Abstract
This is an exploratory study which attempts to answer two basic research questions: (a) In what way do the senior secondary school geography curricula in Hong Kong and England resemble each other and in what way do they differ? (b) To what extent do the senior secondary school geography curricula in Hong Kong and England contribute to environmental education?Environmental education is studied in the light of education about, in and for the environment. The present study is concerned with (a) the relationship of social change to the development of geography education with special reference to environmental education in Hong Kong and England; and (b) the analysis of the senior secondary geography curricula in both areas and geography teaching in relation to environmental education.
Both the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) and the Hong Kong Certificate of Education (HKCE) geography curricula reveal a strong environmental emphasis in their content and make considerable contributions to education about the environment. Education in the environment is more fully accomplished with the introduction of a compulsory fieldwork component in GCSE Geography. Education for the environment is still an area that does not receive adequate attention. The components of action and participation in local issues are seldom emphasised and practised in the existing geography curricula.
Geography teachers from both places attach relatively high priorities to those cognitive and skills objectives which are conducive to environmental education. They often rely upon textbooks, notes and worksheets with occasional use of audio-visual materials as teaching resources. A substantial proportion of geography teachers from both places indicate strong preference for traditional and resource-based strategies in teaching selected topics of environmental emphasis. There is also a significant difference in the extent of teaching environmental issues between the Hong Kong and English respondents. On the other hand, geography teachers in both places do share some common problems in implementing environmental education. The majority of respondents from both Hong Kong and England have pro-New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) orientations. However, there is no observable relationships between geography teachers' NEP scores and their performance in teaching environmental issues.
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