In a fast-changing society, the education in Hong Kong focusing on knowledge and examinations is no longer sufficient for children to acquire the skills and ability to adapt and to live well.
After collaborating with different stakeholders in the education field for many years, and conducting thorough research on worldwide studies and literature, The D. H. Chen Foundation (“the Foundation”) believes that compassion is the integral element to be incorporated in the current school-based curriculum in order to develop good character which includes values of gratitude, trust, respect, openness and selflessness in children for their personal growth.
Aspiring to build a caring, compassionate, just and responsible society, the Foundation therefore initiated the Compassionate Children Program (“the Program”) in 2020 which integrates experiential learning components into school-based curriculum , aiming to plant seeds of compassion-based values in primary school students through nurturing their social and emotional development.
The Program has commenced the second phase in mid 2021 after its pilot program. With the Foundation as the program initiator and coordinator, School of Everyday Life as the Strategic Partner, several like-minded nonprofits as the Experiential Learning partners, as well as seed schools and partner schools, this multi-party collaboration would form a strong co-learning circle in designing and supporting a compassion-based life education model for students and core teacher training courses in participating schools.
A Kick-off Meeting was held at St. Bonaventure Primary School for the Compassionate Children Program Phase 2.
Handmade wooden pin by School of Everyday Life
A Teachers’ Training session about making use of the materials from nature was conducted by the Mountain and the Sea Educo at HHCKLA Buddhist Chan Shi Wan Primary School.
One of our Experiential Learning Partners, Project Crow, was interacting with participating teachers of St. Bonaventure Catholic Primary School.
The School of Everyday Life has designed a set of cards to facilitate learning for all CCP participants.
Students from HHCKLA Buddhist Chan Shi Wan Primary School are exploring bodily movements.
Students from St. Bonaventure Catholic Primary School are attentively learning and experiencing the process of growing potato at the “Food & Agriculture” session.
Students are happily coloring the workbooks that are specially designed for the Program after the experiential learning session.
Through the experiential learning experience, primary school students will have the opportunity to explore the values of life and compassion along with the interconnectedness with the world. Parents will also be able to take part in life education activities for better daily practice, while teachers and the Experiential Learning partners will both gain knowledge and skills in infusing the compassion-based values into their teaching journeys.
By further promoting the compassion-based life education model in primary education, the Foundation believes that the Program would inspire more children to live compassionately and provide them an inner compass for their life orientation, which in turn would help strengthen the society with a wholesome foundation based on compassion – a step closer to building a compassionate society.
More about the Program: https://compassionatechildrenhk.org/