To prepare children for the globalized world, General Studies, an integrated subject in the primary curriculum stresses on the provision of “learning experiences that enable them to construct knowledge and develop a global perspective, and develop life-long learning skills” (CDC, 2002, p.2). A separate strand, Global Understanding and the Information Era has been incorporated into the curriculum to strengthen the global dimension of the subject. However, the literature shows that citizenship education has long been an underdeveloped curriculum area in Hong Kong. The development of global citizenship, a core area of study in citizenship education, has also been affected by the great emphasis on the fostering of children's national identity in the post-colonial period. Being a contested concept, global citizenship causes great confusions to teachers in developing and implementing global studies in schools. To evaluate the role of General Studies and its effectiveness in enhancing global citizenship, this paper reviews the global learning elements in the General Studies curriculum in a primary school. This paper further seeks to describe the "lived curriculum" on global learning based on the results of a critical examination of selected classroom practices in the related strands of study. Building on the initial findings, this paper discusses the tensions in promoting global education through General Studies and the possible ways for further developing this integrated subject as a vehicle for enhancing global citizenship in Hong Kong primary schools.

In the transitional period, there has been a general concern among Hong Kong people that out young citizens are not adequately prepared for the reunification of Hong Kong with China. They demanded a more effective civic education programme in both primary and secondary schools. There are different modes of implementation of civic education in the Hong Kong secondary schools. In the formal curriculum, civic education is mainly carried out through the subjects of Social Studies or Economics and Public Affairs. This paper identifies teachers' competence as a major factor which determines the effectiveness of the civic education programme and evaluates the competence of pre-service secondary Social Studies teachers in implementing civic education through the teaching of the subject of Social Studies. The research project mainly adopted a quantitative method. Through the instrument of questionnaires, student teachers were required to conduct self-evaluation of their competence in implementing civic education in secondary schools. At the same time, this instrument is supplemented by a semi-structured group interview on the student teachers' understanding and perception of civic education. The findings show that final year student teachers of Social Studies are, in general, not well equipped in both knowledge and skills in implementing civic education in secondary schools. The findings are thoroughly analyzed and their implications for teacher education discussed.

This study documents how the social education curriculum in Hong Kong has changed since Hong Kong's return to the People's Republic of China in 1997. Employing qualitative methods of classroom observations, interviews, and documentary analysis, the researchers found changes in mandated topics in the curriculum (such as increased attention to global issues, global economic connections, Chinese identity), pedagogy (such as strategies for active learning), resources (such as materials from UNICEF) and attitudes (such as empathy for people in less developed parts of the world). The findings also include a comparison of local versus international schools, changes in teacher education courses, and teachers' perspectives on issues they face today.