Value Education across Disciplines (Draft)

Please compare the following two versions of the question:

Version A:
Shao Hui bought 40 kg of rice. He ate 5/8. How much was left?

Version B:
Shao Hui bought 40 kg of rice. He kept 5/8 of it for his own family to eat, and gave the rest to a poor family who lived near his house. How much did he give away?

What do you feel? Which version contains more values of sharing and helping others? Can you image such re-wording can load values and promote value education?

The above versions are from a Mathematics textbook! Apart from setting value education as an individual topic or course, it can be loaded into different subjects or disciplines of the whole programme or curriculum. It would be taught implicitly rather than explicitly, which may avoid preaching (說教).

Apart from subject content, textbook writers should be alert to values loaded within the wording. Teachers should also have such alertness for setting worksheets or assessment questions.

(To be continued.)