Connotation and Realization Path of Labour Education in Universities - Based on the Perspective of Chinese Universities

Labour education has been weakened and alienated in higher education. Repositioning labour education is an important part of the deepening reform of colleges and universities as well as the focus of improving the higher education system. Practicing labour education can enhance college students’ labour awareness, improve labour skills and enable college students to obtain a rational understanding of ‘knowledge’ from the practice of ‘action’. This is an important way to realize holistic education. This article puts forward the connotation of ‘labour’ under the background of the new era and updates the traditional cognition of ‘labour’. It proposes effective ways for colleges and universities to realize labour education according to the background of the era and the labour demand of employers; so as to break the shortcomings of labour education in colleges and universities as well as improve the quality of whole-person education to better meet the needs of the job market.

How Do We Inhabit Openness?: Rethinking Volunteerism in the Context of Whole Person Education

— In this paper, I aim to advance a reframing of our understanding of “whole persons” in the well-established paradigm of Whole Person Education. At a time characterized by rising social conflicts and schisms, what would be an appropriate humanistic reimagination of a so-called well-rounded person? Drawing on the work of anthropologist Tim Ingold and using youth volunteerism as an exemplar of social practice, I propose the idea that a whole person, if achievable, is someone who inhabits “the open” as an unfolding, interconnecting, vibrant, and enjoyable horizon. Further, it is suggested that this open horizon moves with, and is moved by, strangers. It is hoped that an epistemology of the open that embraces stranger relationality, in the form of volunteerism or any other related social practices, will help us move toward a new whole personhood.

The Construction and Sustainability of Teachers’ Positive Emotions toward STEM Educational Work

STEM education is an important approach for preparing students for a competitive workforce with essential skills in the 21st century. However, successfully implementing STEM education in primary and secondary schools presents a variety of challenges. The study suggests that a neglected challenge in the literature is how to sustain teachers’ positive emotions toward STEM educational work, which may cause teachers to be more engaged in, motived by, and committed to STEM education. Therefore, the study aims to contribute to the literature by investigating the mechanism of the construction and suitability of teachers’ emotions toward STEM educational work based on a single case study conducted in Hong Kong from the social constructionist perspective. The major findings of the study indicate that (1) positive emotions toward STEM educational work may be constructed by the teacher’s positive interpretation of the work, i.e., STEM educational work as the facilitator of students’ overall development and that (2) positive emotions toward STEM educational work may be sustained by enabling school institutions to have the elements of shared power, administrative support, and the value of a whole-person education.