopted in different values-related lessons to cater for students' diverse learning needs, promote active participation, and support or extend their learning of the target proper values. The following table shows examples of how these strategies were used in different lessons and the purposes of using them.

   Lessons	Pedagogical strategies	Purposes
   Reading the Chinese classic story, “Fanning the Pillow and Warming the Quilt”	Strategic questioning: When guiding students through the reading task, teachers asked different types of questions, such as prompting questions and clarifying questions, suited to individual students’ English proficiency levels, cognitive abilities, and ethnic and cultural backgrounds. An extract from a lesson plan showing teachers asking different types of questions based on students’ English proficiency levels, cognitive abilities, and ethnic and cultural backgrounds	To cater for students’ diverse learning needs To support students’ understanding of the reading text and the traditional Chinese culture of filial piety in a progressive manner To extend students’ learning by stimulating their higher-order thinking
   Learning about the national animal of China, the giant panda	Hot seating: When guiding students from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds in understanding the significance of the giant panda as the national animal of China, teachers, considering students’ young age, role-played a giant panda and engaged them in interactive interviews to enhance their understanding and elucidate complex concepts, including why the giant panda is the national animal of China and the relationship between Mainland China and Hong Kong. An extract from a lesson plan showing teachers role-playing a giant panda to enhance students’ understanding and elucidate complex concepts	To enhance student engagement in a values-related lesson To enable students to have meaningful interactions with an imaginary character – a giant panda – to gather useful information first-hand To facilitate a deeper understanding of complex concepts related to Chinese culture

   
   

   Impact

   Student learning

   1. Increased language proficiency and capability in task application
      Students' proficiency in the four language skills increased and their capability to apply them in different language-related tasks improved. In reading and listening, teachers observed that students became more capable of employing a range of reading and listening skills to tackle different texts, such as recognising high frequency words in reading texts and identifying key words that they had learnt in audiovisual texts. In writing and speaking, students produced written compositions (see student work below) and gave oral presentations with richer content. They managed to apply the theme-related knowledge, writing and speaking skills, vocabulary, and grammar items they acquired in the writing and speaking tasks. These improvements could be attributed to the systematic teaching of specific language skills and the thoughtful alignment between the receptive and productive tasks, which enabled students to transfer the skills they learnt across contexts.

      

      A student describing a class mascot of his own choice
      using the theme-based knowledge, writing skills, vocabulary,
      grammar items and proper values acquired

      
      

   2. Increased awareness and understanding of the target proper values

      Students exhibited a heightened awareness and understanding of showing respect for others. Teachers observed that students became more appreciative of the similarities and differences among themselves, and were developing the habit of showing respect for one another in school through various ways discussed in class, such as greeting one another in the morning (a common social practice of showing respect) and refraining from touching their classmates' heads (a disrespectful behaviour in some cultures). They were also able to come up with other sensible ways to show respect for one another, such as apologising to others after doing something wrong (see student work) and acted on them. Teachers also noticed a growing awareness among students of their parents' love and care, prompting them to actively demonstrate respect for their parents through their actions (see student work).

      Students' own ideas of showing respect for their classmates A student's record of what he has done to show respect and love for his parents

      In addition, students developed a deeper awareness and understanding of showing respect for different cultures, particularly those pertaining to their classmates' ethnic backgrounds. This was evidenced by their active participation in classroom discussions on topics inspired by the family photos they shared with one another, such as traditional clothing worn by their classmates. They were enthusiastic about learning different cultural elements and prepared to show appreciation by, for example, using different positive adjectives to describe them. They also developed a broadened base of knowledge of Chinese culture and eagerly shared it with their family and friends, contributing to a deeper appreciation of the culture.

   3. Increased student engagement
      Teachers observed a significant increase in student engagement. Students found the diversified learning and teaching materials and the variety of purposeful, meaningful and communicative tasks both inside and outside the classroom interesting and relevant to their daily lives. Students also displayed a stronger sense of ownership of their learning because of the emphasis on their uniqueness in terms of their ethnic and cultural backgrounds throughout the learning process. Their active participation could also be attributed to the adoption of different pedagogical strategies by the teachers in the classroom.

   Teacher development

   1. Enhanced capability to integrate the four language skills
      Teachers developed an increased awareness of the interplay between the four language skills and an enhanced capability to design language-related tasks that engage all four skills using an integrative approach. Their enhanced awareness and refined approach to task design led to the successful development of more cohesive and comprehensive language learning experiences for their students.

   2. Enhanced capability to cater for learner diversity
      Teachers developed a stronger awareness of the significance of embracing student diversity and addressed it through thoughtfully designed learning experiences. They also became more competent leveraging students' uniqueness in terms of their ethnic and cultural backgrounds to engage them in the learning process, and employ different pedagogical strategies to cater for their diverse learning needs and facilitate progress in learning.

   3. Enhanced capability to integrate values education into English Language learning and teaching
      Teachers developed an increased understanding of how values education can be integrated organically and strategically into their school English Language curriculum. They bolstered their capability to use an array of strategies to nurture proper values and appreciation for Chinese culture in students, alongside helping them develop their language knowledge and skills.

   Curriculum development

   The school English Language curriculum was enhanced through strengthening the systematic connection between the four language skills; the incorporation of different elements catering for students' diverse backgrounds and learning needs; and the integration of values education and Chinese culture. The enriched, more meaningful curriculum not only facilitated students' language learning but also boosted their engagement in learning and fostered their whole-person development.

   
   

   Conclusion

   Values education was successfully integrated into the school English Language curriculum through leveraging student diversity as shown in the two school-based P1 units. The success was largely attributable to the collaborative efforts of the English panel, teachers' creativity and receptiveness to new ideas, the leadership of the curriculum leaders, and the professional support from the Language Learning Support Section. To deepen students' understanding of showing respect for different people and cultures, teachers can engage them in researching and learning from one another about how different national animals and customs represent different cultures. To further embrace student diversity, teachers can explore other facets of uniqueness of their students, such as personality traits, multiple intelligences and religious beliefs, and integrate them into their daily English teaching and ongoing promotion of values education.

   
   

   Bibliography

   Brown, H. D. & Lee, H. (2015). Teaching by principles: An interactive approach to language pedagogy. Pearson.

   Curriculum Development Council. (2024). Primary Education Curriculum Guide. Retrieved from:
   https://www.edb.gov.hk/attachment/tc/curriculum-development/major-level-of-edu/primary/curriculum-documents/Primary_Education_Curriculum_Guide/PECG%202024_full.pdf

   UNESCO. (2015). Embracing diversity: Toolkit for creating inclusive, learning-friendly environments. Retrieved from: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000137522

   
   
   

   Islamic Dharwood Pau Memorial Primary School
   Max TSANG (Language Support Officer)