A Survey on Students’ Perception Towards Character Education and the Theme of the Year from the Eyes of 2020-2021 P.6 Cohort 

 

A lot of people in this school might have noticed that the principal is an easygoing person who has very good and close relationship with most teachers, parents and students. Being the principal for some years, I am used to having friendly chats with people whenever we meet at the school campus. To students in particular, they always wave at me or even shout my name when they see me at a distance! And sometimes, I intentionally go into their classrooms and enjoy the open sharing with them.  

 

Last year, I walked into all P.6 classrooms and collected feedbacks from the 2020-2021 P.6 Cohort about their perception towards the school. There were a total of 3 inquiry items raised to them:  

 

1. Please write down 3 character traits in priority that you think you should possess and why.  

2. Do you like the theme of this year - “Connectedness”, and why? 

3. Please write a few words on what you think about this school. 

 

A total of 135 valid responses from students were received, and the result is summarised below: 

 

1. About students’ perception towards character traits 

 

All students were invited to suggest 3 character traits that they thought most important. The results showed that 

 

• Among the 24 character traits, “honesty” (64), “optimism” (38) and “kindness” (33) were the top three winners in the priority list.  

• Other character traits which also received high attention included: “responsibility” (28), “self-discipline” (27), “respectfulness” (26), “politeness” (24), “fairness” (24) and “perseverance” (23).   

• The reasons they gave varied. But, in sum, they greatly valued the highlighted ones because in their mind, those character traits could lead to making friends, being trusted and welcomed, and obtaining high respect from others, etc. They also added that when they showed those characters, they could earn genuine recognition and appreciation from their significant others, like teachers and peers.  

 

2. For the Theme of “Connectedness” implemented in 2020-2021 

 

Nearly all students agreed that the theme of the year “Connectedness” was well set, and they highly valued the opportunity of reconnection among their peers and people around them, especially in the COVID-19 pandemic season. The bonding between families and schools was important for its success. 

 

 

3. Concerning their perception about the school 

 

All students showed their strong alignment and high appreciation of their relationship with the school. They were happy that the facilities had been upgraded recently and all kinds of provisions were tailor-made for them. With the renovation of the campus facilities, they felt very grateful, too. Besides, they loved the promotion of Character Building in this school, e.g. the “Firefly” scheme, the “7 Houses” and the “Buddy System”. They agreed that the initiation of these programmes could help reinforce their connectedness with people and further enhance their wellbeing.