HKIER

Abstract

This article is concerned with a research undertaken in a middle school on the Chinese mainland and the implications of its findings. The research involved the introduction of an experiential pedagogy usually described as circle time. The article describes the contribution of circle time to affective education and its pedagogical nature. The historical and broader cultural context in which the research was undertaken and the significance of these are discussed. Aspects of the research and its findings are then presented. Though the impact of the intervention (i.e., circle time) on students’ self-esteem was limited, it appeared to have some positive effects on their academic achievement. Data was collected using a range of methods. Both the students involved in the circle time and the teachers showing an interest responded positively. There were at least three important implications from the research: (a) an experiential approach developed in a Western context could be effectively transposed to an Eastern one; (b) based on the positive response from the students, it could have potential value for other students on the Chinese mainland; (c) young people have an affective need to which education in China is currently failing to respond. Finally, the limitations of the research are highlighted and the directions for future research are suggested.

Keywords: affective education; circle time; pedagogy; sushi jiaoyu (quality education); personal and social development

摘要

本文介紹了在中國內地一所中學所進行的一次實驗性教育研究及研究結果的啟示。研究嘗試把「圍圈活動時間」（circle time）這一西方教學方法融入亞洲的學校教育當中。本文敘述了圍圈活動時間對情感教育的貢獻及其教學法本質，並從歷史和文化角度探討了研究的背景及其重要性。接着，文章描述了研究的各個層面及其結果。據研究結果所示，雖然圍圈活動時間對增加學生自尊心的效果不大，但卻能提高實驗組學生的學科成績。研究以多種方法收集數據，結果顯示，參與實驗的學生及對圍圈活動時間有興趣的老師都有十分正面的反應。研究結果至少有三個重要啟示：（1）西方的經驗學習法可以有效轉移到亞洲的教育實踐當中；（2）從實驗學生的積極回響，可見此教學法對中國內地的其他學生都有潛在價值；（3）當前的中國教育實踐未能回應年青人情感教育的需求。最後，本文分析了研究的局限，並建議未來的研究方向。

關鍵詞：情感教育；圍圈活動時間；教學法；素質教育；個人及群性發展