Ethics and Religious Studies
Ethics and Religious Studies
Introduction
1. As an elective PSHE subject in the senior secondary curriculum, Ethics and Religious
Studies (ERS) helps students explore questions of meaning, value and purpose in life. It
seeks to help students to develop insights, a capacity for moral and spiritual life and personal
autonomy. These qualities make life meaningful in the social, cultural and political
contexts of pluralistic Hong Kong.
Rationale
2. The ERS curriculum makes a major contribution to the social, moral and spiritual
development of students. At all stages of life, students are frequently challenged by certain
religious and moral issues. These include the origin and purpose of life, identity, sex and
marriage, suffering, life after death etc. The ERS curriculum helps students respond to such
religious and moral questions through a process of inquiry. Students are expected to reflect
critically upon their own life experiences, develop confidence in their religious
understanding, and to be able to defend their position.
3. The ERS curriculum has a particularly important contribution to make in helping
students to develop an appreciative attitude towards diversity in pluralistic Hong Kong.
The richness in religious traditions of our society provides students with opportunities to
compare and study religions and their significances.
4. The ERS curriculum empowers students to examine ways in which religious and
moral questions have been formulated and reflected on throughout history and across the
globe. Students are enabled to articulate their own beliefs and engage in dialogue with
others. This provides a good foundation for continued exploration in Cultural Studies,
History, Theology, Philosophy, Public Administration, Human Resources Management,
Social Work and Criminal Justice. The self-understanding and knowledge gained from the
ERS curriculum benefit the community through preparing future social workers, counsellors,
teachers, clergy and journalists.
5. Building on the previous learning acquired in Key Stage 1 to Key Stage 3 through the
study of Religious Education, Biblical Knowledge, Buddhist Studies, Integrated Humanities
and History, students are already equipped with a basic understanding of various religious
traditions. ERS at Key Stage 4 emphasizes the concepts, beliefs and values of religions in
relation to students daily life within specific contexts. Teachers are encouraged to refer to
and reinforce students previous learning where appropriate.
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6. Two major approaches to religious education, namely a systems approach (learning
about religions) and a life themes approach (learning from religion), are given balanced
emphasis in the ERS curriculum. The first involves developing knowledge and
understanding of religious beliefs, teachings, practices and lifestyles, while the second
promotes the skills of asking and responding to questions of identity and experience,
meaning and purpose, values and commitments. Adopting both, this curriculum enables
students to develop understanding and to reflect on ethical and religious issues and on their
own beliefs and values. It also helps students to evaluate the influence of religion on their
life, as well as providing them with a means to search for meaning of life.
Curriculum Aims
7. The aims of the ERS curriculum are to enable students to:
(a) acquire knowledge of the religion they study and other major religions in Hong Kong;
(b) make reasoned and informed judgments about religious and moral issues;
(c) enhance their spiritual, moral, and social development; and
(d) develop a positive attitude towards other people and respect other peoples right to
hold beliefs different from their own.
Curriculum Objectives
8. Students are expected to develop knowledge and understanding about:
(a) the significance of morality to both individuals and society;
(b) the historical value of the major ethical systems and why their tenets have survived the
ages;
(c) the origin, literature, precepts, forms and practices of the religions they study;
(d) the founders of the religions they study and why their influence continues to the
present day; and
(e) contemporary views about religious and ethical issues.
9. Students are expected to develop skills to:
(a) reflect on their own beliefs, values and experiences;
(b) discuss objectively with people holding beliefs and values different from theirs;
(c) understand with empathy why people believe and behave as they do;
(d) debate issues of religious significance on the basis of evidence and rational argument;
and
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(e) apply the results of their religious exploration to the betterment of themselves and
their communities.
10. Students are expected to develop values and attitudes about:
(a) respect for others;
(b) willingness to acknowledge the needs, feelings and aspirations of others and learn
from their insights;
(c) tolerance of ambiguities and paradoxical situations;
(d) appreciation of diversity in religion and culture;
(e) respect for life; and
(f) eagerness to search for meaning and truth.
Curriculum Framework
(This part should be read in conjunction with the section Curriculum Framework of the
Main Document. It should be noted that the curriculum framework suggested below is for
initial consultation only. Feedback from the public will be taken into account and further
details will be provided in the next stage of consultation.)
11. The curriculum content includes the following Parts:
PART I ETHICS STUDIES
This is an introductory study on normative ethics. The emphasis is on value
formation and judgment based on rational thinking.
Suggested lesson time: 102 hrs (40%)
PART II RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS (Choose ONE only):
Module 1 Buddhism
Module 2 Christianity
Module 3 Confucianism*
Module 4 Islam*
Module 5 Taoism* * To be ready for implementation at a later phase
Suggested lesson time: 102 hrs (40%)
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PART III FAITHS IN ACTION (Choose ONE only)
Experiential learning activities are organized and structured around religious teachings
and the way that these relate to shared human experience. Teachers may help
students to reflect on and give meaning to these learning experiences.
Module 1 Learning to serve and serving to learn
Module 2 Learning from different religious practices
Suggested lesson time: 51 hrs (20%)
Learning and Teaching
12. Two different approaches to religious education are outlined in ERS: a systems
approach and a life themes approach. Although each approach has its distinctive purpose,
emphasis and content, the pedagogy adopted by the teacher is crucial to the quality of
learning and teaching in this curriculum.
13. Teachers are encouraged to adopt a reflective-enquiry approach in learning and
teaching, which is consistent with the subject aims and appropriate to the needs and interests
of different groups of students.
14. The five phases of the reflective-enquiry approach are as follows:
(a) Exploring
The basic criteria for the choice of a topic should be its worthiness as an area of
exploration, and the fact that it has good potential for achieving curriculum objectives
and furthering students understanding.
(b) Knowing
Students are strongly encouraged to discover an important body of knowledge arising
out of the subjects extensive and complex field of enquiry. This helps students
assimilate new knowledge or reinforce previously acquired knowledge.
(c) Understanding
Through various learning experiences, for example data collection, discussion, case
study and interview, students understand ideas and concepts and the complex
relationship between them and related items of knowledge.
(d) Expressing
ERS treasures students present patterns of belief, feelings, thoughts and experiences.
All these are a potential source of learning content, which can only become available
for exploration and evaluation when ample time and opportunity are given to students
to express themselves. Teachers are encouraged to design activities which provide
maximum opportunity and freedom for students to express their own ideas and their
responses to the range of beliefs being explored.
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(e) Reflecting
At the heart of ERS is the human need to formulate or acquire a set of beliefs and
values. Reflection in this context involves evaluating in an honest and informed way
the worth and relevance of particular beliefs and the values which are likely to
accompany them.
Assessment
(This part should be read in conjunction with the section Assessment of the Main
Document.)
15. Assessment is the practice of collecting evidence of student learning. The aims of
assessment are to improve learning and teaching as well as to recognize the achievement of
students. Assessment design should be aligned with the curriculum aims, design and the
processes of learning and teaching.
Internal Assessment
16. Internal assessment refers to the assessment practices that schools employ as part of
the learning and teaching process during the three-year senior secondary studies in ERS. It
serves the purpose of providing feedback to improve learning and teaching as well as to
report student progress at appropriate times.
17. Students should be assessed through a range of different assessment modes according
to the purpose and process of learning. Assessment should not be restricted to academic
outcomes. For instance, observation is used to assess participation in discussion, written
assessment to assess the expression of personal views, and project work to assess a students
thought processes and how they develop.
18. The ERS curriculum aims to develop the intellectual capacity of students, with a
particular focus on both ethical and religious matters. It also aims to enrich the moral and
spiritual dimensions of students lives, to help them to be sensitive to the feelings and the
experience of others, and to enable them to engage in self-reflection and self-improvement.
Teachers are strongly encouraged to design assessment which can provide effective feedback
that motivates and improves reflective thinking. This might include activities such as case
analysis, debate, writing reflective journals, quizzes and project learning.
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Public Assessment
19. Standards-referenced Assessment (SRA)
Public assessment of Ethics and Religious Studies leads to a qualification in the subject to be
offered by the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority. In the public
assessment of Ethics and Religious Studies, a standards-referenced approach will be adopted
for grading and reporting student performance. The purpose of this approach is to
recognize what each student can do in each subject at the end of the 3-year senior secondary
education stage. Each students performance will be matched against a set of performance
standards, rather than compared to the performance of other students. It makes the implicit
standards explicit by providing specific indication of individual student performance.
Descriptors will be provided for the set of standards at a later stage.
20. Modes of public assessment
1st component: The Written Examination
Duration (hours) Weighting Mode of Assessment
Paper One:
1.25 hrs 30% Essay Questions
Ethics Studies
Paper Two:
1.75 hrs 40% Essay Questions
Religious Traditions
2nd component: School-based Assessment (SBA)
Public assessment will include an SBA component that will take up 30% of the total
weighting. The merits of adopting SBA are as follows:
(i) SBA provides a more valid assessment than an external written examination,
since it covers a more extensive range of learning outcomes through employing a
wider range of assessment modes that are not all possible in written
examinations.
(ii) SBA enables the sustained work of students to be assessed. It provides a more
comprehensive picture of student performance throughout the period of study
rather than their performance in a one-off examination alone.
21. The breakdown of the % weighting of SBA components is as follows:
Year Weighting Mode of Assessment
SS1 0% -
SS2 10% Continuous assessment of course work
SS3 5% Continuous assessment of course work
15% Faiths in Action: Student Visit Report / Service Portfolio
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22. It should be noted that SBA is not an add-on element in the curriculum. Assessing
student performance through practices such as class discussion and class observation is a
normal in-class and out-of-class activity. The modes of SBA that will be selected in ERS
will be those most appropriate to the learning objectives and processes that are to be assessed.
The design and implementation of SBA should avoid unduly increasing the workload of both
teachers and students.
Supporting Measures
23. The Curriculum Development Institute (CDI) will provide the following measures to
support the implementation of the New Senior Secondary Ethics and Religious Studies
Curriculum:
Development of Curriculum Resources
24. The Curriculum Development Council and the Hong Kong Examinations and
Assessment Authority will jointly issue a Curriculum and Assessment Guide for the subject.
Supporting materials will also be developed to facilitate the school-based implementation of
the curriculum. These materials will include exemplary learning activities, learning and
teaching materials, a glossary, a reference list, etc. They will also be made available when
ready on the CDIs website for Personal, Social and Humanities Education
([Link]
Professional Development Programmes
25. The Curriculum Development Institute and the Hong Kong Examinations and
Assessment Authority will organize a series of professional development programmes for
teachers of the subject. Listed below are the major areas likely to be included in the
professional development programmes to be provided.
Understanding the curriculum design
Sharing of learning and teaching strategies and good practices
Curriculum updating programmes
Curriculum management and leadership (curriculum leadership courses)
Internal assessment, School-based Assessment and Standards-referenced Assessment
26. Seminars and workshops on special topics will also be organized regularly in response
to the needs of teachers.
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27. More details of the above support measures will be announced through the CDIs
website for Personal, Social and Humanities Education ([Link]
Teachers are also invited to check the EMB Training Calendar regularly for information on
professional development programmes.
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Appendix
Suggested Content of the Curriculum
PART I ETHICS STUDIES
This is an introductory study on normative ethics. The emphasis is on value formation and
judgment based on rational thinking. Students have to study some personal and social issues
in which their ethical stance for making judgment and choices are developed.
Module Units Related phenomena /concepts
Introduction to The Nature of Morality Moral principles
Normative Ethics Moral reasoning
Pluralism
Theory of Conduct Consequences
Duties
Theory of value and virtue Intrinsic value
Instrumental value
Quality
Priority
Conflicts
Personal and Social Human Rights Civil and Political rights
Issues Economic, Social and Cultural rights
Discrimination
Inherent dignity
Nature of rights
Self-determination
Responsibilities / Obligation
Life and Death Abortion
Ageing
Birth control
Capital punishment
Euthanasia
Surrogacy
Suffering
Suicide
Love, Sex and Marriage Commitment
Divorce
Heterosexual and homosexual
relationships
Pornography
Premarital and extramarital sex
Prostitution
Single life
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Module Units Related phenomena /concepts
Bioethics Animal testing
Cloning
Medical ethics
Gender selection
Genetic engineering
Genetic intervention
Environmental Ethics Biodiversity
Conservation
Consumerism
Global village
Pollution
Stewardship
Sustainable development
Business Ethics Advertising
Corruption
Exploitation
Globalization
Industrial action
Justice/fairness/equality
Poverty
Media Ethics Censorship
Code of ethics
Communication
Editorial independence
Entertainment
Freedom of speech
Information
Professionalism
Stereotype
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PART II RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS (Choose ONE only)
Module 1 Units Topics
Buddhism History of History of Indian Buddhism
Buddhism Historical background of Buddhism
Life of the Buddha
Development of Buddhism in India
Buddhism in the modern world
Theravada Buddhism
Chinese Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism
Western Buddhism
Pluralistic development of Buddhism in Hong Kong
Doctrines of Fundamental Doctrines
Buddhism Principle of Dependent Arising: Core teachings of
Buddhism
Karma and reincarnation: The reality of sufferings
Twelve Links of Dependent Origination: The cause of
liberation from sufferings
Five aggregates and Non-self: The nature of life
The Four Noble Truths: The foundations of Buddhism
Buddhist Practice: Conversion, Cultivation and Fruit
Realization
Four Mindfulness: Self and Other-enlightenment
Foundations of Path to Enlightenment
Liberating Path to Enlightenment
Path of Perfection to Enlightenment
Module 2 Units Topics
Christianity Background Textual background
The faith of the Old Testament
Political and social background
Palestine in the First Century A.D.
Jesus Life Birth and childhood
Ministry
Passion
Resurrection and Ascension
Jesus Teaching God
Kingdom of God
Will of God
Other teachings
The Apostles
continuation of St. Paul
Jesus ministry Other disciples
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PART III FAITHS IN ACTION (Choose ONE only)
Experiential learning activities are organized and structured around religious teachings and
the way they relate to shared human experience. Students can either engage in a service
programme or visit a place where religious activities are held. Teachers may help students
to reflect on and give meaning to these learning experiences.
Module 1 Units Remarks
Learning to serve and Concrete experience and
serving to learn observation: Plan and do service
with others
Reflection: Reflect on the service
experiences
Synthesis and conceptualisation:
Synthesize information and feelings
from the service experiences and
generalize them to broader issues
Testing of concepts in new
situations: Apply new
understandings to life experiences
and other service experiences
Personal service portfolio: Writing
reflective journals and service
reports to build a portfolio
Module 2 Units Remarks
Learning from different Concrete experience and Students are encouraged to
religious practices observation: Experience how a faith engage in some religious
community feels its beliefs are experiences different from
(e.g. visit a religious expressed through symbolism/ the religious traditions they
building or observe a worship/festival/rituals study in Part II.
religious ceremony ) Reflection: Reflect on the visit
experiences
Synthesis and conceptualisation:
Synthesize information and feelings
from the visit experiences and
compare them to other religious
experiences
Evaluate beliefs and values with
reference to experiences
Personal visit portfolio: Writing
reflective journals and visit reports
to build a portfolio
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