Cheng Tak Lai, Mic is a Lecturer I in the Department of Education Policy and Leadership at the Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK). His main research interests include life and values education, experiential learning, and reflective practice, with a primary focus on how participants’ values and beliefs transform during the learning experience from both philosophical and empirical perspectives. In the recent past, he has also concentrated on academic practices in higher education, particularly the implementation of short-term overseas study tours.

He graduated from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University with a B.A. in Social Work. He earned a PGDE in Professional and Vocational Education (with distinction) and a M.Ed in Life and Spirituality Education from EdUHK. Additionally, he also holds a PGCert in Academic Practice from the University of Liverpool and a Ph.D in Higher Education (Research, Evaluation, and Enhancement) from Lancaster University (LU) in the UK.

He served as a social worker for the Salvation Army from 2007 to 2009, providing support to young night drifters. The following year, he began his teaching journey at Caritas Community and Higher Education Service, focusing on Project YiJin. He had then worked for the Vocational Training Council (VTC) for 8 years, developing and lecturing on post-secondary programmes —ranging from certificate to undergraduate levels—in the areas of community services and child education, offered by the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education, the University of Hull, and the University of the West of England, Bristol.

Before joining the department in 2022, he served at the Centre for Religious and Spirituality Education at EdUHK for 6 years, where he was responsible for educational projects and general education courses focused on life and values education. Currently, he coordinates and teaches subjects in life and values education, professional and vocational education, and education studies (in the related discipline of philosophical and sociocultural issues in education). In the academic year 2025/26, he serves as the Field Experience Coordinator for the Bachelor in Education (Professional and Vocational Education) and coordinating the following subjects:

• EPA3112: The Policy Context in PVE
• GEK1042: Morality and the Good Life: A Comparative Perspective
• GEL1003: Love’s Work: Cultivating Relationships with Care
• PFS4052 / PFS4053: Honours Project in Education Studies (Comparative & Philosophical Research)
• PFS5013 & PFS2013: Philosophical and Socio-cultural Issues in Education
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He also developed the following overseas learning expereinces:

• OCE1003_CLOC: ‘A Sustainable Nomadic Life in the Modern Age’ - Mongolia Study Tour
• OCE1006_CLOC: Study Tour Abroad - ‘The Complexities of Development, Inequality, and Environmental Conservation in Post-Apartheid South Africa’"
• 'Life and Values Education in Taiwan’: Taipei Study Tour 25/26
• ‘Emirati Culture in the UAE’: Dubai Study Tour 25/26

Dr Cheng is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) and an Associate Member of the Centre for Higher Education Research and Evaluation at LU in the UK. He is also a Registered Teacher (RT) with the Education Bureau and a Registered Social Worker (RSW) with the Social Workers Registration Board in HK. He had received the Life Education Personal Excellence Award from the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation in 2016. He was also honored with teaching awards from the department and faculty in 2023 and 2024, respectively.