Curriculum is not neutral. Curriculum as actuality is a representation of selected ideas, skills, values, norms and practices within society (Smith and Lovat, 2003). Moral and civic education is a key aim of the Hong Kong English Language Education Curriculum. To incorporate moral and civic education, a set of values and attitudes is proposed. The Hong Kong Extensive Reading Scheme is a reading program in the Hong Kong English education curriculum. Students participating in the Extensive Reading Scheme are recommended to read large quantities of books that are of their interests and within their linguistic competence. My research examines the extensive reading materials to demonstrate how the texts may contain hidden values and attitudes.
This paper is drawn from research in progress and it studies the extensive reading materials suggested by the Hong Kong curriculum from a critical discourse perspective. It aims to draw implications for raising the teachers' awareness of the cultural and political values inherent in the reading materials. In addition, this paper studies the Hong Kong English Language Education Curriculum. It proposes the need for having pedagogy that supports the critical approach of teaching English in the curriculum.
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Since the '50s, the once highly unified culture is now fragmented, leading to a variety of cultural derivatives, such as mainland Chinese culture, Hong Kong Chinese culture, Singaporean Chinese culture and Malaysian Chinese culture. Although still called Chinese culture, they have their distinctive forms. Communities like the mainland Chinese, the Hong Kong people, the Chinese Singaporeans and the Chinese Malaysians differ considerably from one another in such cultural aspects as behavioural approach, thinking mode, mental attitude and vocabulary. This paper examines some features of major Chinese-background discourses in Asia with a particular focus on educational aspects and issues.
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This paper reports on the findings from research that uses a tool to help educators assess their e-learning environment. The Online Learning Environment Survey (OLES) instrument was developed using online technologies, including a web-based survey format and an SQL database where the data is instantly captured, analysed and viewed via the data screen or the charting screen. This makes the instrument very easy to use and the results can be viewed immediately providing educators using e-learning with a mechanism to adjust their teaching and enhance the learning environment. The OLES survey was administered during 2004 and the data from three case study classes using e-learning in Hong Kong are presented. Qualitative data from the interviews was used to verify the data gathered and are discussed with regard to the support needed by educators who are developing and teaching in e-learning environments as a method to improve the quality of the e-learning environment through constructive solutions.
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