Curriculum Development Council Research Articles

Learning About Diversity in Hong Kong: Multiculturalism in Liberal Studies Textbooks

Improving mainstream perceptions of diversity in Hong Kong is fundamental to enhancing equality and human rights in the society in the future. The importance of mainstream members of society learning to recognize diversity with less prejudice undergirds many of the aims of a recent educational reform, Liberal Studies. This paper evaluates the capacity of Liberal Studies to educate for multicultural understanding of cultural difference. Its primary data source is Liberal Studies textbooks, and it employs a qualitative content analysis to consider how diversity and ethnic, cultural, and religious differences are represented in the texts. The analysis is complemented by an examination of related resources teachers may use in the classroom (and are encouraged to use by the Hong Kong Curriculum Development Council): mainstream news articles and resources from the (government-provided) Web-based Resource Platform for Liberal Studies. The voices and views of some practicing teachers and pre-service teacher education students related to multicultural Liberal Studies resources are also included to provide a balanced picture. Based on this analysis, multicultural education as provided in major resources within the Liberal Studies curriculum appears inadequate. As diversity is reflected upon in resources analyzed here most often as problematic and stereotypical, interventions are needed if Liberal Studies is to enable multicultural appreciation and understanding among students in Hong Kong in the future.

Spirituality and morality: a study of communal aspects from eastern and western perspectives

The Curriculum Development Council in Hong Kong published A Guide to the Preprimary Curriculum in 2006, which proposed a holistic approach in designing preprimary education curriculum. The introduction of Holistic curriculum emphasizes the importance of implementing spirituality into education. However, Spirituality has been construed in some Western, Christian traditions as individualistic and private matters, to the exclusion of communal practices. Hence, the present paper will attempt to investigate the concept of spirituality in Eastern and Western studies and explore the communal or relational aspects of spirituality in education as understood by the Eastern and Western scholars. Implications for religious education will be discussed too.

Implementation of the Hong Kong language policy in pre-school settings

In the past, the Curriculum Development Council in Hong Kong [Curriculum Development Council (CDC). (1996). Guide to the pre-primary curriculum. Hong Kong: Government Printer; CDC. (2000). Consultation document: Learning to learn: The way forward in curriculum development. Hong Kong: Government Printer; CDC. (2001). The way forward in curriculum development – Learning to learn: Life-long learning and whole-person development. Hong Kong: Government Printer; CDC. (2006). Guide to the pre-primary curriculum. Hong Kong: Government Printer], has issued a number of consultation documents regarding the overall aims of the twenty-first century and its implementation, particularly in pre-primary education. These documents provide the backdrop for our research on the implementation of language policies in Hong Kong kindergartens. Data were collected via questionnaires, focus group interviews, and classroom observations in pre-school settings. This paper discusses the provision of bilingualism in Hong Kong pre-schools, especially the teaching and learning of English.

Teaching Chinese in Putonghua in post-colonial Hong Kong: problems and challenges for teachers and administrators

After China resumed the sovereignty of Hong Kong, the Curriculum Development Council encouraged schools to experiment with Putonghua as a medium of instruction (PMI) to teach the Chinese language. A review of the literature indicates that there have been problems in implementing the switch to the new medium of instruction (MOI). The aim of this exploratory case study is to investigate in more detail the problems that teachers and administrators of a secondary school face in implementing the new policy. Based on interviews, classroom observation, and documentary analysis, it is shown that conflicts and tensions have arisen from the incongruent beliefs of teachers and administrators regarding the rationale and impact of the PMI policy. Moreover, inadequate knowledge of Putonghua among teachers and students, a shortage of appropriate teaching resources, and the absence of helpful support from the government create further barriers to effective teaching and learning in the new programme. This paper argues that it is problematic for schools to translate any MOI policy into action if policy-makers fail to address the challenges that teachers and administrators encounter in switching to a new MOI.

Does the switch of medium of instruction facilitate the language learning of students? A case study of Hong Kong from teachers’ perspective

The medium of instruction (MOI) and its impact on improving the language proficiency of students has become a debated issue worldwide. The policy-makers of post-colonial Hong Kong believed that the general Chinese competency, Chinese writing and Putonghua proficiency of students would be improved through the use of a Putonghua-medium-of-instruction (PMI) rather than the Cantonese medium, the mother tongue of students and teachers. Therefore, using Putonghua to teach the Chinese language has been promulgated as a long-term goal by the Curriculum Development Council. Early studies have placed an emphasis on using standardized tests to assess students’ learning outcomes with the use of PMI, but unfortunately the findings have been inconclusive. Despite teachers’ involvement in implementing the MOI policy, there is a dearth of studies examining the perspective of teachers regarding the language learning of students under PMI. This paper aims to explore this important issue in greater depth through a case study of a high school, which has implemented PMI to teach the Chinese language for 10 years. The findings indicate that there are mismatches between the stated educational policy intentions and the language learning of students in various aspects. Further studies and follow-up measures on the language policy and education are suggested.

Developing creativity in computer lessons

When we examine the recent official curriculum documents published by the Curriculum Development Council in Hong Kong, we can observe that generic skills such as Collaboration Skills, Communication Skills, Creativity, Critical Thinking Skills, Problem-solving Skills etc. are identified as fundamental in helping students to learn. As most people agree that creativity is an essential element in the computer world, we are going to discuss the ways to develop students' creative ability in computer lessons in this paper.

East Meets West: What Americans and Hong Kong People Think About Technology

A few years ago, Rose and Dugger (2002) published the results of a public opinion poll on What Americans Think about Technology. Sponsored by the International Technology Education Association (ITEA) and conducted by the Gallup Organization, this ITEA/Gallup poll revealed many things about the public’s understanding and attitudes about technology, as well their ideas about technology in the school curriculum. Referencing the comprehensive Standards for Technological Literacy (ITEA, 2000), a project that used experts to identify the content for technology education, an objective of the ITEA/Gallup poll was to determine if the public’s perception of technology is congruent with that of the experts. Clearly, given the thoroughness and credibility of the Standards along with its expected potential to influence technology education policy, direction and, content, an examination of public opinion was seen as being vital in determining the degree to which expert rhetoric matched public reality and expectations. Similarly, Hong Kong is now going through dialogue and critical selfexamination about technology education. In a departure from practice at the time, Hong Kong’s Curriculum Development Council (2000) in their document Learning to Learn, recognized the importance of technology and specifically identified Technology Education as one of the eight necessary Key Learning Areas (KLA) for all Hong Kong students to acquire from the six primary grades through the lower three secondary grades. The CDC also applied a broad definition of technology as being “the purposeful application of knowledge, skills, and experiences in using resources to create products or systems to meet human needs.” The impact of ITEA’s work and perspective was evident in references made to it in the TEKLA Curriculum Guide (CDC, 2002) that subsequently followed. Similar to ITEA’s Standards, the Guide was developed by academics, professionals from related fields, and other experts in order to help realize the recommendations made in the Learning to Learn document. The Guide included the framework, learning objectives, assessment practices, as well as exemplars for technology education. ____________________

Games Teaching: Assessment in Teaching Games for Understanding

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in Chinese; abstract also in English.Given that, at present, assessment in the Teaching Games for Understanding approach is at a developmental stage, this paper is to articulate an effective and efficient assessment blueprint for Physical Education teachers to adopt this new games teaching approach in the teaching of ball games in schools. Through a case study involving PE teachers, this researcher has confirmed that the proposed assessment method is both effective and has practical value. Basing on the findings, it is recommended that, during implementation, students should not be solely assessed by the teacher, but as well by their peers; such mode of assessment is strongly recommended by the Curriculum Development Council of Hong Kong.目前「領會敎學法」評估的方法仍在發展探索階段中。本文的目的是建議一種評估方法，讓體育敎師能在採用「領會敎學法」敎授球類課時，也可以採用一套有效及可行的評估方法，衡量學生的真正球類活動的表現。作者透過個案研究，印證這種評估方法能有效的量度學生球類活動的整體表現能力，和這方法在學校施行上也很容易。作者並建議，在評估過程中，除了敎師評估學生外，也採納學生互評方法，這評估安排，也是課程發展議會在體育課程改革中所提倡的多元化的評估策略和模式之一。

The New Junior Secondary School Geography Curriculum in Hong Kong: The Impact of the 1997 Handover

The Curriculum Development Council in Hong Kong has recently published a new geography curriculum for junior secondary school students. This new curriculum will be implemented in 1999. A content analysis of this 1999 curriculum shows that the proportion of the teaching time on the geography of China has increased tremendously. Is this a result of the impact of the 1997 handover issue? How far did the government influence the selection of content of this new curriculum? To what extent was the autonomy of the curriculum developers respected? This study attempts to answer these questions by interviewing the major 'actors' involved in the process of curriculum development. The findings show that the government has not directly exerted pressure on the curriculum developers to strengthen the geography of China in the new syllabus. However, the 1997 handover issue did have significant impact on the decision of the curriculum developers.The curriculum designers involved made decisions on the basis of professional considerations such as the balance of the curriculum, the needs and abilities of the students, the trend of geographical education. The teacher and academic members involved had high autonomy in the process of design and development. It is suggested that the design of this curriculum worked well and that the system of giving professionals a free hand in curriculum development should be maintained in the future.

Confucius, Mao and modernization: social studies education in the People's Republic of China

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsJeffrey T. FoutsJeffrey T. Fouts is a Professor of Education in the School of Education, Seattle Pacific University, Seattle, WA 98119, USA. His research interests include environmental assessment, social studies teaching and learning, and Chinese education.Jack C. K. ChanJack C. K. Chan is Director of the Centre for Educational Development at Hong Kong Baptist University. He is a member of the Curriculum Development Council of Hong Kong. His research interests include environmental assessment, curriculum development and Chinese education.

The Australian Language Levels (ALL) project – a response to curriculum needs in Australia

Abstract The Australian Language Levels (ALL) Project is a national project funded jointly by the Curriculum Development Council, Canberra and the S.A. Education Department. It has been set up to develop an organizational framework and curriculum guidelines which will permit all those involved in language education (teachers, syllabus planners, advisers, curriculum writers) to work together to bring about curriculum renewal in language teaching in Australia. This paper examines the curriculum implications of the complexity of the language situation in Australia and the processes through which the ALL Project is responding to curriculum needs in the languages field on a national scale.