APNME Conferences are held once a year and typically rotate from one venue to another upon the invitation of a local sponsoring university or institute. In keeping with the vision of APNME as a professional network, their format is in some ways more that of a symposium than an open conference: in general APNME prefers to limit invited keynote presentations to no more than one senior educator from the host's region or country, who is asked to provide a local context to the conference theme, and seeks to allow for as much exchange, sharing and interaction among colleagues as possible. Effort is made to dedicate a considerable proportion of the event to dialogue and discussion of presentations and to community time. A school visit and cultural excursions, activities or evenings are a popular feature of the conference and are often built into the main programme. The occasion of the annual conference also offers itself to the holding of APNME's Annual General Meeting as well as the opportunity for the APNME community to come together to exchange information about the contexts for moral education, to report on research projects and to talk about how to promote and strengthen moral education through drawing on a variety of disciplines, perspectives and practices. A special effort is made to reach out to and include younger educators, including those studying for masters or doctoral degrees in related fields.

Conferences have attracted participants from over 30 countries or territories, and while APNME remains firmly focused on the Asia-Pacific participants have come from Africa, Europe, North America and South America.

Wuhan - April 2017

The Wuhan, China Conference's website is at apnme.org/2017

Sydney - December 2015

The Sydney, Australia Conference's website is at apnme.org/2015

Shanghai - October 2014

The Shanghai, China Conference's website is at apnme.org/2014

Yogyakarta - June 2013

The Yogyakarta, Indonesia Conference's website is at apnme.org/2013

Chiayi - June 2012

The Chiayi, Taiwan Conference's website is at apnme.org/2012

Nanjing - October 2011

The Nanjing, China Conference's website is at apnme.org/2011

Nagasaki - June 2010

The fifth annual conference of The Asia-Pacific Network for Moral Education (APNME) was held from 11th to 13th June 2010, in conjunction with the 16th annual conference of the Japanese Association for Methods of Moral Education (JAMME), at the Faculty of Education, Nagasaki University, Japan. The theme of the conference, organised by Professor Kohtaro Kamizono and a local team, was 'Moral Education in Asia's Globalising Societies: concepts and practices'. There were around 200 participants, many from Japan, but in all from a total of 18 countries in the Asia-Pacific region. Thus the conference, once again, extended regional networking and deepened academic collaboration and support.

The proceedings began with a demonstration of two kinds of moral education lesson at the elementary school of the Faculty of Education and a welcome speech entitled 'Globalisation, responsibility for peace and moral education'. The conference heard about 70 presentations, including: a symposium based on the conference title, and others on moral education in Mongolia, Perspectives from Thailand, Teachers' narratives and moral education, and Museums teaching the histories of war and peace. The invited conference lecture was 'Peace studies for children: children as peacemakers'. Participants visited the Peace Museum in Nagasaki, a sobering and salutary experience. Thus, in addition to globalisation and moral education in the Asia-Pacific region, another strong theme of the conference was the practice of moral education and education for peace as a goal.

During the conference APNME held both its AGM and a Committee meeting, when a number of new applications for membership were considered. Membership is now over 50, with a significant number of colleagues having attended three or more conferences.

The Nagasaki, Japan Conference's website is at apnme.org/2010

Seoul - May 2009

The fourth conference of the APNME, Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Moral Education, was held at Seoul National University, Korea from 22nd to 24th May, generously hosted by Professor Moon Yong-Lin and seamlessly organised by Dr Minkang Kim, Dr Derek Sankey and a team of students. The conference successfully built upon the three previous meetings, with extended participation, enhanced professionalism of presentations and more in-depth comparative dialogue. Over 50 colleagues in moral, values and citizenship education from Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, South Korea, Taiwan, UK and USA participated.

Presentations in the plenary sessions ranged across topics such as regional settings and challenges for moral education, role models and moral leadership, the development of moral and historical consciousness, the good citizen, and the role of APNME in the future of moral education and development. For the first time at an APNME Conference, the larger number of presenters necessitated parallel sessions, which included interesting presentations on shaping morality through art and culture, ethical issues raised by genetic technology and implications for civic and moral education, and reconsidering democracy in a globalising world.

The conference programme included a somewhat surreal visit to the Demilitarised Zone between South and North Korea, including the Third Tunnel, Freedom Bridge, Dorasan railway station and a viewpoint over the border, reminding us that this was actually a divided country on alert, especially as North Korea undertook further nuclear tests two days later.

The occasion of the Conference also provided the opportunity for the first Annual General Meeting of APNME since its formal constitution.

The Programme for the Conference, with abstracts of presentations, may be viewed here.

The Seoul, Korea Conference's website is at apnme.org/2009

The Asia-Pacific Network For Moral Education (APNME):
brief conference report 2009 and notice of conference 2010

The fourth conference of The Asia-Pacific Network For Moral Education (APNME), ‘Interdisciplinary perspectives on moral education', was held at Seoul National University, Korea 22–24 May, generously hosted by Professor Moon Yong-Lin and seamlessly organised by Dr Minkang Kim, Dr Derek Sankey and a team of students. The conference successfully built upon the three previous meet-ings by extending participation, enhancing the professionalism of presentations and engaging in more in-depth comparative dialogue within the Asia Pacific region.

Over 50 colleagues in moral and citizenship education from Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Taiwan, The Netherlands, UK and USA participated.

Presentations in the plenary sessions ranged across topics such as regional settings and challenges for moral education, role models and moral leadership, the development of moral and historical consciousness, the good citizen and the role of APNME in the future of moral education and development. For the first time the larger number of presenters necessitated parallel sessions, which included interesting presentations on shaping morality through art and culture, ethical issues raised by genetic technology and implications for civic and moral education and reconsidering democracy in a globalising world. The first Annual General Meeting of APNME since its formal constitution was held under the Chairmanship of Professor Jin Shenhong (Nanjing Normal University, PRC). The conference programme also afforded a somewhat surreal visit to the Demilitarised Zone between South and North Korea, including the Third Tunnel, Freedom Bridge, Dorasan station and viewpoint over the border, reminding us that this was actually a divided country on alert, especially as North Korea undertook further nuclear tests two days later.

Preparations for the fifth APNME conference are already in hand. This will be held under the leadership of Professor Kohtaro Kamizono at Nagasaki University, Japan, 11–13 June 2010, with the theme of ‘Moral education in Asia's globalising societies: concepts and practices'. The conference will be held in conjunction with the 16th conference of the Japanese Association for Methods of Moral Education, thereby offering some opportunity for shared sessions and further collegiate exchanges.

The APNME Network is seeking to extend participation and membership. Colleagues undertaking research and development work in the Asia Pacific region, who are interested in learning more about the Network's goals and activities should view the website: apnme.org, where more details about the 2010 conference will be found.

The foundations of this Network suggest that moral and citizenship education in the Asia Pacific region will have a higher and ongoing profile in future research and development in the field and greater recognition will need to be given to the role of regional scholars in international publications and conferences.

Beijing - April 2008

The third APNME Conference took place at the Centre for Citizenship and Moral Education, School of Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, PRC from 18th to 21st April 2008, under the leadership of Professor Tan Chuanbao and organised by Dr Zhou Zhenzhou. The theme was Moral Education and Citizenship Education: Making Locally Relevant Choices in a Globalising World and over 40 experts in moral and citizenship education attended from Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Macau, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, UK and USA. Presentations in the plenary sessions ranged across topics such as moral education in theory and practice, citizenship and human rights, challenges for citizenship and moral education in participating countries, global and local perspectives and collective and individual responsibility. Many thought-provoking ideas were put forward and resulted in some intense exchanges in an atmosphere of collegial friendship.

The Programme for the Conference, and abstracts, may be viewed here.

Guangzhou - May 2007

The second APNME meeting was held from 12th to 13th May, 2007 with the sponsorship and support of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China, and with the theme of Learning from Each Other. Organised by Jane Zhang and Dr Lin Bin, the group expanded from its inaugural meeting at The Institute of Moralogy, Japan, in 2006, to include participants from Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii, as well as from Korea, Japan and mainland China.  A good group of postgraduate students from Sun Yat-Sen University were also active participants.  Presentations and discussions took place on a range of themes, including:  Social Justice, Diversity and Changing Moral Values, Life Education, Lifelong Learning and Values Education, Teaching and Learning the Curriculum, The Political as Moral?, Reason and Emotion: Justice and Care, The Moral Context of Learning, Professionalism, The Significance of Neuroscience for Moral Education and Moral Education for Social and Global Interdependence – Policies and Pedagogies.  There were also many informal opportunities and social occasions for academic networking.

The programme for the conference may be viewed here.

Kashiwa - October 2006

Facilitated by the Journal of Moral Education and sponsored and supported by the Research Centre for Moral Science of The Institute of Moralogy, Japan, under the leadership of Professor Nobumichi Iwasa, the inaugural meeting of The Asia-Pacific Network for Moral Education was held at Reitaku University, Kashiwa, Japan on 27th to 29th October 2006. An invited group of Japanese, Chinese and Korean scholars met to exchange information about their countries' contexts for moral education and report on their own philosophical, psychological and educational research projects and activities. Lively and interesting discussions took place in the common language of English on the theme of Moral Education in Asian Countries.

The programme for the conference may be viewed here.