The world is evolving so rapidly that knowledge- and examination-oriented education in Hong Kong is no longer sufficient to equip children with the essential skills needed to adapt and thrive.
After years of collaboration with different stakeholders in the education sector, and extensive research into global studies and literature, The D. H. Chen Foundation believes that compassion-based values are vital and integral to incorporate into the current school-based curriculum. Values such as gratitude, trust, respect, openness, and selflessness are central to developing children’s character in an increasingly VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous) world.
To foster a caring, compassionate, and responsible society, the Foundation initiated the Compassionate Children Program in 2020, which integrates experiential learning into the school-based curriculum, aiming to plant seeds of compassion-based values in primary school students to nurture their social and emotional development.
Embracing the beauty of the fall foliage, students explore camouflage and analogous colors by crafting paper insects in fall color gradation.
Students expressing themselves through bodily movements
Students creating their ideal animal habitats through finger painting, using a variety of colors to bring their visions to life
Trees designed by students - inspired by illustrated storybooks and nature observation activities
Students are encouraged to speak with any community members they choose during a field trip, gaining insights into their neighborhood and its residents.
Students cultivating their own vegetables and identifying signs of living organisms on the plants
Teachers exploring nature and the arts through Project Crow, one of the Experiential Learning Partners of the program
Teachers learning about the application of aesthetic education to enhance value inquiry in subject learning during a study trip to Taipei
Participants investigating living organisms at the remnants of wartime cooking ranges during a parent-child outing at Mount Parker
The Foundation leads this initiative in collaboration with the School of Everyday Life as the Strategic Partner, alongside several like-minded nonprofits as Experiential Learning Partners, and various Seed Schools and Partner Schools. This collective effort has seen impactful over the past four academic years. In 2024, the Program enters its second phase, focusing on deepening its impact through school-based curriculum integration, school culture development, and parent engagement. This phase also aims to cultivate a cross-school co-learning community among teachers committed to compassion-based life education, providing them with support for effective classroom implementation.
Through experiential learning experiences, primary school students will explore life values and their interconnectedness with the world. Parents will have the opportunity to take part in life education activities alongside their children, integrating these learnings in their daily lives. Meanwhile, teachers and Experiential Learning Partners will gain knowledge and skills to infuse compassion-based values into their teaching, fostering a reflective mindset as educators.
The Foundation believes that the Program is establishing a compassion-based life education model for primary education, equipping children with an inner compass for life and injecting a compassionate driving force into the community – bringing us a step closer to a compassionate society.
More about the Program: https://compassionatechildrenhk.org/