The integration of body-mind-spirit holistic care in the teaching of a GE course

Abstract

This paper presents a teaching method of a GE course and an evaluation of its effectiveness in the enhancement of body-mind-spirit development and positive self-regard. The course entitled ‘Individual and Society’ consists of three major components: (i) understanding of self; (ii) consciousness towards society, and (iii) interpersonal relationships. Basic psychological principles are introduced to help students understand the impact of internal and external factors on their thoughts, feelings, and behavior. Specific topics of the course include: Definition of culture, Understanding self in human relations, Personality and human relations, Hong Kong Chinese identity, Communication and relation in work. The mode of teaching encompasses lecture, class discussions, tutorial, debates, body-mind-spirit experiential games, group project presentation, and individual performance. Students are required to conduct a group project by (i) interviewing two youngsters and two elder adults on personal and social factors affecting their attitudes towards different significant life issues (viz., life, death, education, gender, love, sexuality, and religion); and (ii) presentation of results of data analysis of the interviews. In the final tutorial, each student is required to do a two-minute individual show performance on the theme ‘I love myself because…” At the end of the course, students are invited to fill in a questionnaire consisting five scales that measure holistic well-being. Participation is voluntary and anonymous. A total of 80 students (47.5% males) participate in the study. They are from different disciplines, including social work, human services, hotel management, corporate management, market and event management, business administration, accountancy, etc. Analysis of the data indicates significant positive changes in body-mind-spirit development as well as in positive self-regard. The results informed us that the integration of Body-Mind-Spirit training elements in the GE course is effective in facilitating students’ personal growth.