Call for Proposals

Call for Proposals

The Asia-Pacific Network for Moral Education

Conference Theme:

Moral Education During the Global Pandemic and its Challenges

15th Annual Conference

9-11 July, 2021

Online Conference

Theme and Description

Moral Education During the Global Pandemic and its Challenges

Since the beginning of 2020 our world has been challenged by the COVID-19 virus, and our lifestyles have been greatly changed. This global pandemic not only has impacted our everyday lives, but also has raised numerous moral and ethical issues which should be further reflected upon and discussed. Therefore, based upon the aims of the APNME, this conference welcomes participants whose papers or presentations will be concerned with the following issues and questions:

1. What moral dilemmas have recently emerged in the context of governmental or organizational management, and also in that of individual decisions, with the sudden appearance and spread of the Coronavirus, which has affected human beings’ health, safety and lives? Based on which core values should social and political leaders, as well as individuals, be making decisions?

2. To what degree may global travelers be held morally responsible for the spread of this disease? To what degree may we see different cultural and political systems and traditions as being responsible for its rapid spread, and to what degree have the responses to this differed?

3. What role may the concept of “citizenship” (in different countries) have played here? What role may nations’ self-images, and the images they wish to portray to their people and to the world, have played, and how may these self-images differ in different countries and cultures? Shame, pride, patriotism, the importance of the the individual in relation to the group, and of the group in relation to the individual, are all relevant here.

4. To what degree have digital devices and the Internet helped to slow down or control the spread of this epidemic, both by alerting people to it and educating them about it?

5. Why does the existence and spread of this virus give rise to racist and ethno-phobic interpretations, even those which may be disguised as humorous social commentary or culturally-embedded comment? How can we analyze this from the perspective of the psychology of fear? What role should moral education play in combatting racism?

6. What impact might this whole situation have on the future of our human lifestyles and modes of communication, and on “tourism” or the “tourist industry”?

While priority will be given to presentations addressing these topics, any presentations that are concerned with moral and civic education will be welcomed. Of course we sincerely welcome to our conference all those who truly care about exploring and enhancing the role of moral education, through theory and practice, in the Asia-Pacific region and in the world.

Proposal Submission Topics

We sincerely welcome educators from various academic disciplines and from international and non-governmental organizations, teachers, school administrators and policy makers, school counselors, etc. submit their papers or proposals. This conference is also keen to encourage cross-disciplinary engagement; therefore, papers or proposals from such disciplines as the below are encouraged:

  • Educational: formal and informal moral education in schools, including higher education, and in families and communities; teaching and learning strategies (e.g. use of textbooks, class discussions); moral education theories; putting moral educational policy into practice; moral education curricula and programs; teacher, parent and community education; lifelong learning; moral leadership in schools;

  • Psychological: moral motivation, moral judgment; moral behavior, moral identity, moral development; affective learning, counseling; psychological theories of moral learning, behavior and development;

  • Philosophical: Eastern and Western philosophies and traditions, including the role of Confucianism in the Eastern value system; analytical, linguistic, Continental philosophy, virtue ethics, education of the emotions; liberalism; socialist materialism; applied ethics, especially environmental ethics and professional ethics;

  • Historical and cultural: customs and traditions, past and present; cultural diversity within and between societies and nations; cross-cultural studies;

  • Social and anthropological: children; the family, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, community life; cooperation and conflict; globalization;

  • Neurobiological and neuro-ethical: moral implications of brain biology; bioethics;

  • Ecological and cosmological: environmental; the unity of parts making the whole; 'man's' place in nature; lifestyle; sustainability;

  • Spiritual: the transcendent and immanent in relation to religion and culture; harmony as an ethical value;

  • Religious: the sacred and divine; the role of religion (e.g. Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam) in morality and moral education;

  • Secular: the traditional, modern, post-modern and their interrelationships; materialism and ethics; humanism; influence of the Internet; role of the media;

  • Political, civic and legal: the role of democracy; socialist ethics; individual and civic rights and responsibilities; citizenship education; social justice; civic engagement; human rights within the framework of international law.

Forms of Presentation

Individual paper (30 to 45 minutes): Individually submitted papers with up to 20 minutes’ presentation time and 10 minutes’ discussion time (30-minute sessions) or 30 minutes presentation time with 15 minutes discussion time (45-minute sessions).

At the discretion of the Programme Committee, two or three presentations may be combined in one 90-minute session, and the Programme Committee's decision as to time allocation will be final. The Committee will invite and assign a Chair for each session.

Symposium (90 minutes): Discussion of a cross-national, cross-disciplinary, or common topic or theme within the overall Conference Theme; organized by the corresponding author, who will typically be the Symposium Chair. Normally, symposia will have 3 or 4 presenters and perhaps a discussant, but must allow for interactive discussion with the audience.

Poster presentations: Related to the Conference theme; focusing on theoretical, empirical and practical work in progress. The APNME will award its Annual Best Poster Prize for the best poster.

Notes on submitting a proposal

The organizers of the 15th Anniversary APNME Conference invite proposals for presentations related to the Conference Theme.

If you are submitting a proposal, please note that abstracts need to be in an acceptable (standard) form of written English and, for an individual paper or a poster, should be 150-200 words in length.

Please check the English very carefully before sending us your abstract, and please make sure you have kept within the word limit.

Please make sure your abstract is addressing the Conference Theme. On the form you may like to start with the words: "This presentation will address the Conference Theme by …"

This is not intended to constrain creativity or diversity of opinions. Rather, we encourage creativity and diversity while at the same time focusing on the Conference theme: How, individually and jointly, can we best ensure a sustainable future for moral values education in the Asia-Pacific region as well as globally.

In order to make the 2021 APNME a more open and friendly conference, one or two sessions will be conducted in the presenter’s local language (Japanese, Chinese, Korean or Indonesia, and so on) for the sake of presenters and also audience members who are very interested in the topics but have limited English skills. However, presenters in these sessions will still need to prepare their PPTs in standard English, and they will have to find translators to translate their presentations into English, and interpreters to translate the audience members’ questions and presenters’ answers.

Submitting a proposal to run a symposium

On the Proposal Submission Form, enter the name of the symposium chairperson as the Corresponding Author, and the names of the co-presenters as Co-authors.

Provide a 300-350 word abstract that describes the purpose and nature of the symposium as a whole, plus abstracts of 150-200 words for each of the papers presented in the symposium.

Please be sure to state clearly how your symposium as a whole and each of the papers presented in it are addressing the Conference Theme.