The role of liberal studies (related disciplines) in the umbrella movement

This is a report of a case study of students and Liberal Studies teachers on the role of LS in the Umbrellas Movement. From the interview data and literature, first, we would like to dispute the accusation that LS has triggered the students to participate in the Occupying Movement. Instead LS has equipped students with knowledge, concepts, values, competence to analyse social and political issues critically from different perspectives so that they could make informed, and independent decisions. It also helps to develop students’ ability to evaluate issues from moral perspectives. Second, we hypothesize that when the Standing Committee of the National People Congress of PRC announced the universal suffrage for the Hong Kong Chief Executive on August 31, 2014, some students analysed and compared the proposal with Article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and came up with an cognitive judgment that the decision did not meet the three criteria of a “genuine universal suffrage”. Some even had made a moral judgment that the decision was political unjust, leading to moral passion of upset and anger, which motivated them to take political action and participate in the Occupying Movement. Some even argued that it is their moral obligation as reflected in the slogan, “living in an era of confusion, we should have a sense of obligation”. Hopefully, this sharing could shed some light on the understanding of the role of LS on youth’s civic participation and the causes of youth’s political action, and on curriculum development. Copyright © 2017 The Education University of Hong Kong.