This paper is the first phase of the project entitled “A Critical and Comprehensive Review of the Development of Social Education Curriculum at the Primary Level in Hong Kong”. In this phase, the contextual factors leading to the developmental changes of primary social education curriculum from 1967 to 1997 are traced and analysed so as to prepare grounds for a comparative study of the counterparts in Shanghai. The methodologies of documentary analysis and informal interviews are utilized to substantiate the induction approach that draws conclusion from various sources and data. It is hoped that this preliminary study will shed light on the phylogenetic accounts for the primary social education curriculum in Hong Kong, with particular emphasis on the external and internal forces that have interacted in shaping its changes.

Whole person development is an important aspect in the contemporary education. It is one of the education objectives of the HKSAR as shown in Aims of Edcuation(1993) and Educaiton Blueprint (1999). Although its importance is recognized by most educators in Hong Kong, few integrated curriculum of Whole person development is provided in local school systems. Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIED) has attempted to provide Personal and Social Education (PSE) which is one of the integrative curriculum to achieve Whole person development to the student-teachers in the hope that they can implement PSE in local schools in future. To improve the teaching and learning and the curriculum development of PSE, a module evaluation was conducted at 1997 to collect feedback from students. 377 questionnaires were collected and analyzed. This paper reports the result of the evaluation and makes suggestion for the PSE curriculum development. The students' evaluation toward the module was good. They enjoyed the teaching and learning process. The module was systemic, relevant and practical. The reflection for the formation of full integrated curriculum of PSE in teacher education program and primary school are discussed. There is a need for the educators to develop and implement the concept of PSE in the local school context.

Social education in the primary education arena of Hong Kong has taken many forms. This chapter traces the development of Social Studies in the formal curriculum of local primary schools from the 1960s to the 1990s. It critically analyzes the foci of change as stated in the curriculum documents. Based on these official documents, the relationship between the curriculum intent and pedagogy advocated is discussed with reference to the current literature. Learning activities suggested in the syllabi of various decades are compared on a continuum of teaching-learning strategies and evaluated against stated learning targets. Their implications on teaching styles are discussed. Criteria for selecting activities are recommended for readers' reference. This chapter ends with recommendations for further investigation. It is hopeful that the chapter will become a useful reference for investigations on social education in primary schools in terms of curriculum and pedagogy advocated for effective learning.
[Copyright © 2000 The Hong Kong Institute of Education.]

This paper reports on Stage 1 of a learning and teaching project focused on students studying in the Chinese and English language delivery of transnational Master of Business Administration (MBA) programs of an Australian university. The programs are delivered using limited and intensive face-to-face teaching augmented by self-directed and web-based learning, and ongoing (mainly email) contact with lecturers before and after they have returned to Australia. The aim of this stage of the project is to provide a greater understanding of students' instructional preferences so that, where appropriate, lecturers can better scaffold learning and teaching arrangements (Stage 2 of the project) to assist them to meet the learning objectives of the MBA program. Survey data were collected from students studying the MBA in Hong Kong and Singapore in English (EMBA), and in Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan in Chinese (CMBA). Findings demonstrate that whilst students ranked teacher-directed face-to-face instructional delivery highly, they also indicated that an independent, web-based learning environment was their least-preferred approach to learning. These findings put lecturers in a more informed position when it comes to them planning how to best assist students from Confucian-heritage backgrounds to work productively and successfully in their studies.
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