Ethics and Religious Education

ETHICS & RELIGIOUS EDUCATION (S1 to S6)

ETHICS & RELIGIOUS STUDIES (DSE)

CURRICULUM AIMS

The Diocesan Synod’s expectations on the RME curriculum of Catholic schools in Hong Kong can be summarised into the following eight points:¹

1. Guide students to adopt Christ and his perfect personality as their own model, i.e. to imitate Christ’s spirit of love and service and develop an infinite motivation in their search for perfection;
2. Help students build a positive outlook on life replete with true love;
3. Quote experiences in daily life to stimulate students to brood over problems concerning the value of life, find their own directions in life and foster sound concepts of value.
4. Form students to study social issues on the basis of ethical principles and Christian love;
5. Help students to cherish human dignity and basic rights, values such as honesty, fairness, justice, integrity, self-sacrifice and altruism, filial piety, respect for life, diligence, frugality, harmony, peace and tolerance;
6. Help students to appreciate the needs of underprivileged groups and foster their eagerness to serve people in need;
7. Strengthen students’ sense of environmental and civic responsibility, and make them cherish the bond of brotherhood that makes all men one;

Allow students to realise the constant linkage between faith and life through lively and varied forms of prayer experiences, liturgy, and activities.

¹ Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong (2002) Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong Diocesan Synod Documents, pp.169-170, 173 (sec. 3.2.3 & 3.3.2).

CURRICULUM OBJECTIVES

This ERE curriculum aims to form students who can/are:²
In values and attitudes

1. Experience the value of human beings (including self) through the salvation history of their own and the world, and make moral decisions responsibly to respond to God’s call to love.
2. Appreciate Jesus Christ and His perfect personality, imitate His spirit of love and service, and care for the needs of underprivileged groups.
3. Full of love, respect human dignity, and uphold spiritual and moral values embedded in the Ten Commandments.
4. Embrace healthy values and a positive outlook on life, even when they are under some negative influences from pop culture.
5. Aware of the need for environmental protection and have a sense of civic responsibility.
6. Respect and appreciate the Catholic faith and the truth, good, and beauty in other religions.

In knowledge

1. Understand the knowledge required to cultivate the above values and attitudes, through resources including the Bible, liturgy, catechism and relevant contexts, and develop coherence in knowledge, affection, determination and behaviour.
2. Understand the relationships between Chinese culture and the above values and attitudes.

In skills

1. Competent in expressing the above values and attitudes and in putting them into practice.
2. Reflect on and analyse questions related to morals and the value of life through experiences gained in life.
3. Study social issues and make judgments from the perspectives of ethics and Christian love.

Experience the relationship between faith and life through prayer, liturgy, and religious art.

² Catholic Education Office (2006) Religious & Moral Education Curriculum document, pg 29 (sec. 3.1).

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of the course, students should be capable of demonstrating:

1. an understanding of some basic Biblical knowledge, such as the salvation history, the Commandments, prayers and liturgy etc.; Christian values and virtues, such as love, chastity, justice and option for the poor, etc. and some humanistic moral principles such as autonomy, justice, utility and fidelity etc.
2. an ability to apply Biblical teachings to analyse personal and social issues they encounter in their daily life with an open-mindedness, consistency, and tolerance when tackling ethical issues;
3. an ability to recite a few basic prayers, to pray on their own, and to actively participate in ceremonies of Prayer Services, Stations of the Cross, and Patron Saints Mass etc.
4. an understanding of the complexity and challenges in making Christian decisions;
5. an ability to apply Christian values in making reasoned and responsible moral decisions through discussion of various ethical issues, such as corporate social responsibility, environmental stewardship, euthanasia, genetic modifications, homosexual marriage, human rights, poverty, and privacy etc.;
6. an ability to act according to Christian values such as serving the underprivileged in our community; and
7. an ability to appreciate the diversity in different religions and cultures, and develop a positive attitude towards people from different religions while respecting them for their beliefs.

SYLLABUS FOR S1-S6

Level	Topics
S1	Catholic background and STC History Meeting the Bible An encounter with God A beautiful creation All Saints Day vs Halloween Sharing the Christmas blessing Faith in God and in men Priorities in life The gift of reconciliation The hope of Passover Leading an outstanding life
S2	Freedom and responsibility Keeping promises Respecting others A good family Peace A healthy life Saying no to pornography Overcoming temptations Sanctity of life Moral Courage
S3	Introduction of Salvation History God’s creation Environmental ethics Sex and marriage National identity The Passover of Jesus Prayer and liturgy of the Eucharist Spiritual Education

S4-S6 ERE

Christianity and Ethics

The ministry of Jesus: miracles and teachings passion and resurrection The work of the Holy Spirit Pentecost Schism and ecumenism Why be moral Maslow’s hierarchy of needs Moral reasoning: concepts such as: person, consequences, motive, and situation eight humanistic moral principles common fallacies in moral reasoning Issues: life and death such as abortion, euthanasia, and cloning etc. sexual ethics and marriage human rights corporate social responsibilities social justice environmental stewardship media ethics

S4-S6 DSE
Normative Ethics	The nature of morality Theory of Conduct Theory of Value and Virtue
Personal & Social Issues	Human rights Life and death Sex, companionship, and family Bioethics Environmental ethics Business and economic ethics Media ethics
Christianity	Background The faith of the Old Testament History and identity of Israel in the Old Testament History between the two Testaments Socio-political background The origin of Christianity – Jesus Christ Jesus’ ministry Jesus’ teachings The continuation of Jesus’ ministry Jesus’ identity Development of the early Church Development of basic Christian belief

ASSESSMENT OBJECTIVES

The major aims of assessment are:

1. to foster students’ self reflection on their learning, encourage more effective learning: using words that students understand or codes (such as grades or marks) to let students know the relationship between their learning method and attitude and the assessment results.
2. to highlight the needs of individual students, assist teachers to improve their teaching methods through reflecting on assessment results to identify the needs of the students, the links between the results, and the learning and teaching strategies adopted, to find out which strategies are effective and should be continued and which need to be improved.
3. to indicate the degree to which students are progressing towards the achievement of curriculum aims and stage outcomes, so that students, parents and teachers are informed of students’ progress
4. to provide information needed to evaluate the curriculum.

ASSESSMENT DESIGN

LEVEL	COMPONENT	PART	WEIGHTING	DURATION
S1 and S2	SBA	Worksheets News cutting Projects and presentations	Grades are given
S3	Interim and Final Exams	Various types of tasks such as MC, fill in the blanks, short questions and long questions	60%	1 hour
	SBA	Worksheets Video project Spiritual Education: Reading, presentation and journal etc.,	40%
S4	SBA (ERE)	Written assignments Biblical drama script writing Self-reflection and spiritual journal	Grades are given
	Interim and Final Exams (DSE)	Answer 3 questions out of 5 (20 marks @)	100%	1 hour 45 minutes
S5	SBA (ERE)	Written assignments Self-reflection and spiritual journal Community service reflection	Grades are given
	Interim and Final Exams. (DSE)	One compulsory question on ethics (20 marks)Answer 2 questions out of 4 (20 marks @)	100%	1 hour 45 minutes
S6	SBA (ERE)	Written assignments Self-reflection and spiritual journal Community service reflection	Grades are given
	Mock Examination (DSE)	Paper 1: Normative Ethics a) Compulsory: Answer 4 questions (20 marks) b) Social Issues: Answer 2 questions out of 4 (20 marks @) Paper 2: Christianity Answer 3 questions out of 5 (20 marks @)	(50% @ Paper ) 100%	1 hour 45 minutes @

SBA FOR PUBLIC EXAMINATIONS

N/A