Cultivating proper values and attitudes through infusing Life Planning Education into Reading across the Curriculum projects

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Background

As encapsulated in the school motto and the school's major concerns, CCC Chuen Yuen First Primary School accords high priority to fostering students' whole-person development. Therefore, English Language and non-language subject teachers shared the common goals of cultivating proper values and attitudes among students, connecting their learning experiences, and enhancing their literacy skills and lifelong learning capabilities, when collaboratively planning and implementing Reading across the Curriculum (RaC) projects. In response to the recommendations stated in the final report of the Task Force on Review of School Curriculum, these teachers also integrated Life Planning Education (LPE) into some RaC projects, supporting students to achieve better self-understanding and recognise the significance of proper values and attitudes in pursuing their goals and dreams. Through organic integration of different curriculum initiatives, such as RaC, values education and Life Planning Education, into the school English Language curriculum, teachers hoped to optimise the curriculum and provide students with diversified learning experiences, nurturing them to grow into well-rounded individuals.

RaC projects were first piloted in P4 in 2021/22. P4 English Language and General Studies teachers were invited to explore feasible modes of implementation before extending RaC to other subjects and levels in the following school years. This report illustrates how teachers worked towards the above goals using the two RaC projects piloted in P4.

Level

P4

Strategies used

1. Connecting students' learning through cross-curricular collaboration and links
   To help students connect the knowledge, skills and values and attitudes acquired in different subjects, P4 English Language and General Studies teachers collaborated closely in the RaC projects. The teachers identified common entry points for collaboration, such as thematic links, subject-specific vocabulary and knowledge, and proper values and attitudes. During the collaboration, General Studies mainly focused on theme-related knowledge acquisition (conducted in Chinese), whereas English Language focused on acquisition of the related knowledge and vocabulary in English and other relevant language-related knowledge and skills. In addition, cross-curricular learning tasks were designed for students to synthesise and apply what they had learnt across the two subjects to solve problems in their daily life and develop theme-related proper values and attitudes and generic skills.

2. Using value-driven texts and learning tasks to develop students' proper values and attitudes through the integration of cognition, affect and action dimensions

   A variety of reading texts were used to not only broaden students' reading horizons and enhance their reading skills, but also act as a springboard for stimulating value-driven reflection and discussion among students. Through appropriately designed learning tasks, teachers guided students to gain a better understanding of the target values and attitudes and make proper judgment in related situations (cognition dimension), explore the affective aspect of the target values and attitudes (affect dimension) and put them into practice (action dimension), deepening students' learning experience in values education.

3. Infusing LPE elements into reading texts and learning tasks to make natural connections with values education
   LPE elements were infused into the projects to foster students' whole-person development. The "Framework of Implementation Strategies on Life Planning Education for Primary Schools" outlined three core elements for conducting LPE at Key Stage 2 (see the diagram below). Taking P4 students' developmental needs into consideration, teachers decided to focus more on enhancing students' self-understanding and nurturing work-related values and attitudes. Reading texts and experiential learning tasks about theme-related jobs were used to help students learn more about different jobs, and more importantly, enable them to explore their personal aspirations, interests and abilities and put the target values and attitudes into practice.

   
   

   Three core elements of LPE for primary schools

   
   

4. Engaging students in diversified learning experiences within and beyond the classroom
   English Language teachers and General Studies teachers designed a wide array of meaningful learning tasks to organically integrate various curriculum initiatives into the school curriculum and enrich students' learning experiences. Apart from reading and language learning activities, theme-related life-wide learning and experiential learning activities were conducted at home or in the community to extend students' learning of the topics, and help students connect their learning with their personal experiences and apply what they have learnt in their daily life.

5. Facilitating learning and teaching through diversified pedagogical strategies
   During lessons, students were scaffolded to acquire the target knowledge, skills, and values and attitudes through a combination of different pedagogical strategies, such as explicit teaching (e.g. modelling on how to identify signal words related to cause and effect and use them to facilitate their comprehension of the texts), meaningful recycling (e.g. applying the target reading skills when reading different texts in the project), peer learning (e.g. think-pair-share and group work), the use of motivating and multisensory resources (e.g. multimodal texts and e-learning activities), and making explicit cross-curricular links in the two subjects involved.

What happened

Two RaC projects were piloted in P4 in 2021/22, one in each term. In general, the planning and implementation of each P4 RaC project involved the following stages.

Planning
Stage 1: Cross-curricular mapping and planning and choice of reading materials
Curriculum mapping was conducted by English Language and General Studies teachers at the initial stage of the projects. Taking the first RaC project as an example, the common theme "Stay Healthy" was identified and teachers selected suitable textbook units for the project. For English Language, extended reading materials, including a reader on healthy eating, a magazine article about nutritionists and some food labels, were chosen or designed to increase students' exposure to theme-related topics and different text types, and to echo students' learning in General Studies. During cross-curricular mapping and planning, teachers built consensus on the learning focuses of their own subjects and the entry points for cross-curricular collaboration. In both RaC projects, several common entry points were adopted to strengthen cross-curricular connections and deepen students' learning.

		1st RaC project	2nd RaC project
Theme		Stay healthy	Be a green hero
Units	English Language	“At the Food Festival” “Cooking is Fun”	“Little Green Farm”
	General Studies	“Smart Eating”	“Weather and climate” (Prior knowledge: “Water”)
Common entry points	Subject-specific knowledge / vocabulary	Nutrients and their functions	Water cycle, water conservation
	Text type	Food labels	Infographics, procedures
	Proper values and attitudes	Empathy, care for others¹, leading a healthy lifestyle, cherishing food	Care for the environment, green living
	Generic skills	Critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, communication and collaboration skills

Common entry points for cross-curricular collaboration in the RaC projects

The curriculum map of the first RaC project showing how teachers created and strengthened links in the English
Language and General Studies curriculum and designed relevant learning tasks to integrate students' learning

Implementation
Stage 2: Subject-specific input and language learning related to the theme
To help students strengthen associations in their learning, English Language and General Studies teachers more or less synchronised their theme-related teaching, with adjustments in their teaching schedules made prior to the projects. Therefore, while students were acquiring subject-specific knowledge, skills and values and attitudes in General Studies, they were also engaged in a variety of language learning activities that echo with the General Studies curriculum and enrich their learning. This arrangement enabled teaching to explicitly and promptly resonate across the two subjects, encouraging students to make links in their learning.

The following are some key tasks that took place within or beyond the classroom in English Language.

1. Engaged with theme-related texts to acquire subject-specific knowledge and vocabulary and essential reading skills
   Students read a variety of texts, including narrative and information texts, in English Language lessons. Teachers not only broadened students' breadth of knowledge and perspectives, but also guided students to acquire subject-specific vocabulary and target language structures, and develop various reading skills.

   In reading lessons, teachers conducted shared reading with students to help them comprehend the texts in depth. Learning activities such as think-pair-share and e-learning activities (e.g. games, sharing ideas online) were adopted to gauge students' understanding of the texts and encourage students to express their views about the texts. In addition to explicitly making connections with the concepts learnt in General Studies lessons, supplementary multimodal texts were often used to facilitate students' understanding of information texts with subject-specific knowledge and vocabulary. To enhance students' reading skills, teachers explicitly taught the target reading skills in class at the text level using different pedagogical strategies. The following are some examples.

   Pedagogical strategies	Reading skills and examples
   Explaining related concepts or knowledge structures (e.g. cause and effect) and raising students’ awareness of related signal words in the texts through questioning during shared reading and related practice/activities to reinforce students’ understanding	Understanding cause and effect
   Guiding students to apply the target reading skills step by step and providing opportunities for students to practise and recycle the reading skills in different contexts (e.g. when reading different theme-related texts in the project)	Working out the meaning of unfamiliar words
   Guiding students to use graphic organisers (e.g. Venn diagrams) to visualise and process the information in the texts	Comparing and contrasting

2. Cultivated the target proper values and attitudes through value-driven learning tasks and Life Planning Education
   After the reading stage, teachers engaged students in multifarious value-driven learning activities related to the texts, such as discussion, experiments and reflection, to enhance their understanding of the target proper values and attitudes. The following are some examples.

   Examples of learning tasks	Values and attitudes
   In the first RaC project, after reading about healthy diets, students collected food labels at home and evaluated the nutritional value of the food items using the target vocabulary and language items (i.e. nutrients and the use of “good/bad for”). They were guided to make wise and health-conscious decisions when purchasing and consuming food in their daily life. Reading food labels critically to decide if food items at home are healthy	Leading a healthy lifestyle
   In the second RaC project, after reading about water conservation and the water cycle, students conducted an experiment in groups to observe the water cycle and learn more about water pollution. Deducing the negative consequences of water pollution from the experiment	Green living
   Life Planning Education elements were infused into both projects. After conducting reading lessons about theme-related jobs such as nutritionists, inventors and actors, teachers engaged students in discussion and reflection to help them understand the significance of work-related proper values and attitudes, reflect on their interest in pursuing theme-related jobs and explore their own dreams. Exploring theme-related jobs and work-related proper values and attitudes	Work-related proper values and attitudes, e.g. empathy, patience and perseverance

   Stage 3: Integration and application of learning across subjects through cross-curricular, experiential and life-wide learning tasks
   Through concerted efforts, English Language and General Studies teachers created opportunities for students to integrate and apply the knowledge, skills and values and attitudes acquired in both subjects as well as different generic skills to solve problems in the cross-curricular learning tasks. To put work-related proper values and attitudes into practice, students "experienced" theme-related jobs and solved problems from the perspectives of people taking up those jobs. Life-wide learning activities were also arranged to enrich and extend students' learning.

   	1st RaC project	2nd RaC project
   Theme	Stay healthy	Be a green hero
   Cross-curricular tasks and theme-related job experience	Design a healthy dish for people in need and introduce it as a nutritionist	Promote water conservation and green living through different means as an inventor, an actor or a KOL
   Life-wide learning	After the cross-curricular task: Prepare the healthy dish and enjoy it with parents at home	Before the cross-curricular task: Visit H2OPE Centre to learn more about problems related to water and ways to save water in the daily life

   An overview of the cross-curricular tasks and the corresponding life-wide learning activities

   
   

   Taking the first RaC project as an example, students worked as nutritionists in the cross-curricular learning task. They designed a healthy dish for people in need, such as the elderly and pregnant ladies, showing empathy to and understanding of people's needs. They then applied the target subject-specific vocabulary and language items to write a description about the dish in English lessons and made an English video to introduce the dish and promote healthy eating.

   
   

   Students applied knowledge of nutrients acquired across subjects and the target language items in the learning tasks.

   
   
   

   Students extended their learning beyond the classroom and connected their learning with their daily experience.

   
   

   Impact

   Student learning

   1. Reading abilities and ability to make connections in learning improved
      Through exposure to a variety of theme-related narrative and information texts, students' reading exposure was expanded and more subject-specific vocabulary was acquired. Their capacity to process information texts was also enhanced due to explicit teaching of reading skills, text types and knowledge structures, supporting them to progress gradually from learning to read to reading to learn.

      As observed by teachers, cross-curricular collaboration not only strengthened knowledge building among students, but also fostered students' ability to connect and synthesise their learning across subjects. In the first RaC project, for instance, most students were able to apply knowledge of healthy diet acquired across subjects to design a healthy dish and employ the target language items and language skills learnt in English Language to describe the dish in the writing and speaking tasks.

      Example of students' writing

   2. Target proper values and attitudes nurtured and self-understanding enhanced

      The integration of the cognition, affect and action domains of values education facilitated students' acquisition of the target proper values and attitudes. Students understood better the importance of leading a healthy lifestyle and embracing green living. They also put their understanding into practice, e.g. cooking a healthy dish and producing videos to promote green living. When experiencing a theme-related job such as that of a nutritionist, students developed empathy and showed care for others.

      Making a video to promote green living

      Furthermore, students learnt more about different jobs and explored their interest and suitability for the jobs and their aspirations for the future, achieving better self-understanding.

      Excerpts of students' reflections

      
      

   3. Generic skills and lifelong learning capacity strengthened

      In both RaC projects, students solved real-life problems (e.g. addressing nutritional needs of people in need) with integrative use of generic skills as well as higher-order thinking skills, which are crucial for developing their lifelong learning capabilities. Apart from problem solving skills, students produced RaC products with creativity and critical thinking. By working in groups, they have polished their communication and collaboration skills. With heightened learning motivation through engaging in authentic problem solving tasks, some students displayed an inquisitive attitude of a lifelong learner and took the initiative to enrich their own learning with additional learning resources, e.g. the Internet, in the projects.

      Solving problems in groups

      Taking part in a drama to promote green living

   Teacher development

   1. Experience in conducting RaC enhanced
      From the two projects piloted in P4 in the first year, both English Language and General Studies teachers gained more knowledge, skills and experience in planning and implementing RaC and cross-curricular learning. They shared their experience with other teachers, enabling the school to extend RaC to all levels in the following year. Overall, a culture for cross-curricular collaboration has been nurtured, which is conducive to developing a more coherent school curriculum and forming a more comprehensive understanding of students' learning needs and progress.

   2. Capacity in holistic planning of the school curriculum strengthened
      Both language teachers and non-language subject teachers became more aware of their roles in contributing to a more holistic school curriculum in order to foster students' lifelong learning capabilities and whole-person development. In the P4 RaC projects, teachers gained experience in designing meaningful learning tasks to organically integrate curriculum initiatives, such as values education, Life Planning Education and life-wide learning, into the curriculum, enabling students to grow holistically with rich learning experiences.

   
   

   Conclusion

   Through the effective coordination of the curriculum leaders (e.g. PSMCD and Panel Heads) and concerted efforts of the language teachers and non-language subject teachers, the school curriculum, including the English Language curriculum, has been optimised with the incorporation of RaC and the natural connections established with some curriculum initiatives. To extend the positive impact of the projects, language teachers and non-language subject teachers will continue to put emphasis on values education and provide rich and connected learning experiences for students within and beyond the classroom, supporting students to become more effective learners, future-ready and all-rounded individuals and moral leaders of tomorrow. To further engage students and cultivate an inquisitive mind, possibilities of creating space to arrange for more hands-on and minds-on activities might be explored as the school curriculum continues to be optimised.

   
   

   Bibliography

   Curriculum Development Council. (2017). English Language Education Key Learning Area Curriculum Guide (Primary 1 – Secondary 6). Hong Kong: Author.

   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

   Education Bureau. (2021). Framework of Implementation Strategies on Life Planning Education for Primary Schools. Retrieved from:
   https://www.edb.gov.hk/attachment/tc/teacher/student-guidance-discipline-services/projects-services/2122/20210929_Framework_for_LPE_for_Primary_Students_en.pdf

   Task Force on Review of School Curriculum. (2020). Optimise the Curriculum for the Future, Foster Whole-person Development and Diverse Talents. Retrieved from:
   https://www.edb.gov.hk/attachment/tc/teacher/student-guidance-discipline-services/projects-services/2122/20210929_Framework_for_LPE_for_Primary_Students_en.pdf

   
   
   

   CCC Chuen Yuen First Primary School
   Angel YIP (Language Support Officer)