APNME Conferences are held once a year and typically rotate from one city/country to another upon the invitation of a sponsoring university or institute. In keeping with the vision of APNME as a professional network their format is more that of a symposium than an open conference: in general there are no keynote speeches and only a limited number of parallel sessions are held. A considerable proportion of the event is dedicated to dialogue and discussion of presentations and to community time. The occasion of the annual conference also offers itself to the holding of APNME’s Annual General Meeting as well as the opportunity 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.

The first four Conferences have attracted participants from 13 countries or territories, namely China, Hong Kong, Japan, Indonesia, Korea, Macau, Malaysia, Nepal, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.

Seoul, Korea, 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 Conference’s website is at http://moral.snu.ac.kr/impe/index.html

Beijing, China, 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, China, 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, Japan, 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.