「天主教學校宗教及道德教育課程」簡介會

Briefing Sessions on “Religious and Moral Education Curriculum for Catholic Schools”

    為落實「天主教香港教區教區會議」第六組「教育與文化」的建議及回應宗教科教師的訴求，天主教教育事務處由2002年開始籌備制訂「宗教教育課程指引」的工作，期望透過有系統的課程，讓學生認識基督，並引導他們以福音精神作為他們生活的指標，負起個人對教會及社會的責任，以達成天主教教育的使命。

涵蓋幼稚園、小學及中學十五年學習階段的「宗教及道德教育課程」諮詢文件於本年初完成。為收集各天主教學校校監、校長及宗教科教師的意見，天主教教育事務處特於3月22及30日假聖瑪加利大堂區中心，舉行三場簡介會，共有五百多人出席。陳日君樞機親臨為校監及校長舉行的簡介會，致辭時指出作為天主教學校的教育工作者，推行宗教教育本身就是一個極大的恩賜，因為可將基督精神這份最寶貴的禮物傳給學生。他強調學校在推行全人教育、爭取成績之餘，應不忘從天主手中接受這個神聖的使命，每星期為每班安排不少於兩節的宗教課，認真地推行重整的宗教及道德核心課程，使天主教教育工作更有意義。

教育事務主教代表胡路明女士講述「宗教及道德教育課程」的發展過程時指出，為審慎起見，編訂課程的工作分數階段進行，並邀請不同工作崗位的人士(包括在職的宗教科教師)參與。首先由張永明博士領導「天主教教育發展委員會特別工作小組」，參考宗教培育組的建議，草擬課程的架構。其後於2004年正式成立「宗教教育課程大綱發展工作小組」負責有關工作，成員包括教育事務主教代表胡路明女士、李斌生神父、黃美兒修女、陳岡博士、陳永堅先生、汪玉瑜女士、區嘉為校長、董碧芳校長、顧兆敏先生等人。經詳細討論後，小組決定根據天主教教理，深化大綱的宗教元素。與此同時，教區委任陳岡博士負責撰寫「宗教及道德教育課程」大綱。陳博士用了一年多的時間，按專責小組通過的原則及架構撰寫有關文件，其間更參考了多個發展較完善的教區的宗教課程。經多翻修改，終於完成諮詢文件，並得到兩位神學顧問韓大輝神父及蔡惠民神父確認文件中的神學及教理元素。(文件已上載於天主教教育事務處網頁www.catholic.edu.hk)

講解文件內容時，陳岡博士闡釋學生和宗教課程的現況、新課程的主旨與原則、各階段學習目標、課時分配、評估原則、支援措施及課程單元文件範例等。陳博士強調課程要與現實生活結合，使教師與學生的隔閡減少，易於產生共鳴，才能進入學生的心靈深處。

為推動及發展新課程，教區將成立「宗教及道德教育課程發展中心」，由數位全職課程主任為教師提供培訓及支援服務，並設網上資源平台，以方便下載與課程有關的資料。

與會者對有關課程表示欣賞及支持，並提出很多中肯意見。工作小組將參照所收集的意見作修訂，然後呈交樞機核准，才將課程正式推出。

        Catholic schools have the mission to make Jesus Christ known to their pupils so that in the process of fulfilling their responsibilities to the Church and society they will be guided by Christian principles and values.  The Education and Culture Group of the Hong Kong Catholic Diocesan Synod held from March 2000 to December 2001 was of the view that in order to help Catholic schools to carry out their educational mission, the Diocese had to formulate guidelines for standardized gradual curricula for religious and moral studies.  In order to implement the above recommendation and in response to the unanimous demand of the Religious Education teachers the Catholic Education Office took steps to draw up a comprehensive 15-year curriculum for the subject.

        The Religious and Moral Education Curriculum (RME) Consultation Document for Catholic kindergartens, primary schools and secondary schools in Hong Kong was completed early this year.  In order to gather the views of the School Principals and Religious Education teachers, the Catholic Education Office held three briefing sessions at St. Margaret’s Parish Centre on 22^nd and 30^th March 2006.  More than five hundred people attended.  Cardinal Joseph Zen was present at the session for Supervisors and Principals.  In his address to the audience he pointed out that the implementation of Religious Education in schools was itself a grace for Catholic educators as it enabled them to pass the most precious gift of Christian spirit to their pupils.  Hence, he stressed that apart from aiming at providing holistic education and striving for academic excellence, principals should not forget their holy mission.  To help implement the restructured RME core curriculum they should arrange for every class to have at least two periods of Religious Education every week.  In so doing their work as leaders of Catholic schools would become more meaningful.

        Ms. Alice Woo, the Episcopal Delegate for Education, told the participants that in order to achieve the best results, the development of the RME Curriculum was carried out in different stages, involving people of different capacities (including front-line Religious Education teachers).  It started off with the drawing up of a curriculum framework based on the topics proposed by the Formation Group of the Catholic Education Development Committee by an ad hoc task group led by Dr. Francis Cheung Wing Ming.  In 2004, the “Task Group for the Development of Religious Education Curriculum” was formally set up.  After careful discussions, it decided to reinforce the religious element of the framework by using the four pillars of the Catechism of the Catholic Church as content strands.  Furthermore, the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong appointed Dr. John Tan to be responsible for drafting the captioned document.  For over a year Dr. Tan worked according to the principles and framework laid down by the Task Group with reference to the more structured content frameworks of the Religious Education curriculum of some Dioceses of the world.  The document was revised according to the views of the Task Group for a number of times.  On completion, it was passed on to the two theological advisors, Fr. Savio Hon and Fr. Peter Choy for endorsement of the theology and doctrine embodied therein.  (The document is available in the web page of the Catholic Education Office: www.catholic.edu.hk.)

        In his briefing Dr. Tan drew the attention of those present to the current situation of the pupils and the teaching of Religious Education; aims, framework and principles of the RME Curriculum; learning objectives of each stage; time distribution; assessment principles; curriculum resources and supporting measures and exemplar of curriculum unit document.  Dr. Tan was of the opinion that in order to make religious and moral studies meaningful to the pupils, the teaching materials must be related to their daily life experiences.  As for teachers, if they wish to reach deep down into the hearts of their pupils, they must be good listeners.

        To support schools to implement the new curriculum, the Diocese will establish a “Religious and Moral Education Development Centre” which will have a few full-time staff to provide teachers concerned with relevant professional development and supporting measures.  The Centre will also set up an on-line resources platform to produce and update teaching resources.