Linking the school, family and society in enhancing moral education program for high school students in ha noi

37 Designed Moral Education Program for High School Students in Hanoi to Link the School, Families and Society for Moral Education ………... xii Title of Research : LINKING THE SCHOOL, FAMI

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STUDENTS IN HANOI

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A DISSERTATION Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School Southern Luzon State University, Lucban, Quezon, Philippines

in Collaboration with Thai Nguyen University, Socialist Republic of Vietnam

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The researcher wishes to convey her gratitude to the following persons who wholeheartedly devoted and helped make this piece of work a reality:

DR TERESITA V DE LA CRUZ, her adviser for the guidance, supervision,

suggestions and precious time in enthusiastically reading and checking the manuscript, providing the researcher useful materials;

DR CECILIA N GASCON, president of the Southern Luzon State University

in the Philippines, for her incomparable contribution and support to the development of the Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Management program in Thai Nguyen University;

DR NGUYEN VAN BINH, director of the International Training Center, Thai

Nguyen University of Socialist Republic of Vietnam, for his enormous pursuit to provide Vietnamese people an opportunity to grow through education;

DR SUSANA A SALVACION, DR.RICARYL CATHERINE P CRUZ, DR

APOLONIA A ESPINOSA, and DR BELLA R MUELLO, panelists,

for constructive criticism and valuable comments and suggestions to improve the study;

DR PHAN VAN QUE, her former professor and mentor, for the dedicationin

guidingthe researcher throughout the research process;

TEACHERS, STUDENTS, and PARENTS in Hanoi high schools for support

and assistance in providing documents and data for this study;and

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and to all who have contributed to make this study a success

HHT

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The researcher humbly dedicates this piece of work toher colleagues and fellow instructors, her students, her family and relatives, her friends, and those who believed and hoped that she can make it

HHT

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PAGE

TITLE PAGE ……… i

APPROVAL SHEET ……… ii

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY ……… iii

ACKNOWLEDGMENT ……… iv

DEDICATION ……… vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS ……… vii

LIST OF TABLES ……… ix

LIST OF FIGURES……… x

LIST OF APPENDICES ……… xi

ABSTRACT ……… xii

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ……… 1

Background of the Study ……….………… 2

Objectives of the Study ……….…… 5

Significance of the Study ……… 6

Scope and Limitation of the Study ……….… 7

Definition of Terms ……… 8

II REVIEW OF LITERATURE ……….……… 11

Conceptual Framework ……… ….……… …… 27

Research Paradigm ……… ….……… 29

III METHODOLOGY ……… 31

Locale of the Study ……….……… 31

Research Design ……….……… 31

Population and Sampling ……….… ………… 31

Instrumentation……… ………… …….… 32

Data Gathering Procedure ……… 32

Statistical Treatment …….……… 33

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Status of the Moral Education in High Schools of Hanoi 37

Designed Moral Education Program for High School Students in Hanoi to Link the School, Families and Society for Moral Education ……… 47

Acceptability of the Proposed Moral Education Program 62 V SUMMARY, FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Summary ……… ……… 66

Findings……….……… ……….… 66

Conclusions ……….… 67

Recommendations ……… …… 68

REFERENCES ……… 69

APPENDICES ……… 72

CURRICULUM VITAE ……… 82

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1 Ethical Ranking of Students in Ten (10) High Schools for the

Academic Year 2009-2012 ……… 36 2.1 Frequency and Mean Distribution of the Status of Moral

Educationamong High Schools in Hanoi as to Principles and

2.2 Frequency and Mean Distribution of the Status of Moral

Education among High Schools in Hanoi as to Curriculum

2.3 Frequency and Mean Distribution of the Status of Moral

Education among High Schools in Hanoi as to Actual

2.4 Frequency and Mean Distribution the Status of Moral

Education among High Schools in Hanoi in terms of

Learning Materials and Extracurricular Activities……… 43 2.5 Frequency and Mean Distribution of the Status of Moral

Education among High Schools in Hanoi as to Linkages … 45 3.1 Acceptability of the Proposed Moral Education Program as

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1 Modified Input-Process-Output (IPO) Model on Enhancing

the Linkage of School, Family and Society in the

Implementation of the Moral Education ……… 29

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Title of Research : LINKING THE SCHOOL, FAMILY AND SOCIETY

IN ENHANCING MORAL EDUCATION PROGRAM FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN HANOI

Researcher : HOANG HONG TRANG (Moonlight)

Degree Conferred : DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN EDUCATIONAL

MANAGEMENT Name and Address

of Institution

: Southern Luzon State University Lucban, Quezon, Philippines and Thai Nguyen University, Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Adviser : Dr Teresita V de la Cruz

Year Written : 2014

The purpose of this study is to link the school, community and society

in enhancing the implementation of moral education program Specifically, this sought answers to the status of moral education in 10 selected high schools in Hanoi, Vietnam in terms of principles and direction, curriculum framework, actual implementation, learning materials and extracurricular activities, and linkages This study used the descriptive method of research which utilized self-constructed questionnaires for data gathering An acceptability test was constructed for the proposed moral education program The results of the survey were treated using the weighted mean Thus, it was found out that the

respondents give agree response to the status of moral education in terms of

the principles and directions (2.83), actual implementation (3.14), curriculum framework (2.63), learning materials and extracurricular activities (3.01), and linkages (2.95) An average weighted mean of 2.91 as a result of the experts’ evaluation reveals that the proposed moral education program is acceptable Based on the said findings, it was concluded that the respondents revealed

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for further enhancement and supervision Respondents disagreed that current moral education program implemented in schools is successful The proposed moral education program is ready for the pilot implementation The designed moral education program is commendable as evaluated by experts Hence, it

is recommended that teachers may create supportive teaching environment with low stress and high support for students, moral education program may

be used by the ten (10) school respondents, and educators and curriculum programmers may include the enhancement of moral education program for the students

Chapter I

INTRODUCTION

Morality is a reflection of one’s personality as it is one of the aspects of human personality that is hard to deal with and be moldedsince it involves the affective phase of the human personality In most cases, morality is acquired through the influences of other’s culture, economic status, and educational standards among others.According to Thang (2001), morality is customarily developed with critical observation from the adults In this case, teachers of the society are the responsible individuals when it comes to the development

of a child’s personality It is a huge challenge for every teacher in Vietnam

Morality is an important aspect, the core element of personality of any human being Therefore, the formation of personality in general educational and moral training in particular for the younger generation has always been the priority task of the school all the time

The twenty first century is the time of integration of knowledge and the development of science and technology Nowadays, high school students are often morally affected by technological integration In this case, school needs

to collaborate closely with families and society to minimize negative impacts

of technology integration in the morality of the students

The advance progress of the scientific and technological revolution in the twenty first century changed the physical living condition as well as the social standard system, especially human values Today’s Vietnamese youth inherits many advantages in this new era such as intelligence, eagerness to learn and enterprising spirits However, economic growth, globalization, and technological development in Vietnam resulted in the success of the country

in this field On the other hand,moral degradation appears among students They also adopted hazy ideals, impractical lifestyles, as well as lack ambitions

to settle for the future of themselves and their country

Hence, moral education for students becomes extremely an important mission, especially in the country which is in industrializing and modernizing period However, institution like family and community did not performtheir vital roles in education They are not coordinatingclosely with the school in

educating the youth, especially in political morals to prevent social evils (The theoretical issues of science education, 2011) This problem is only confined

within the school that Education is the process of profound social essence, which can be seen in different aspects with paricipation of many social forces

If Education and Training is only carried out within the campus, certainly it will not bring in the general strength and thus leading to low quality result

Background of the Study

The wide spread of the technology integration, the improvement of country’s economic status, and building of good relationship with neighbouring country brings some changes in the morality or attitudes of the people of Vietnam

The researcher observed some attitudes among high school students

in Hanoi, Vietnam – which is the locale of this study – which are not naturally Vietnamese The learning process involves three domains suchas cognitive, psychomotor, and affective It is a fact that the last domain mentioned is hard

to measure and include in the teaching process Castaldi (2001) stated that the good relationship among school, family and community will bring a fully developed individual to be used by the society

On the other hand, good communication and relationship among these units in some cases is hard to achieve Students’ achievement in school can only be determined through assessment The researcher observed that some students do not attain a satisfactory result on some of teachers’ assessment One factor that caused these result is students’ attitude toward their studies Years past and the students’ good study habits were altered by the modern technology This is not given much focus by the Vietnamese family or even by the community that resulted to the declined educational status and morality of the students

Moreover, a school, family, and community linkage is assumed to be one of the foremost correlates to the implementation of moral education in high school in Hanoi, Vietnam Morality is more important than the knowledge that can be easily acquired.Today’s Vietnamese youth inheritadvantages in the new era likeintelligence, eagerness tolearn and enterprising spirits However, the economic growth, globalization, and technological development

in Vietnam resulted in the success of the country in these fields

Highschool being the final level of general educational system has a great mission in implementing educational objectives Objectives of education and training Vietnamese people are to have the comprehensive development with morals, knowledge, health, aesthetics and professional career, the loyalty with the ideal of national independence and socialism, forming and nuturing the citizens’ virtues and abilities to meet the requirements of building and

protecting the country (Education Law, 2011)

At this level, the target of general educational system is to train youth from ages 16 to 18 to acquire full knowledge, ethics and necessary abilities

for living However, massive development in scale and number of high school students in recent years is not proportional to the quality of culture and ethics There are manifestations of moral degradation of the high school students This is an issue being addressed by the Education – Training sector and the whole society

In this case, schools are in need to improve and strengthen morality of high school students in Hanoi, Vietnam It is the community that will greatly help the school to enhance the morality of these individuals as well as with the family of these students However, one thing should be done and that is to enhance the linkages of these factors to developed students’ morality Proper linkages between these units of our society will lead to the development of a better individual Several studies and experts mentioned that proper linkages among school, family and community will bring good development of students’ morality and attitude Good relationship among these three will also bring competent individual who is prepared in all field or discipline

In recent year much attention has been paid to the improvement of the moral education program in all levels of the education system The schools in general have gained a lot of achievements in the field of moral education However, there exist quite a number of problems related to the content of the program, teaching methodology, assessment, training of the subject teachers, especially the linkage between the schools with the family and society The role of the family and society to some extent has not been clearly clarified, therefore many families and social organizations, even governments offices are not fully aware of their roles and responsibilities in the implementation of moral education for children In the opinion of manyscholars and educators, if

the linkage between school with the family and society is properly established and if the content of textbook is well combined with the out-school activities, all these will result in better quality for moral education for students

From this premise, it was decided upon by the researcher to conduct a study on enhancing the linkage of the school, family and society to the very implementation of moral education for high school students in Hanoi

Objectives of the Study

This study aimed at enhancing the linkage of school, family and society

in the implementation of moral education for high school students in Hanoi, Vietnam for the school year 2012-2013

Specifically, it sought to achieve the following objectives:

1 Find out the ethical ranking of students in the 10 respondent-schools for the following years;

1.1 2009-2010

1.2 2010-2011

1.3 2011-2012

2 Determine the status of the moral education program in terms of:

2.1principles and directions,

2.2curriculum framework,

2.3actual implementation,

2.4 learning materials and extra-curricular activities, and

2.5linkages

3 Design a moral education program

4 Evaluate the acceptability of the moral education program in terms of: 4.1 Objectives,

4.2 Contents, and

4.3 Strategies

Significance of the Study

This study would be of great benefits to the students, families, school

administrators, and future researchers

Students This study will be beneficial primarily to the students

sinceunderstanding the nature of moralityand ethical standards of the Vietnamese people in the modern society will give them complete understanding of needs to train themselves with ethical standards This study will help the students in building habits of practicing ethical behavior in the social activity This study will also bring among the studentsself-awareness of implementing the ethical behaviors,and obeying the convention of the law and the culture

Family This research will also be beneficial to the family There is/are

only one or two children in almost several Vietnamese families This makes a favourable condition for the success of family education This study will give a better understanding for every Vietnamese family that they have a big part in developing their children’s morality

School Administrators The results of this research will also be useful

for the high schools in Hanoi in fostering ethics for students This study will give solutions to organize the coordination of the school, the familiesand the society to create a close and effective communication in moral education for the students With good coordination of social forces, the school will have the capability to promote higher education This study will also help them engage themselves in activitiesof schools to develop the youth’s morality.This study

will likewise bring better understanding of their rolesand in developing their ethical practices

Future researchers.Other researchers might find the results of this

study beneficial for them to delve with other dynamics of the variables under study This study could also be their frame of references for parallel and follow

up studies to be made

Scope and Limitations

This researchaimed at determininglinkof school, family and society in enhancing the implementation of moral education of high schools in Hanoi, Vietnam There were ten high schools in Hanoi, Vietnam used in the study namely: Chu Van An High School, ThangLongHigh School, TranNhanTongHigh School, VietDucHigh School, NguyenTraiHigh School, MarieCurieHigh School, Mai Hac De High School, TranPhuHigh School, DinhTienHoangHigh School, Dong Da High School A total 600 respondents including the educational managers, educators, teachers, students, officials working in the government’s office and in social organizations, parents and relatives of students were subjected in the study

Since morality is relative, i.e what is moral to one society is not moral

to another, the context of morality in this study was limited to the Vietnamese culture.Carrying out the study, data with the reference to general information

on the culture of Hanoi City and the reality of moral education for students in high school and in the family were collected and analyzed The information from school, together with the information from outside school have enabled the researcher to have a better picture of the reality of the moral education for

students in Hanoi and to suggest proper extracurricular program of activities for them

The instrument used for data collection was the survey questionnaire to determine the status of the moral education of secondary schools in Hanoi, Vietnam The questionnaire was divided into five variables namely,principles and directions, curriculum framework, actual implementation, assessment and teaching resources and linkage The researcher also conducted interview to collect information about the moral education from the experts

The time frame of this study is from March 2012 to March 2014

Definitions of Terms

The following terms are defined conceptually and operationally for clearunderstanding of the readers:

Assessment and teaching resourcesis defined as the instruments used to

measure learning outcomes in the implementation of moral education program (Nguyen Quoc Chi & Nguyen Thi My Loc, 2001) In this study,

it is employed as one of the variables to assess the status of the moral education in Vietnam

Curriculum frameworkis used as one of the variables to measure the status

of moral education in Vietnam which includes thecompetencies and skills that the student must take (Nguyen HuuChau, 2007)

Enhancing means strengthening or making better of something which is in

the status quo (Tuan, 2011), which in the context of the study is applied

to the moral education program

Extracurricular Activitiesare the program of activities outside the classroom

instruction and curricular plans (KHGD Institute, 2005) In this study, these are some of the undertakings to actualize the moral education

Family is the cell of society, a group of people who live together as smallest

unit of society, they are bound together by the ties of marriage, blood, and often includes spouses, parents and children(Ba Lam,2005) In this study, it is one of the linkages to moral education in Vietnam

Moralrefers to the object of the study which refers to a special form of social

consciousness, expressed in terms of principles, rules and standards

to regulate the human behaviors in relationships between human and nature, between human to human(QuocBao2007)

Moral educationis a process of turning the system of moral standards, from

external demands of social for individuals, to the internal demands of the individuals, forming beliefs, needs and habits of educational object(QuocBao, 2007) It is one of the main variables in the present study

Implementationis used as one of the variables used to assess the status of

moral education program which includes the planning and strategies used to apply the principles and philosophy of the moral education (Mai HuuKhue, 2007)

Learning materialsare the tools to guide the teaching and learning process

(Gharajedaghi, 2005), and is operationally defined as the resources to support the moral education program

Linkage is the connection and the cooperation between people/ organization/

countries in order to implement and achieve something(Thang, 2002)

Organizationis the structure linking the individuals in a system in order to to

achieve the system’s objectives based on certain principles and rules (Giang, 2001)

Principles and directionsrefers to one of the variables used as the criteria in

assessing the implementation of the moral education and pertaining to underlying tenets and theoretical underpinnings of moral education (Le Van Giang, 2001)

Schoolis the particular social organization with strict organizational structure,

specializes in educating, training the children toward the direction of society(HuuChau, 2007) In this study, it is also a linkage to the moral education in Vietnam

Social forcesare the domestic administrations, socio-political organizations,

economic organizations, mass organizations, functional organizations (Brockmann, 2007) These are likewise linkage to the moral education

in Vietnam

Chapter II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

This chapter presents the theoretical bases of the documents related to important issues which are significant to this study This also includes studies considered to strengthen the concepts Moreover, this chapter provides the conceptual framework that leads to the formulation of the hypothesis

Moral Education

Moral is a special form of social consciousness, manifested in the form

of principles, rules and standards to regulate the behaviour of people in the relationships between human and the nature and the society, human and human and with themselves.So moral is a social phenomenon that reflects the real relationship of human life In life, person must be aware of the meaning and the purpose of their activities in the past, present and the future These activities are governed by personal relationship between individual and society These are the standard tocompletely to have self-control in actions of each individual

in society (Thao, 2004)

Moral concepts, as Chuong (2004) underscored, can be understood as a form of consciousness that is always affected by the history, the classes, and the ethnicity, associated with the evolution of human race and the ethnicity Moral is not only subjected to the provisions of the economic and the physical conditions, but also be affected by social interaction, the interplayed of other social consciousness as law, culture, education, and customs

On the other hand, Thang (2001) stated that the basic categories of the morals exist and develop in the following opposite forms: 1) good and bad, 2)

conscientious and dishonest, 3) responsible and remiss, 4) loyal anddisloyal, 5) disrespectful, glorious and disgraceful, happy and unfortunate He added that the basic moral contents are affection for the people and country, passion and positive workingattitude, sense of collectiveness, community, solidarity, discipline, humanism, international consciousness in new era, and civilized lifestyle He also expressed that an individual should possess the following positive behaviours: righteousness and honesty, principle and steadfastness, modesty and politeness, generosity and delicateness, thrift and simplicity, bravery and heroic quality

Education is a social phenomenon – a process with purposeful impact, organized by plan, actively affecting humans that leads to the formation and development of personality, human’s ideals, ethics and behavior (Chi &Loc, 2003) Moral education is the process of changing the standard ethic system, from the external social demands on individuals, into the internal social demands

on individual, build up the belief, need, and the habit of educational subjects According to Pham Viet Vuong(2007), moral education is the process that has impact on students to form their ideas, emotion and moral belief and the ultimate goal is to create the habit of ethical behavior

Moral education aimed to form the basic moral principles of the society,

so that people have the ability to select and evaluate their own behavior The process of moral education includes the impact of the many factors, objective, outside and inside It is understandable that all the relationships in the school and the society in which students participate have the educational impact on students These effects can be unified to strengthen and support the impact results Thus moral education is only effective when educators have the ability

to organize and make the efficient educational measures in order to achieve

the educational goals(State Administration and Management of Education and Training sector, 2008)

According to Thang (2001), educating the humanistic moral value is a process of organizing educational activities in many ways This value system orients and regulates the behavior of people because education with positive activities will help people understand the role of the sense of conscience, individual honor, personal ethics in public and train themselves towards the true value of the standard moral system from the external into the internal demands such as individual belief, need, and habit of the educated person

Moral education for high school students is a task of the whole society

to develop and implement, but education in schools has the oriented role It is the process that has a purpose and the plan to help each student's personality

to develop in the positive way, and to have right behavior in the relationship between individual and society Today, moral education for students is the socialist moral education, ethics of collectivism and humanism having the authentic property that is different with selfishness and individuals It is to educate the loyalty to the Party, the hospitality with the people, the affection for the country, to have altruism, kindness, diligence, integrity and honesty Besides, the moral education ties to the political ideological education, the traditional education of father generation, national cultural identity education, the socialist government’s law education Moral education for students must adhere to those principles which aims ensure the consistency, the practicality

in the process of teaching and learning, to ensure the studied and recognized standards (Pham Viet drink, 2005)

Moral education, as stated by Jackson (2001), is the formation and the development of consciousness, feeling, belief, ethical behavior and habit for the students Moral education in school as a part of the overall educational process has a dialectical relationship with other departments to help students

to form and develop their personality comprehensively The process of moral education and the other educational processes is the component relating to each other in certain structure The basic elements of education are educated people, the purpose of education, educational contents, methods and means

of education, and the educational outcomes

Educators are the decisive factor and can participate in designing the process of moral education for high school students and must perform the following tasks: manage the students into the system of real social activities and relationships, select and orient the positive effects, prevent the negative effects in the process of acquiring the moral values of the students, organize exchange activities for students to transform the social requirements into the moral qualities of the students (Tran KhanhDuc, 2001)

The researcher believes that the issue of moral educationfor studenthas to follow rules and standards This is to ensure that the students

or the youth of today possess positive traits and attitudes towards the society Above all, the success of moral education depends on the persons involved in its implementation These persons must serve as the role model to be imitated by the students Teachers, specifically, should bear themselves with ethical manners since they are the direct implementers of educational objectives

According to Education Law (2005), amended in 2009, the objectives

of high school education is to help students develop a comprehensive moral, intellectual, physical, aesthetic quality, and basic skills to form a Vietnamese socialist person, shaping the civic status and responsibility, preparing for the students’ further education or working life, participating in the developing and protecting mission of the country In addition to this statement, high school education helps students consolidate and improve the results of secondary education, completing secondary education and the common understanding

of technology and career to continue further education in university, college, vocational school or to start working

Further, the objectives of moral education is to help individuals realize the true moral values, to understand how to behave by justice and humanity,

to live for people, for families, for the advancement of the society and the prosperity of the country The most important purpose of moral education is to create the habit of ethical behavior The above objectives has been affirmed

in the education law which helpsthe students develop comprehensively the morals, intellectual, aesthetics and basic skills aimed at the formation of the Vietnamese people (Education Law, 2005)

Fraenkel (n.d.) mentioned that values are not things but are standards

of conduct, beauty, efficiency or worth that a person endorses and that he tries to live up to or maintain They do not exist in or of themselves but are reflected in certain value judgments or claims that individuals make When a person claims that a certain idea, individual, object, act, policy, or a way of behaving is good, right, ought to be supported, or should be carried out, such standards are often revealed in the reasons he gives for his claim

In the paper by Senah (2006), he identified the four broad principles of moral and values education The first principle is that the morals and values education is first and foremost a way of introducing philosophical, in particular, ethical issues into school curriculum This means that essentially, the great questions of philosophy – its methods, and products - should influence school lives The nature of concepts and ideas, philosophical disputations, meaning and purpose; “What are we living for?” should be part and parcel of matters concerning Morals and Values Education In this respect, critical thinking as

an essential learning outcome must assume that the elements of logic and disputation are taught at schools

The second principle goes further to assert that values education for purposes of influencing character formation, sees every point of interaction within theschool, and indeed, the school itself as a possible pathway for the promotion ofthe morals and values education In this regard, no pathway is superior to anotherand each is capable of being developed to carry effective messages concerningethics, morality and positive values

The third principle is based upon the recognition that there are forces within the national and international community with specialised capacity, developed over many years, to confront many of the problems of the times The existence of the organisations and their viable social action programmes which target the specific social ills should be configured into the education as additional teaching and resource capacity One of the implications of this viewpoint is that the idea of the school teachers goes beyond the traditional prescriptions to include all of those who promote bodies of knowledge that specifically target school children and youth

The fourth principle is that discussion is an indispensable tool in the search for meaning It is the medium through which arguments are presented, assessed, and defended or rejected on the basis of their merit A discussion promotes the search for knowledge and a keenness to evaluate the worth of claims against standards of the public acceptability and logical thinking This, more than anything else, creates the basis of the nation which has learnt to talk to its many parts It is a belief that a nation which has developed capacity

to talk to its many parts hardly ever needs to fight the civil war to iron out intractable issues Here, as aphorism goes, words die so that men may live

Moral education involves the aimed to develop emotional attitude This objective includes having the right attitude of moral sentiments, healthy social relationships, having a deep love and gratitude for their father's generation who sacrificed for the country’s freedom,have a clear attitude towards social political morality It also includes the aims to develop skills and behaviors that include positive study and practice in work, group activities, social activities, having the habits of regular exercising the ethical behavior, being aware of performing ethical behavior, having healthy and pure lifestyle, actively fight against with the symptoms of a depraveing and debauching lifestyle, having academic training, participating in social activities frequently and positively to prepare for the future career

Moral education in schools is a very important part of the pedagogical process Moral education in general, include the following objectives: educate the awareness of the purposes of life, of individual lifestyle, the relationships within the family, a collective and the social, and of the creative working life, the obligation of working and protecting the country.All human societies have

developed systems of providing guidance in our dealing with moral and ethical issues The systems generally fall into two categories: idealism and relativism These also have many sub-categories In most societies, actual mechanism for making sure that individuals choose one or the other of these resides with the chiefs, leaders, priests, deities, diviners, etc who act as the moral guides However, problems are as much for individuals to decide as it is for societies

and communities because there are always consequences(Core Curriculum Guide for Strengthening the Values Education inthe Educational Institutionsin Trinidad and Tobago, 2006)

According to Pham Minh Hac (2007), ethical standards of Vietnamese people in era of industrialization and modernization can be specifiedrelatively into five types reflecting the main relationships that people have to deal with type of ethical standards express the awareness of political ideology: havethe socialist ideal, affection for the country, self-reliance, national pride and believe in the Communist Party and the Government, typeof moral standards express toward improving themselves, such as: self-esteem, self-confidence, self-reliance, simplicity, thrift, loyalty, diligence, inclining to the good, beingaware of restraint and regretfullness, type of ethical standards express inthe relationships with other people and the other ethnic groups: Benevolence and righteousness, piety, tolerance, altruism, cooperation, equality, polite, respect others, loyalty, prestige, type of standards related to creating lifeenvironment such as: Building happy family, preserve natural environment and resources, constructing society with justice, democracy, equality, etc On the other hand, consciously resist against behavior that cause harm to people, to the living environment, protect peace, promote and

preservethe traditional and cultural heritages of the the nation and the humanity However, in both theory and in practice, these are not entirely separate, procedurally or conceptually

Curriculum design is a specialised aspect of curriculum development dealing with preparation of curriculum plans and materials for use potentially

by any students or teachers of the given description Decker Walker (1979) identifies two other areas of curriculum development as firstly; curriculum policymaking, the establishment of limits, criteria, guidelines and the like with which curricula must comply, without developing actual plans and materials for use by students and teachers The other aspect is site-specific curriculum development, the many measures taken in a school or district to bring about curriculum change there Implicit in all aspects of curriculum development are also technology and the curriculum, curriculum evaluation, adaptation and supervision

As observed by Senah (2006), many of morals and values education curricula have tended to change by accretion with the units of the curriculum centred on specific values or principles In a situation where there is obviously

an overloading of curriculum in schools, teachers find themselves constantly trying to keep up with new knowledge or their interpretation of old ones, and even more difficult situation of trying to find connections between seemingly separate and specialised bits and pieces of knowledge

As amplified in Core Curriculum Guide for Strengthening Morals and Values Education in Educational Institutions in Trinidad and Tobago (2006),

the constant articulation and debate are the main channels through which we can find some solutions to the moral and ethical problems To teach children

about moral and ethical issues is really another way of saying that we teach them the “give and take” of a debate or conversation Incidentally, it is the philosophical truth that “good” cannot be defined The social and political implication of this truth is that it is ethical and moral for human beings to constantly pursue the ends of truth, justice, freedom and respect for persons

as ultimate moral principles This is just another way of expressing the hope that inclusive ways of policy and decision making are the safest route to a kinder and gentler society The human condition may never allow us to define

“good” with any finitude; but we can always provide guidelines and safeguards

in terms of how we collectively express the “good” to suit the interests of all sections of society

Additionally, the schools are strategically placed to make a significant contribution to this process and by so doing play their appropriate role as exemplars of values and moral action For this to be possible, schools must act out of a fundamental understanding of the multiplicity of factors which influence the development of children and youth They must focus on working with all social action groups with viable programmes which cater to children and youth and this should include parents and community groups School rules andregulations, teaching and other staff relationships must be infused withdemocratic principles and the quality of the physical environment must be shapeddeliberately to continually and consistently provide opportunities that support andreinforce the adoption of positive values within the school, the family and thenation (Phan Ngoc Lien, 2006)

The content of moral education is to establish ethical behaviour and habits in accordance with social principles create strong moral consciousness

for students Detail contents of moral education for students in high school are training targets and plans in Decision 1392 by the Minister of Education are stated as follows: to be educated to have a world outlook, to be ideological, political, legal, ethical, and behave politely This means that knowledge must help students to understand the scientific picture of the world and the natural development law of human society, to implement the urgent problems that the mankind is together dealing with, to properly understand the basic ideas and social values, understand Communist Party's national renewal, to understand the basic content of the national constitution and the laws, and the citizen’s rights and obligations, to understand the country's history and national cultural identity, to understand the ideals, principles, moral and humane qualities as well as humanity and nation's progress

The content of the moral education for high school students not only requires students to master the knowledge of moral education but also to be skillfull in practice, to have the right and positive attitude when receiving and implementing the acquired knowledge.High school students (16-18 years old) are in the stage of high physical, psychological, physiological development in the transition from children to adults This is the period when children actively join in social life, forming their civil personality.Characteristics of personality of high school students is self-consciousness associated with awareness and assessment of psychological qualities They assess themselves not in the present but towards the future The specific trait of the moral qualities is the strengthening in moral beliefs and consciousness in behaviour Academic life and social work life in healthy community have high demandingand positively impact with its members and that is to improve consciousness and behaviour

of those students Also at this age, high school students have a strong need for friendship and love Besides, they are building their views and deciding perspective ato nd starts plan for their own life by themselves

In the era of science, techonology and information, younger generation also profound changes There are many features same with traditional moral values of society Some of salient features of this era were described as the age of dreams and ambitions but most of them pay attention to real needs and differentiation in many directions Majority of students have strong determination

to study, to master scientific knowledge,and to advance to future career Most of students are eager to work to develop their own talents and skills to integrate into the community (Tran KhanhDuc, 2001)

Another description of these salient features of students nowadays is that, students at this age are physically, intellectuallyabundant, sensitive, and full of creativity They have a high sense of self-reliance, live independently, and expect meaningful about work They have scientific skepticism,the desire

to find the “Truth”, the “Good” and the “Beauty”, want to show the role of an adult and actively participate in social activities, especially: in the discipline of

“Literature”, “Sport” and “Art” activities, have good ability in exchanging, liberal and generous, enthusiastic and eager to experience the hard work, difficulties and challenges in life

The third description stated that this is the age when emotion strongly develops They appear to have great love for nation and humanity.They show their kindness, live with gratitude, respect,and sense of doing good things The friendship is strongly developed, love between boys and girls begins to flourish There are several negative expressions due to the diversed and complex effects of social life to the ongoing formation of personality Not a

small number of students often feel complex with older generation, vaguely indifferent to the past, pragmatic oriented, imitate new things, follow medicore tatse, easily attracted to social evils and anti-social values

Generally, characteristics of this age are rich in physical strength, spirit and complex in personality and behavior It also is the time when awareness and understanding of moral qualities is deeper than before (Jackson, 2001)

Moral education plays very significant roles or task in the development

of human personality These roles are expressed in the following descriptions: moral education makes the students deeply understand Marxism-Leninism, the revolutionary ideology and morality of President Ho Chi Minh, objective axiom, human values, humanity of the worldview and its ideology See it as guide for their thoughts and actions; imbue with the policies and guidelines of Communist Party, live and work under the laws, live disciplinary and culturally inside school as well as in communities and public; profounder awareness of principles, standards and values of morality, turn moral values to emotional awareness, will, behavior, habits, personal ethics, show them in lifestyle, in relationship between human and human, human and nature

Ideological and moral education is a key component of the educational process It serves as students’ personality training Moral is regarded as the foundation of personalities Therefore, any school must focus on both talent and morality Literacy teaching must be associated with moral teachings and vocational training, etc to train students to be comprehensive developed.Ho (n.d) said that “teaching and learning must focus on both talent and morality”

It is a very important root If there is no revolutionary morals, talent is useless

School, Family and Society Linkages

Linkage is understood as a collaboration among people, organization,

or countries in order to implement and achieve certain tasks In this study, it refers to collaboration and also the connection, the exchange of information and procedures between the school with family and society in moral education for high school students The linkage is manifested and realized in different ways, but in this study, only the most common way of linkage was dealt with and that is working together among school, family and society to foster new generation Linkage of the school with family and society in moral education for students hasa great impact on the students’ personality development

To achieve the goals of moral education, Thang (2001) stated the roles

of these three factors in the implementation of moral education One factor is the school This is a social organization with a strict organizational structure, specializes in educating, training children toward the direction of society The next unit is the family which is consideredas the cell of society It is a group of people who live together as a smallest unit of society, they are bound together

by the ties of marriage often includes spouses, parents and children.Happy family is based on the fundamental principle of loving and helping each other

in houseworks and social works and being responsible in the family

The last unit is the society which includes the social forces, domestic administrations, socio-political organizations, economic organizations, mass organizations and functional organizations.In the education forces, the school has the key role in moral education because of the following reasons:school carries out the personality education goals; the school has the educational contents and methods which are selected and organized closely; the school has professionally educational theory; and educational environment in the

school is pedagogical in nature which has positive impact in moral educational process for students

Senah (2006) identified the different teaching strategies that must be used in teaching moral education He stated these strategies as follows: the use of the cooperative learning, field research, drama, skits, among others will reinforce conviviality and positive social values e.g cooperation, peer tutoring/support exchange of ideas, conflict resolution, creation of knowledge, debate, conviviality, negotiation, and the likes; the deliberate socialisation to the extent possible, of even the most abstract of subjects and; group activities will serve to humanise abstract subjects It involves values such as listening, showing respect, helpfulness, sharing, and kindness, among others

The community groups that aim to help maintain an environment that facilitates the development of positive values in children are a crucial aid to any values education programme The truism that parents alone cannot bring

up a child is at the basis of importance of community groups Their activities ultimately complement that of the school in ensuring that a child is presented with values that lead to a future that ensures good citizenship In particular, community groups should endeavour to: support parents in satisfying basic needs of children; create a community atmosphere that is convivial; support parents in supervising children; provide extra learning/teaching resources to children; take steps to ensure physical and mental wellness of the community; source extra help for parents when children are at risk; maintain community structures that promote peace; provide guidance and counselling whenever

needed (TheCore Curriculum Guide for Strengthening the Morals and Values Education in Educational Institutions in Trinidad and Tobago, 2006)

It is further stated that if there is a good connection and coordination with family and social forces, there will be silmutaneous impacts that creates high efficiencies to moral educational process for the students Coordination between school, family and society creates the relationship with consistency and that has the focus to mobilize the combined strength of the school, the family and society for moral education of students

As viewed by the researcher, enhancing the linkage of the school with the family and society for the sake of moral education of the students is an expression of interaction in a dialectical way On one hand, the school needs

to support parents in educating their children and help them understand the contents and methods of moral education within family On the other hand, the family especially the parents must actively responsible to coordinates with school in organizing educational activities for children, understand obligations, avoid the idea of entrusting everything to the school or proposing educational requirements against the educational goals and tasks set by the school

From the “Excerpt of Uncle Ho’s conversation in the Conference of the Communist Party in Education sector, 1957”, he emphasized: a) Organizing relationships between school and social forces to create a proper educational environment throughout the whole society is a great mission that every people

of Vietnam must accomplish Coordination between family and social forces in

a way that promotes family-oriented effects, encourage children to participate

in social activities because society is a very good educational environment for children Besides, family also helps children be aware and avoid social evils

On the other hand, the social forces are extremely crowded that create the big environment with strong impact on the children’s daily life in a spontaneous or

voluntary self-conscious way.Enhancing the linkage of the school, family and societycreates combined effects to promote rich potential for students and for the whole society It enables the active participation of family and social forces

in educational process of personality formation and development of students

With the said review of literature and studies, the researcher viewed that enhancing the linkage between the school with the family and society is

an important principle to create the unified implementation of the educational objectives and moral standards of students.Current practices show that the linkage between the school and family and society overcome the difficulties of schools, or support for the activities of teachers and students In the process

of implementing the educational objectives and contents, a linkageamong the school, family and society is also set out but it needs to be regular, continuous and stemed from comprehensive educational objectives and contents

Conceptual Framework

To achieve the objectives of moral education for students, the linkageamong school, family and society has a very special meaning The reason is that, it is the environment directly influencing the personality formation and the training of students Under the combined impacts of the environment, the role of educators is very important Therefore, educators must have visions, plans and strategies to understand the intended mobilized objects to achieve the educational roles.Enhancement generally means strengthening, improving or making something better In this study, enhancing means the strengthening the linkage and the cooperation among school, family and society in the moral education for high school students In reality,