This article analyses the history of a secondary school subject in Hong Kong called ‘Liberal Studies’ which was introduced as a compulsory school subject in 2009 and replaced by ‘Citizenship and Social Development’ in 2021. Through an analysis of curriculum guidelines, government publications, media articles, and the extant literature we explain both why it was created and replaced. What emerges is that the subject was both a product and victim of the shifting political climate in post-handover Hong Kong. Its emergence was linked to the post-handover restructuring of the education system, the quest for educational reform and facilitated by a process of referencing global trends and overseas models. Its demise was the result of direct state intervention following the introduction of the National Security Law in 2020. The subject was seen to encourage anti-government protests, have failed to educate patriotic citizens and its replacement justified by reference to the need for national security and nation building. We discuss the relevance of LS with regards to models of curriculum change. Copyright © 2024 The Author(s).

Following the return of Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty in 1997, the new government set out an ambitious programme of educational reform. Following extensive community consultation, reforms to both basic education and senior secondary education were set out and programmed over a ten year period starting in 2001. The school curriculum was the centre piece of this reform agenda with proposals for a more integrated curriculum, more engaging teaching strategies and assessment processes that focused on learning rather than testing. A new approach to senior secondary education extended six years of schooling to all students. The reform agenda was post-colonial in nature but also sought to develop a curriculum that would support Hong Kong's role in the emerging knowledge economy. The reaction of schools to this agenda has not always been supportive. Yet there is some evidence that change is being made and teaching and learning in Hong Kong schools has been affected by the reform agenda.
[Copyright © National Institute for Compilation and Translation].

In Hong Kong, despite the officials' efforts to reform the school curriculum, studies have found that implementation of the proposed changes has been superficial (Yeung, 2006, 2009). Recently, evidence-based school self-evaluation has become a global trend in the school improvement movement. The Education Bureau in Hong Kong has followed this trend and launched a school evaluation policy — School Self Evaluation (SSE) and External School Review (ESR). The pair of evaluation measures was initiated to help schools to evaluate their own effectiveness, to ensure public accountability and to achieve self development (Quality Assurance Division, 2006). This paper shares the findings from a local research, which looks into the perception of the policy by school curriculum leaders and its possible impact on the school curriculum and teachers. The curriculum leaders described both positive and negative effects, potential threats and weaknesses of the school evaluation policy. Specific attention was given to how effective school evaluation in effect makes curriculum reform mandatory. Findings show how the local school curriculum can be controlled by bureaucratic preferences through SSE and ESR, and ultimately lost its ability to deal with diversity. It also shows how such forces impede teachers' professional autonomy and liberty.
[Copyright © Hong Kong Educational Research Association ].

This study was designed to investigate the theory and practice of curriculum leadership within the tradition of school-based curriculum development. A case study methodology was used to evaluate the extent to which teacher engagement in curriculum decision making processes within a school-based structure of curriculum development had led to professional development. Evidence revealed positively that participating teachers had developed professionally through the process of planning, implementing and reflecting curriculum practice and innovation. However, the complexity of the structures and processes that were established for the implementation of the concept of teacher curriculum leadership needs further empirical and theoretical work. This article reports on the activities and preliminary findings in the first action cycle of the project, which focused on developing teacher leadership in curriculum theory and practice in the period September to December 2004.
[Copyright © 2006 James Nicholas Publishers.]