Curriculum Continuity Curriculum
continuity from junior secondary to senior secondary level is
important. Secondary school KLA/subject heads and teachers were
asked to indicate the extent of continuity between the new secondary
1-3 curriculum and the existing secondary 4-5 subjects on a 3-point
scale ranging from ¡§no continuity¡¨ to ¡§high degree of continuity¡¨.
On the whole, the views of the KLA heads and teachers were similar.
Around 35% of secondary school Mathematics Education KLA heads
and teachers indicated that there was high continuity. For majority
of the respondents, around 70% of them indicated that there was
some continuity. Table 9 presents the results for each group.
It is worth pointing out here that the implementation of the
new curriculum was carried out progressively from Primary 1-
Secondary 3 and then to Secondary 4-5 level. Since 1999, the
curriculum for Secondary 4-5 and Secondary 6-7 has been revised
in line with the new directions. However, revision to public
examinations will only take place in the coming few years, resulting
in a time lag for ensuring continuity. There was also a ¡§wait-and-see¡¨
attitude towards the proposed review of the academic system combining
HKCEE and HKALE. Hence, the majority of the responses indicate
that there was only ¡§some curriculum continuity¡¨ from junior
to senior secondary levels.
Table
9: Extent of Continuity Between the Secondary 1-3 Curriculum
and the Existing School Certificate Secondary 4-5 Subjects
(Figures in %) |
Extent
of Continuity |
Chi |
Eng |
Math |
PSHE |
Sci |
TE |
Arts |
PE |
KLA
Head |
Teacher |
KLA
Head |
Teacher |
KLA
Head |
Teacher |
KLA
Head |
Teacher |
KLA
Head |
Teacher |
Subject
Head |
Teacher |
KLA
Head |
Teacher |
KLA
Head |
Teacher |
No Continuity |
12.5 |
30.3 |
7.3 |
10.4 |
5.0 |
4.4 |
18.3 |
12.0 |
4.1 |
3.5 |
13.0 |
16.3 |
8.3 |
32.6 |
9.9 |
10.3 |
Some Continuity
|
73.8 |
61.1 |
86.6 |
77.8 |
53.8 |
63.4 |
67.6 |
75.4 |
67.6 |
73.8 |
71.4 |
69.0 |
75.0 |
50.0 |
69.0 |
66.2 |
High Degree of Continuity |
13.8 |
8.5 |
6.1 |
11.7 |
41.3 |
32.2 |
14.1 |
12.6 |
28.4 |
22.7 |
15.6 |
14.7 |
16.7 |
17.4 |
21.1 |
23.5 |
Confidence and Perceived Competence
It is believed that the confidence and competence of KLA/subject
heads and teachers are critical to implementing curriculum reform.
The KLA/subject heads and teachers were asked to rate on a 5-point
scale from 0 to 4 how confident they were in implementing various
strategies, such as developing a school-based curriculum to facilitate
transition, designing learning tasks and activities, designing
learning materials, coordinating or collaborating with other
subject teachers, encouraging students to read, integrating moral
and civic education into KLA learning activities, promoting interactive
learning through the use of information technology, using strategies
to cater for learner diversity, using assessment as a basis for
providing feedback to students to enhance learning, using diversified
modes of assessment, and assigning quality homework.
In general, the KLA/subject heads and teachers had moderate
to high confidence (a median score of 2 or 3) in their ability
to implement the above strategies. In addition, respondents were
asked to indicate their perceived competence in implementing
the strategies. Results showed that in most areas, the respondents
felt that their competence was moderate to high (a median score
of 2 or 3). Respondents¡¦ confidence level and perceived competence
were highly correlated. The strategies that they felt less confident
about were mostly those that they felt less competent in.
Professional Development Opportunities
Professional development opportunities are vital for school
heads, KLA/subject heads and teachers to enhance their professionalism
and capacity to carry out curriculum reform in schools. In the
study, school heads were asked to indicate three activities in
which they had participated in the current school year. More
than 80% of the primary school heads and more than 75% of the
secondary school heads had participated in experience-sharing
about learning and teaching and curriculum development, and in
training courses organized by educational institutes. In contrast,
only about 37% of primary and secondary school heads had participated
in educational research including action research.
Opportunities for the professional development of teachers in
different domains of curriculum development have also been provided.
In this study, KLA/subject heads and teachers were asked to indicate
the extent to which they had found these opportunities adequate.
The percentages reported for most of the KLAs/subject were in
the range 40% - 60%. A greater sense of inadequacy in professional
development opportunities was more widely felt among heads and
teachers in Arts Education, Chinese Language Education, Mathematics
Education, and Personal, Social and Humanities Education than
in other KLAs/subject.
The study reflected that ¡§attending in-service teacher development
courses¡¨ and ¡§independent study¡¨ were found effective by most
respondents, although there were slight variations among the
KLAs/subject. On the other hand, ¡§action research¡¨ and ¡§peer
observation¡¨ were deemed less effective. From the open-ended
comments made by respondents, it was clear that several additional
strategies for professional development also deserve consideration.
These include: sharing experiences and practices across schools,
sharing of experience from pilot schools, posting successful
experience on the Internet, compiling case studies of successful
experience, and visits to mainland or overseas institutions.
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