This paper focuses on two themes - the marginalization of curriculum subjects and the gap between curriculum policy aims and the implemented curriculum. Illustrating these themes, the study focuses on the marginalization of physical education and the policy-practice gap in the Hong Kong school curriculum. A framework recognizing three domains - normative, institutional and resources - is proposed as a useful heuristic device to gain further insight into problems connected with the two themes and as a way of generating appropriate policies to address them. In accounting for the differential weightings given curriculum subjects, it is necessary to go beyond school-level (institutional) decisions taken by principals and teachers and to consider long-cherished Chinese societal values, reflective of the normative domain. What is considered 'valid knowledge' is a product of deeply ingrained Chinese socio-cultural values that place high esteem on academic subjects leading to careers in the professions, public service and highly remunerated work in the service-based economy. Schools are sandwiched between pressures from the central authority and from societal and parental values and expectations, leading to a policy-practice gap where core subjects, such as physical education, struggle for survival and resources. The three domains of the framework are used to suggest a number of strategies for addressing the problems of marginalization and policy-practice gap, one of which involves the adoption of a more integrated approach to the curriculum and a commitment to increase resource allocation, both of which could eventuate in changing societal norms and values. Finally, policy and political implications suggest that government policy makers endeavour to close the policy-practice gap by developing a closer understanding of the problems schools experience in implementing policy.
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This article examines the differences between the formally stated aims of education and the implementation of the school curriculum in order to show the divergence between what is initiated and what emerges as school practice. This implementation problem is examined from the policy-makers' and teachers' perspectives, with specific reference to physical education as a school subject in Hong Kong. First, it examines the existence and intention of educational policy towards curriculum as established by policy-makers. Second, the implementation process is evaluated from the teachers' perspective by employing a framework adopted by Cuban (1998) that utilized effectiveness, popularity, fidelity, adaptability and longevity. The data are derived from a case-study of a physical education programme that included document analysis, and interviews with teachers, parents and students. The case-study provided a subjective perspective of teachers and their work, while the framework assisted in demonstrating the absence of cohesion between the various government agencies. The resulting fragmentation of ideas leading to confusion and frustration for teachers also indicates that longevity and adaptability are likely to be the most constructive criteria for the assessment of curriculum change.
[Copyright of Curriculum Journal is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0958517022000014718]