Fostering Connection for Life - The Path from Reading to Expression : Values Education in English Language Education 2025

Dr Tim TAYLOR 
The Education University of Hong Kong 

Reading for Meaning – How Purposeful Literacy Builds Bridges to Self, Others and the World  
In this session, we will discuss purposeful literacy—giving students reading and writing content that is personally meaningful. We will explore how reading memoir, autobiography, reflective essays and other narrative life writing helps students to develop a map of human values and different perspectives. At the same time, it teaches an understanding and vocabulary of how to write more reflectively and richly about their own values and experience. The talk will offer practical teaching insights as well as examples of how life writing can help students to deepen literacy and foster a more profound understanding of meaningful life values and experience - on a personal and global scale.


 

Ms Rachel IP 
Award-winning picture book author

The Transformative Power of Stories – How Reading is a Pathway to Empathy and Expression 
In this session, Ms Rachel IP will explore the role of stories in helping students find their voices and connect with others. She will talk about how stories foster empathy, curiosity and imagination. Participants will discover how they can encourage reading for pleasure and why it is so important. Ms IP will share how to open up conversations about the books students are reading in the classroom and beyond.  To ground these concepts, Ms IP will also talk about how her own stories draw on connections with the wild and wonderful world around us.    

ELCHK Wo Che Lutheran School 

Reading, Reflection & Expression: How Books about Celebrations Inspired Acts of Filial Piety 
This session will examine how the HEAD Programme integrates values education through cultural celebrations, with an emphasis on filial piety. Participants will discover how the book "Christmas Adventure" serves as a catalyst for discussions on family togetherness, kindness and traditions. The presenter will demonstrate various activities, including group discussions and practical tasks, which encourage students to reflect on their familial roles. Additionally, participants will explore how the programme fosters collaboration, critical thinking and 21st-century skills through experiential learning that prioritises student agency. Ultimately, participants will gain insights into fostering respect, gratitude and responsibility, strengthening familial bonds and community ties. 

Hennessy Road Government Primary School (Causeway Bay)

Embracing Mindfulness through Children's Literature: A Journey of Connection & Growth
This session will explore the synergy between mindfulness and reading during the Week of Books. Focusing on how literature fosters mindfulness, the presentation will illustrate the powerful connections formed when students share their favourite stories. It will emphasise the importance of empathy and active listening in nurturing social and emotional development. Participants will gain insights into how engagement with literature can enhance students' journeys of self-discovery and reflection, highlighting the meaningful impact of integrating mindfulness into reading experiences for holistic growth.  

Holy Family School 

Books as Mirrors, Nature as Classrooms: Connecting Literacy to Environmental Action
The use of a popular picture book on environmental issues provoked students to embody the core values of integrity, commitment and empathy, by imagining a future where personal actions impact the environment. Motivated by the story, students envisioned themselves as environmental stewards dedicated to protecting Peng Chau. They applied these values actively, fostering a deeper understanding of the importance of caring for their own home environment. Throughout this inquiry, they demonstrated empathy by understanding the importance of caring for their environment, the value of integrity by honestly assessing environmental issues and the call for commitment by actively participating in conservation efforts. Relevant literature serves as a powerful catalyst for cultivating responsible, empathetic and committed environmental advocates, and to inspire meaningful action. 

NET Section, Advisory Teaching Team

S2W: Building Receptive and Expressive Language
Participants will be introduced to a flexible approach to learning and teaching that allows students to engage with authentic texts to build language. Presenters will demonstrate how internalised language can support individual expression in various ways. This presentation will demonstrate a selection of creative interactions, show how values can be promoted through storytelling and include school examples. 

NTWJWA Christian Remembrance of Grace Primary School 

Speaking Up with Puppets: Using Puppetry to Address Bullying 
This session will focus on how puppetry can be utilised to tackle serious topics and what lessons students learned from the show. The presenter will explore the journey of the puppetry show “The Magic Key” and its role in addressing bullying in schools. Participants will discover how the idea of the puppetry show originated and evolved into a performance for the entire school community. Through student input and discussion, “The Magic Key” successfully promoted values such as perseverance, respect for others and empathy.  

S.K.H. Yan Laap Memorial Primary School 

Culture of Participation: How Reading, Storytelling and Student Leadership Foster Connection, Confidence and Community 
This session will demonstrate how building a culture of participation can be achieved and why this is imperative. Examples of student outcomes and achievements resulting from such a culture will be showcased. Participants will gain insights into how reading, storytelling together with student agency and leadership can foster multi-directional connections, increase the confidence to try and instil a sense of belonging within a school community. Solutions to problems and barriers to success will be discussed. Participants will also be given the opportunity to meaningfully engage in the session during an “AUA” (Ask Us Anything).  

S.K.H. Yautong Kei Hin Primary School

THINKing Tools: THINK to Empower Global-Ready Students and Foster Positive Values
This session showcases how the school integrates the THINK model into its values education framework, IDEAL—centred on empathy and real-life application. It explores a paradigm shift in the English language curriculum, highlighting the organic integration of cultural immersion and values education to promote authentic English use, inquiry and 21st-century skills. Participants will gain insights into how values education can be meaningfully embedded in cross-cultural and real-world learning experiences, leaving with renewed inspiration to innovate in their own practice.

Sha Tin Methodist Primary School 

Developing SEL Competencies in the Context of Stories for Increased Student Engagement & Deeper Comprehension
This presentation will highlight the critical need to lay early social and emotional learning (SEL) foundations for students’ long-term academic success, well-being and positive peer interactions. The presenter will illustrate how a pedagogical narrative serves as a powerful conduit and dynamic medium that invites students to experience the interplay between thoughts and emotions as they vicariously navigate a character’s development. Participants will gain insights into the use of metacognitive routines and channels of engagement: kinaesthetic and sensory engagements, imagination, introspective reflection, relationships and cognitive challenges. This immensely stimulates active participation, deep processing, multimodal expressions and collaboration. This innovative approach intricately weaves the cultivation of social and emotional competencies into the fabric of classroom practices, thereby equipping students with skills necessary for both academic and interpersonal success. 

Shap Pat Heung Rural Committee Kung Yik She Primary School 

Empowered Readers, Empowered Speakers: The Journey from Understanding to Expression 
This session focuses on how reading can serve as a springboard for authentic expression. Using a school-based approach and additional texts such as Giraffes Can’t Dance and Salt in My Shoes, the presenters will demonstrate how students are guided to understand content, acquire meaning, and write their own scripts developing their improvising skills. With reference to experience in joining the Time to Talk Public Speaking Competition, presenters will share how students take ownership of their presentation content, reflect on personal growth and internalise positive values embedded. Participants will gain insights into how tools, from audiobooks to student-authored scripts, can foster autonomy and empower expressive speaking.   

St. Bonaventure Catholic Primary School  

Let Reading Spark Real-World Connections — READ. LEARN. LOVE
Presenters will share their experience with Filmit 2025, where students worked together to overcome challenges and developed key filmmaking techniques. Teachers will detail the process, from brainstorming scripts and framing the perfect shots to crafting compelling videos. Participants will understand how this experience allowed students to explore teamwork, refine their filmmaking techniques, and master the art of storytelling, all while they polished their English skills. The session will conclude by highlighting the rewarding experience for both teachers and students, including the culminating award ceremony for winning entries. Participants will also gain insights into an approach that fosters creativity, collaboration, and language development.  

St. Matthew’s Lutheran School (Sau Mau Ping) 

Student-led Puppetry as a Bridge to Literacy — How a Puppet’s iPhone-free Journey Sparked Real Reading Pleasure 
This session explores a student-led puppetry project designed to foster genuine reading pleasure. The presenters will discuss the creation of ‘The Reluctant Reader,’ a performance centred on a screen-loving character who discovers books through a story-within-a-story. The session will demonstrate how this creative process empowered students to ‘read to express and share’. Participants will gain insight into using character-led narratives to cultivate key values and transform reading from a solitary task into a shared, creative act, sparking real literary enjoyment for reluctant readers. 

Shun Tak Fraternal Association Lee Kam Primary School 

Pledging through Pages: Water Conservation in Words and Actions
In this sharing session, participants will gain valuable insights into a cross-curricular learning experience centered on the theme of water. They will explore the importance of water and our dependence on it, learn about key water sources in the Hong Kong context, and discover strategies for sustainability and conservation. By engaging with the framework and design of the project across subjects such as English, Chinese and General Studies, participants will see how these elements come together to enrich student learning. Additionally, participants will delve into the implementation within the English Curriculum, witnessing how it guides students along The Path from Reading to the Expression of knowledge and values through their words and actions. This session promises to equip educators with practical ideas and approaches that they can apply in their own teaching.

Tin Shui Wai Government Primary School 

Reading to Speaking, Sharing to Saving: How “Time to Talk” Turned Books into Sustainability Speeches
This session explores how students build values through reading, empower action through speaking and apply practical classroom strategies to create impactful speeches on sustainability and resilience. The presenter will highlight how story-inspired advocacy helps students connect deeply with environmental themes and transform ideas into powerful messages for the Time to Talk Public Speaking Competition, where they express their passion for protecting Hong Kong’s wildlife. 

Tsing Yi Trade Association Primary School  

Fostering Benevolence: Promoting Values Education in English Language Learning Beyond the Books with the Support of AI
In this session, the presenter will explore innovative methods of integrating values education into English language learning, focusing on the theme of benevolence. Participants will discover how to enhance reading skills using multimodal texts, moving beyond traditional books. The presenter will demonstrate how project-based learning can engage students in caring for their pets, synthesising different domains of values education including cognition, affection and action. Furthermore, the session will introduce participants to the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in supporting diverse learning styles. Participants will learn more about leveraging AI technology to create engaging narratives and interactive activities that foster understanding and expression.  

Daughters of Mary Help of Christians Siu Ming Catholic Secondary School 

How Backwards Planning can Personalise Topical Global Issues to Enable Senior Secondary Students to Express Themselves Authentically 
This workshop highlights the benefits of using Backwards Planning to teach senior students in a more goal-oriented and time efficient manner.  The speaker illustrates how the Choose-Adapt-Lose method helps to align the content to complement a 4-week process writing experience. Through the use of the ‘cold’ writing approach, students’ final outcomes were enhanced with more depth through collaborative learning, guiding questions, recycled vocabulary, focused editing, incorporative sensory imagery, real-life experiences and personalised representations of social issues.  The outcomes include stronger engagement, internalised vocabulary and the awareness that each part of the learning contributes to the final product. 

Ho Yu College and Primary School (Sponsored by Sik Sik Yuen) 

From Zero to Third: First-Timers Succeed at Speak Up - Act Out
In this session, we will share our journey of developing a drama for the Speak Up - Act Out competition. As first-time participants, we encountered unique challenges and triumphs. Our secondary school students, eager yet inexperienced, worked collaboratively to devise a compelling story and bring it to life on stage. The presenters will highlight the creative process, the significance of teamwork, and the valuable lessons learnt along the way. Through reflections, the presenters aim to inspire both educators and students to embrace drama as a fun and engaging avenue for personal growth, infused with a healthy dose of creativity and enjoyment. 

Kiangsu-Chekiang College (Kwai Chung) 

Opening Books, Minds and the World: Inspiring Reading through Once Upon A Book Storytelling Competition
In this session, presenters will share their insights on fostering a vibrant reading culture, drawing inspiration from our school's journey in the Once Upon A Book (OUB) Storytelling Competition. Discover how schools can leverage the OUB competition to ignite a passion for reading.  Presenters will also demonstrate how to transform traditional book reviews into engaging and informative presentations that captivate and inform their audiences. We will highlight the success of our students in building their confidence in English, proving that with the proper support, every student can excel, and every teacher can be confident in their role. Learn how this experience has empowered both teachers and students to make book reports and reviews, a fun and enriching learning journey.  

PLK Yao Ling Sun College 

Climate Emergency: In-role Drama to Engage Form 3 Learners’ Understanding of Global Issues
This unit uses in-role drama to take F3 students on an exciting journey, where they will start out in the year 2050 and experience the problems that climate change has caused. Their only hope is to ask AI to build a time machine to go back to the year 2025, to take action. Every step of this narrative unit builds on previous learning, from interviewing a professor, to using LAC in a TSA-style TV chat show.  Students develop a clear understanding of issues and text types and have the opportunity to repeat, reuse and recycle the target language through peer teaching and in-role drama.    

Pope Paul VI College

Bridging the Gap: Connecting Reading and Speaking to Promote Creative Expression
This session reviews a collaboration with the NET Section focused on aligning S.3 speaking lessons with the General English curriculum, particularly the content of reading and listening lessons, under the engaging theme of sports. The lessons aimed to promote creative thinking by integrating reading and speaking activities that encourage students to express themselves authentically and purposefully in diverse contexts. By providing real-life communication scenarios, the lessons motivate students to use English more meaningfully and confidently. Additionally, learners were encouraged to reflect on life’s challenges and decision-making, fostering perseverance, resilience, and positive attitudes. This approach supports the broader goals of values education alongside language development.  

St. Paul’s Convent School (Secondary Section) 

From Pages to Film: Engage, Empower, Embrace 
In this session, the presenters will share their experience of the Filmit 2025 competition, through which students celebrated the joy and creativity of reading and making the short film ‘Our Mission’. The outstanding performers of Filmit 2025 and their teacher advisor will discuss the power of genre choice as the key to enhance student engagement, how books and films share the same roots, and how proactive readers ultimately empower themselves. Participants will walk away with fresh insights into how a readiness to embrace reading, script writing and filming can enrich their lives intellectually and personally. 

St Stephen’s College 

Whoosh!: Bringing Stories Alive through Drama 
This session focuses on an engaging and interactive storytelling technique called ‘Story Whoosh!’, which can bring any story to life for students before they read. The presenters will explain how they conducted a ‘Story Whoosh!’ to familiarise S1 students with the play ‘Our Town’ by Thornton Wilder as part of the Drama in Education Programme at St Stephen’s College. They will discuss how the technique helped students visualise the action sequences, which deepened their understanding and appreciation of the text. They will also model the process for participants, emphasising that this storytelling technique can be used with any fictional texts, ranging from fairytales and picture books to short stories, plays and novels. 

The Salvation Army William Booth Secondary School 

Yum! Learning is the Main Course: Digestible Strategies to Engage Passive Students 
This session will share the experience of redesigning an S1 unit on the topic of food for lower-level language students who can be very passive. Participants will discover how student engagement and learning were enhanced by a task-based planning approach, teaching team collaboration, connecting the topic to students’ lives, as well as the use of teacher models, technology, and student-centred learning activities, including cooperative learning strategies. The presenters will provide practical and actionable tools that can be used to create dynamic and engaging lessons and demonstrate how the curriculum can be connected to real-world contexts, ensuring effective and enjoyable learning outcomes. 

Yan Ping Industrial & Commercial Association Lee Lim Ming College 

Words that Unite: From Time to Talk to Whole School Celebration 
Participants can expect to gain practical ideas for integrating public speaking and values education into meaningful and inclusive school celebrations, fostering strong and lasting connections among students and teachers. This session will explore the Time to Talk Public Speaking Competition, organised by the NET Section, EDB, as the focal point of the English Day of the school, highlighting the importance of collaboration between various clubs and departments, engaging both competitors and the wider school community. Teachers and students will also share valuable insights on personal growth, community spirit, and empathy. 

Yuen Long Catholic Secondary School 

Strategies for Enhancing Student Interaction through Close Reading 
This session will explore the principles and practice of Close Reading, a pedagogical approach to reading instruction that involves careful, purposeful readings and in-depth discussions of the text. The presenters will share how they adopted the Close Reading approach for a unit on Science and Technology in the S4 English language curriculum to develop students’ reading skills and increase student interaction. At the end of the unit, students from each S4 class participated in a discussion forum, where they were able to demonstrate confidence in expressing a range of viewpoints on the topic, ‘Technology and the Future’.