Senior secondary students perceptions of virtue and values: a case study in education in Macau

It is important that any education system takes its focus on value education as beliefs and values influence principles of human action who inform and guide decision and finally actions itself. Besides the family, the school is the right place to instill proper values in view of a dignified life and harmonious societies. The purpose of this paper is to study students’ perception of virtues and students reports on the daily practice of virtues. Quantitative data was collected from students at a school in Macau, using a
Likert-type self-report questionnaire. The research found some strengths and weaknesses regarding perception and application of virtue. The perception of virtues scored higher than reported practice. Besides the mind-behavior gap to explain this fact, the researcher interpreted this gap also with the specific culture and economic environment in which the students live in Macau. Society and schools have to pay more attention to certain questionable attitudes and bad actions of students. Values and Virtues are not only a matter of knowing them but implementing them in one’s life. The thesis revealed helpful insights for this challenge. Value education and specifically formation of virtues have to be understood in the wider context of the society. Schools are advised to guide students with a consistent form of value education, and specifically with the proper training of virtues, as they are significant factors for the wellbeing of a society in East and West.