New Horizons in Education

Abstract

Background: During the era of education reform, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has launched a series of measures to enhance the learning of the students and the effectiveness of teaching. In the Curriculum Development Council document, Learning to Learn — the Way Forward in Curriculum, the policy of school-based curriculum is advocated. The aim is to allow “schools to have more autonomy in choosing some contents more relevant to their students so long as they are in line with the curriculum aims, strands, principles of learning/teaching, with justifiable modifications that suit their students most”, This paper reports a case study of a local primary school in implementing the school-based curriculum in General Studies (GS) from 2003 to 2006.

Aims: To study why the school initiated such educational change, the strategies teachers employed and difficulties they encountered. Recommendations are made for teachers and administrators who want to initiate educational change in schools.

Sample: The head teacher, the subject panel, level coordinators and subject teachers were interviewed. Parents and students were also invited to fill in questionnaires by the end of the school year.

Method: Qualitative research method such as in depth interview and quantitative research method such as filling in questionnaires were employed.

Results: Most of the teachers claimed that it is the school administration who initiated the adoption of the school-based curriculum policy. Though they tried their best to deal with various difficulties, worked hard, prepared lessons jointly, and claimed that students showed more interest in lessons, some did not have the ownership of the school-based curriculum development.

Conclusion: The implementation and institutionalization of any educational change requires more than willing individual teachers, e.g. the subject panel or level coordinators. Rather, there needs to be a deep re-conceptualisation of the nature of knowledge, teaching, learning, and changes in the practices of the subject department, supported by the head teacher, school administration, parents and students.

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