Summer Issue, 2013

Minds Met to Explore the Way Forward for CUHK & HKU – Nurturing 21st Century Talents e Importance of “Ethics” and “Values” Joint Convocation Conference 「培育 21世紀人才 — 中大與港大的前瞻」研討會 64 Convocation Professor Amy Tsui 徐碧美 (BA 1971; DipEd 1972; MA 1979), Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Teaching & Learning), HKU, said that the world had entered into a Conceptual Age or a Cognitive Age, with the knowledge economy developing into a conceptual economy. It is no longer suf cient to teach skills or even meta-skills, e.g. learning how to learn. The New Age requires a new culture of learning – skills, mind sets, dispositions, passion, imagination, exploration, experimentation, engagement, and experiential learning are all important. Quoting from Howard Gardner’s book “ Five Minds for the Future ”, Professor Tsui stressed the importance of the Respectful Mind and the Ethical Mind, besides the Disciplined Mind, the Synthesising Mind, and the Creating Mind. She went on to delineate the six educational aims of the curriculum reform of HKU, the reconceptualisation of learning and curriculum, the common core curriculum, experiential learning, and the design of HKU’s new physical, intellectual and social learning environments to enhance effective learning. Professor Joseph Sung 沈祖堯 (MBBS 1983), Vice-Chancellor and President, CUHK, started off by pointing out the irreversible path of globalisation, accelerated by the advancement of information technology, increased mobility, free trade and other global issues such as climate change, nancial crises, and epidemic diseases. The current problems faced by university students, in his view, include gloomy career prospects for young graduates, employers’ dissatisfaction, but on the other hand, young people seemed to value materialistic goals rather than having dreams and visions for their future. Drawing upon the success stories of Israel and Singapore, Professor Sung gave the following advice to young people: “Be inquisitive and persistent, be broad-minded and practical, be connected, take responsibility, be creative, be a team player, and have work ethics.” As for local education in general, e New Age and the New Culture of Learning www.convocation.hku.hk Convocation of The University of Hong Kong (香港大學畢業生議會) is a statutory body comprising all graduates and teaching staff of the Univeristy. From left: Dr Chan Chi-sun 陳志新 , Convocation Chairman, CUHK; Professor Joseph Sung 沈祖堯 , Vice-Chancellor and President, CUHK; Dr Vincent Cheng 鄭海泉 , Council Chairman, CUHK; Dr the Hon Leong Che-hung 梁智鴻 , Council Chairman, HKU; Professor AmyTsui 徐碧美 , Pro-Vice-Chancellor & Vice-President, HKU; S Y Choi 蔡秀煜 , Convocation Chairman, HKU. n April 13, 2013, Saturday, over 300 Convocation members from The University of Hong Kong (HKU) and The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) attended the Joint Convocation Conference “Nurturing 21st Century Talents” held at the lecture theatre of the Yasumoto International Academic Park at CUHK. The 1st Joint Convocation Conference,“The Roles of HKU and CUHK in China’s Development”, was held in March 2012 in Loke Yew Hall, HKU. The two Guests of Honour; namely, Dr Vincent Cheng 鄭海泉 , Chairman of the Council, CUHK, and Dr the Hon Leong Che-hung 梁智鴻 (MBBS 1962; Hon DSc 2006), Council Chairman, HKU, made the opening remarks. O it must be able to nurture students to have these qualities: global vision, broad-base education, independent thinking, persistence and resilience, less egocentric, ethics and values education.