Reforming Primary Moral and Civic Education through Student Agency and the Spirit of Scientists

Abstract

Focusing on primary education, this paper reports a curriculum reform that integrates the “scientist spirit” into inquiry-based learning while safeguarding both value-oriented education and student agency. The reform translates core value elements (truth-seeking, creativity, collaboration, responsibility) into observable learning behaviours and anchors them in a co-regulatory formative assessment mechanism that aligns disciplinary understanding, epistemic reasoning, and value construction. A five-phase learning cycle, which includes problem framing, evidence building, dialogic argumentation, public communication, and reflective transfer, is implemented through dialogic pedagogy and collaborative routines. Assessment is evidence-centred and closes the loop among teacher scaffolding, peer review, and self-regulation. The proposal responds to the evidence debate surrounding inquiry versus direct instruction by advocating “structured inquiry with strategic explicit teaching,” and offers an operational, reusable, and scalable model for value education in primary schools with potential transfer to interdisciplinary thematic learning and school-based professional development.