Library

ABSTRACT

THIS STUDY AIMS TO DEVELOP A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK TO ASSIST MACAU TEACHERS IN INTEGRATING MORAL AND CIVIC EDUCATION AS A CROSS-CURRICULAR DOMAIN. IT EMPLOYS TWO RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES. THE FIRST ADOPTS A GROUNDED THEORY APPROACH BASED ON INTERVIEWS WITH TEACHERS TO EXPLORE THE PERCEPTIONS AND CONCEPTUALISATIONS OF TWO GROUPS: THOSE WHO TEACH THE SUBJECT OF MORAL AND CIVIC EDUCATION AS A STANDALONE SUBJECT AND THOSE WHO INCORPORATE IT ACROSS SUBJECTS SUCH AS CHINESE LANGUAGES, HISTORY, OR GEOGRAPHY. THE SECOND METHODOLOGY INVOLVES A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW TO IDENTIFY THE DOMINANT THEORIES OF MORAL EDUCATION FROM THE LAST TWENTY YEARS, COVERING THE PERIOD FROM 2003 TO 2023. THIS REVIEW WILL COMPLEMENT AND ENRICH THE GROUNDED THEORY FINDINGS AND CONTRIBUTE TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK THAT SUPPORTS TEACHERS IN EMBEDDING MORAL EDUCATION WITHIN THEIR SUBJECT AREAS. THE FINAL FRAMEWORK WILL BE BASED ON THE COMBINED INSIGHTS OF BOTH RESEARCH APPROACHES. THE ULTIMATE RESULTS ARE SYNTHESISED FROM TWO RESEARCH LINES, AND PRESENTED BY A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR IMPROVING MORAL AND CIVIC EDUCATION TEACHING AND LEARNING IMPLEMENTATION IN MACAU. THE CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK INVOLVES THE CONSIDERATION OF FRONTLINE TEACHERS’ TEACHING EXPERIENCES, FACING PROBLEMS AND DIFFICULTIES FROM TWO CATEGORIES OF SCHOOLS IN MACAU, INCLUDING RELIGIOUS SCHOOLS AND NON-RELIGIOUS SCHOOLS. THE GROUNDED THEORY IS DEVELOPED BASED ON SEVENTEEN INTERVIEWS; ALL INTERVIEWEES ARE FRONTLINE TEACHERS OF MACAU. THE RESULTS REVEAL SEVENTEEN INTERVIEWEES’ CONCEPTUALISATIONS AND PERCEPTIONS OF MORAL AND CIVIC EDUCATION TEACHING AND LEARNING, AND HOW THEY CONCEIVE THEM, ALSO REVEALING SPECIFIC MEDIATE FACTORS THAT SHAPE THEIR CONCEPTUALISATIONS AND PERCEPTIONS OF MORAL AND CIVIC EDUCATION. ACCORDING TO THE RESULTS OF THE GROUNDED THEORY, MORAL AND CIVIC EDUCATION INVOLVES TWO ASPECTS, THE GENERAL LEVEL OF MORAL AND CIVIC EDUCATION, AND THE SUBJECT OF MORAL AND CIVIC EDUCATION. THE GENERAL LEVEL NEEDS ALL TEACHERS AND STAFF IN THE SCHOOL TO PARTICIPATE IN IT, EVEN COLLABORATING WITH FAMILIES AND THE SOCIETY. THE SECOND ASPECT IS THE SUBJECT ITSELF. THE SUBJECT HAS ITS OWN SCHEDULE, TEACHING TIME AND CURRICULUM IN ALL SCHOOLS. THIS SUBJECT IS EXPECTED TO BE THE CORE OF MORAL AND CIVIC EDUCATION IMPLEMENTATION IN MACAU, TEACHERS WHO ARE TEACHING THIS SUBJECT ARE EXPECTED TO TAKE MORE RESPONSIBILITIES TO IMPLEMENT MORAL AND CIVIC EDUCATION. THE RESULTS REVEAL THAT FRONTLINE TEACHERS’ CONCEPTUALISATIONS AND PERCEPTIONS ARE MEDIATED BY DIFFERENT FACTORS, THESE FACTORS CAN BE CONCLUDED INTO TWO TYPES, ORGANISATIONAL FACTORS AND MOTIVATING FACTORS. ORGANISATIONAL FACTORS RELATED TO THE BACKGROUND, CULTURE, AND WORKING ENVIRONMENT OF THE PARTICULAR SCHOOL. MOTIVATING FACTORS RELATED TO THE TEACHER’S INDIVIDUAL ABILITY, PSYCHOLOGICAL QUALITY, ATTITUDE, PERSONAL MORAL VALUES OR RELIGIOUS BELIEFS. THE CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK SUGGESTS THAT FRONTLINE TEACHERS, INCLUDING BOTH TEACHERS OF MORAL AND CIVIC EDUCATION, AND TEACHERS OF OTHER SUBJECTS THAT HAVE MORAL DIMENSION CURRICULUM GOALS SHOULD BE SUPPORTED BY THREE KEY SUPPORTERS TO IMPLEMENT MORAL AND CIVIC EDUCATION. THE THREE KEY SUPPORTERS INCLUDE LOCAL SCHOOLS IN MACAU, THE GOVERNMENT OF MACAU, AND HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS IN MACAU. THE THREE KEY SUPPORTERS ARE EXPECTED TO SUPPORT FRONTLINE TEACHERS AND COLLABORATE WITH EACH OTHER FOR IMPROVING MACAU TEACHERS’ CONCEPTUALISATIONS AND PERCEPTIONS OF MORAL AND CIVIC EDUCATION TEACHING AND LEARNING, DECREASING VARIATIONS OF MORAL AND CIVIC EDUCATION AMONG MACAU’S SCHOOLS. THE RESEARCHER BASED ON THE RESULTS OF THE SYSTEMATIC SEARCH AND NARRATIVE REVIEW SUGGESTS MACAU TEACHER TRAINING PROGRAMMES FOR MORAL AND CIVIC EDUCATION SHOULD INCLUDE THREE TYPES OF PROGRAMMES, 1) TEACHER TRAINING PROGRAMMES FOR GENERAL LEVEL IMPLEMENTATION, 2) THE LONG TERM TEACHER TRAINING PROGRAMMES FOR TEACHERS OF MORAL AND CIVIC EDUCATION, 3) THE ACTIVITIES FOR RELIEVING TEACHERS’ STRESSES AND EMOTIONS. THE FIRST TYPE OF TEACHER TRAINING PROGRAMME FOCUSES ON HELPING TEACHERS FORM A BASIC UNDERSTANDING OF ETHICS AND PSYCHOLOGY, BASIC TEACHING SKILLS FOR MORAL AND CIVIC EDUCATION, AND LEARNING EVALUATION METHODS. THE SECOND TYPE OF TEACHER TRAINING PROGRAMMES EMPHASISE HELPING TEACHERS FORM A THEORETICAL FOUNDATION OF ETHICS AND MORAL PHILOSOPHY, THE PEDAGOGY FOR THE SUBJECT OF MORAL AND CIVIC EDUCATION. THE THIRD TYPE OF TEACHER TRAINING PROGRAMME IS EXPECTED TO HELP TEACHERS RELIEVE THEIR STRESSES AND EMOTIONS. THE CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK CONSIDERS BOTH LINES OF RESEARCH, AND APPLIES THE RESULTS TO PROVIDE SUGGESTIONS FOR SUPPLEMENTING AND IMPROVING THE CURRENT SITUATION OF MORAL AND CIVIC EDUCATION IN MACAU. ESPECIALLY ON THE THEORETICAL LEVEL, THE RESEARCHER GIVES SUGGESTIONS FOR THEMES AND CONTENTS OF THREE TYPES TEACHER TRAINING PROGRAMMES BASED ON THE RESULTS OF TWO RESEARCH LINES.