Liberal Studies Review｜Teachers say that early contact with current affairs is not necessarily related to resistance: Thousands of eyes are monitored

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Written by: McKay

2020-09-26 10:08

Last update date: 2020-09-26 10:08

The School Curriculum Review Task Force established by the Education Bureau published the final report on the New Senior Secondary Curriculum. It pointed out that Liberal Studies will continue to be the four core subjects and maintain the "Required Compulsory Examination", but the Independent Subject Inquiry (IES) of Liberal Studies is recommended to be converted to elective. The written test can be reported separately from the rating of independent topical inquiry.

Deng Fei, vice chairman of the Federation of Education, and Zhang Ruihui, a general education teacher and council member of the Education Association, agree that the report retains general education as a core subject, and arbitrarily deleting it may affect the international acceptance of the HKDSE.

As for IES, they all think that switching to an elective course will lose the original intent of general education and return to the "one-time trial" situation.

There are voices from the outside world advocating that the Liberal Studies subject is related to young people's struggle in the streets, so it should be deleted from the core subjects.

Deng Fei believes that there is no inevitable connection between the two. Liberal Studies is just that students have early exposure to political current affairs. Zhang Ruihui also pointed out that when teachers teach general studies, they will not encourage students to participate in political events. "There are thousands of eye monitors (watching)."

The school curriculum review task force established by the Education Bureau published the final report on the new senior secondary curriculum on September 22.

The group’s recommendations are roughly the same as the consultation document published last year, including that the Liberal Studies subject will continue to be one of the four core subjects, that is, to maintain compulsory compulsory examinations.

(Photo/Photo by Luo Guohui)

Both Deng Fei and Zhang Ruihui agreed in the "Saturday Accountability" of Hong Kong and Taiwan that the report maintains the status of Liberal Studies as a compulsory subject in the HKDSE.

Zhang Ruihui pointed out that the report is reasonable, but the content of the IES is different from the public consultation. He believes that if you do not do independent topic research, you will lose the practical curriculum goal of the general education and change back to "a test of life and death."

Deng Fei agreed that the report talked about changing the IES, but did not explain the reasons behind it. The change will be detrimental to students with weaker exam and test ability.

Early contact, early enlightenment, turn yellow, turn blue, change what is another matter

For some people criticizing Liberal Studies for bringing young people into the struggle, Liberal Studies should be eliminated from the core subjects.

They said that the diploma exam has 4 core subjects, which have been recognized by the Commonwealth, Japan, etc., and the status of the diploma exam will be changed or lost.

Deng Fei also refuted that there is no inevitable connection between general education and resistance. General education is just a platform for young people to get in touch with political current affairs. "He used his own experience as an example, "When I was studying, Patten was involved in political reforms, and they were all politicized." However, he only studied political science afterwards.

Zhang Ruihui also pointed out that young people have independent thinking and civil rights to express their opinions. He hopes that the government will not blame the education sector for its administrative mistakes.

He doesn't believe that teachers will encourage students to participate in the struggle through general education. "There are thousands of eye monitors (watching)."

Deng Fei, the vice chairman of the Federation of Education.

(Data Picture / Photo by Yu Junliang)

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The report also mentioned that the general education teacher failed to verify the objectivity and reliability of the information and data regarding recent and unfinished incidents, and that it is not suitable for the subject of inquiry.

Zhang Ruihui felt that the report was strange and questioned whether the SARS incident in 2003 can be discussed under the public health unit, but the new crown pneumonia epidemic this year cannot be discussed.

Liberal Studies uses current events as examples to arouse students’ interest, build students’ ability to think clearly, and establish their own opinions. The government should not overestimate the influence of Liberal Studies.

Deng Fei agreed with the report that teachers should not use recent incidents as teaching topics. There are many spoofs and false information on the Internet. If the developing social issues are eagerly used for teaching, the pressure on teachers is not small.

In addition, he also supports the review of the content of general education. For example, two of the six courses in the subject involve the Basic Law and the National Constitution. The teachers are not professional legal professionals, and whether they have sufficient legal knowledge to teach students.

As for the textbook review mechanism, he believes that the review mechanism can clarify concepts that were difficult to grasp in the past, such as whether civil disobedience should be taught.

Curriculum review report advocates submission of general science textbooks for review. Solidarity Hong Kong Foundation Guo Kaijie: Practice is Reality

[Policy Analysis] Liberal Studies Reform: A political farce caught in the reversal of "Tian Neng"

The curriculum review task force submits a report within the month, Leung Mei Fen advocates cancellation of compulsory compulsory exams for Liberal Studies

Solidarity Hong Kong Fund promotes the establishment of two ratings for general education, the Education Association questioned the importance of "abolishing martial arts"

Yang Runxiong: Schools should not set up general education courses for junior high schools and hope for the future "No school participation in this course"

General Education Bureau