Term Description
values and attitudes
Values constitute the foundation of the attitudes and beliefs that influence one’s behaviour and way of life. They help to form the principles underlying human conduct and critical judgement, and are qualities that learners should develop. Some examples of values are rights and responsibilities, commitment, integrity and national identity.
Closely associated with values are attitudes. The latter supports motivation and cognitive functioning, and affects one’s way of reacting to events or situations. Since both values and attitudes significantly affect the way a student learns, they form an important part of the school curriculum.
school-based
curriculum
Schools and teachers are encouraged to adapt the central curriculum to develop their school-based curriculum to help their students achieve the learning targets and aims of education. Measures may include readjusting the learning targets, varying the organisation of contents, optional studies, learning, teaching and assessment strategies. A school-based curriculum, hence, is the outcome of a balance between guidance from the CDC and the autonomy of the schools and teachers.
Other Learning Experiences
Other Learning Experiences (OLE) is one of the three major components of the Senior Secondary curriculum that complements the core and elective subjects (including Applied Learning courses and other languages) for the whole-person development of students. These experiences include Moral and Civic Education, Community Service, Career-related Experiences, Aesthetic Development and Physical Development.
learning targets and learning objectives
Learning targets set out broadly the knowledge/concepts, skills, values and attitudes that students need to learn and develop. Learning objectives define specifically what students should know, value and be able to do in each strand of the subject in accordance with the broad subject targets at each key stage of schooling. They are to be used by teachers as a source list for curriculum, lesson and activity planning.
learning outcomes
Learning outcomes refer to what learners should be able to do by the end of a particular stage of learning. Learning outcomes are developed based on the learning targets and objectives of the curriculum for the purpose of evaluating learning effectiveness. Learning outcomes also describe the levels of performance that learners should attain after completing a particular key stage of learning and serve as a tool for
Term Description learning
community
A learning community refers to a group of people who have shared values and goals, and work closely together to generate knowledge and create new ways of learning through active participation, collaboration and reflection. Such a learning community may involve not only students and teachers, but also parents and other parties in the community.
Key Learning Area
It is a way of organising the school curriculum around the fundamental concepts of major knowledge domains. It aims at providing a broad, balanced and coherent curriculum for all students through engaging them in a variety of essential learning experiences. The Hong Kong curriculum has eight KLAs, namely, Chinese Language Education, English Language Education, Mathematics Education, Personal, Social and Humanities Education, Science Education, Technology Education, Arts Education and Physical Education.
generic skills Generic skills are skills, abilities and attributes which are fundamental in helping students to acquire, construct and apply knowledge. They are developed through the learning and teaching that takes place in different subjects or Key Learning Areas, and are transferable to different learning situations. Nine types of generic skills are identified in the Hong Kong school curriculum, i.e. collaboration skills, communication skills, creativity, critical thinking skills, information technology skills, numeracy skills, problem-solving skills, self-management skills and study skills.
curriculum framework
A curriculum framework is a supportive structure to help schools to plan and develop their own curricula. The major components are:
knowledge and concepts, generic skills, and the values and attitudes relevant to each Key Learning Area. The framework sets out what students should know, value and be able to do at the various stages of schooling. It gives schools and teachers flexibility and ownership to plan and develop alternative curriculum modes to meet their students’
varied needs.
co-curricular activities
Co-curricular activities are activities that provide students with learning experiences to be gained inside or outside the classroom, including the actual environment in the community and work places.
Traditionally known as extra-curricular activities, they form an integral part of the school curriculum complementing the formal classroom learning.
Term Description contextual
learning
Contextual learning adopts learning materials mainly from daily life encounters in various living environments, which students are familiar with, such as family, school campus and community. It emphasises the importance of learning in real-life contexts. Through actual participation along with teachers’ guidance, students are encouraged to apply what they have learnt in real-life situations and achieve the learning objectives.
core values, sustaining values and attitudes
Values may be defined as those qualities that an individual or society considers as principles for conduct. Values can vary across societies, as different social and economic conditions in different geographical locations may lead to different value emphases. However, across societies, we can still identify certain values that are commonly or universally recognised. The emergence of these universal values illustrates the shared concerns of human societies, the basic qualities of human existence, the common elements in human civilisation, and also the common characteristics of human nature. Therefore, the acquisition and understanding of these universal values is essential for our inheritance and appreciation of human civilisation and for the nurturing of enthusiastic and responsible citizens who are able to make contributions in local and international activities. In view of their substantial importance, we call these universal values “core values”.
Sustaining values are also important at an instrumental level for maintaining the core values.
lesson time Lesson time refers to the time that teachers and students spend in lessons, which are, however, not limited to the classroom setting.
positive values Values help form the principles underlying human conduct and critical judgement. They drive individuals’ decision-making and action in various circumstances. Positive values are those conforming to moral standards and receiving recognition and support from the general public. Moreover, they serve as the essential basis for personal growth and identity-building. “Perseverance”, “Respect for others”, “Sense of responsibility”, “National identity”, “Commitment”, “Care for others”
and “Integrity” are priority values to be fostered in schools, as proposed in the curriculum reform. These values are to be reinforced in the diverse learning experiences of various Key Learning Areas/subjects and life-wide learning.
Term Description national
identity
“National identity” is one of the priority values that the curriculum reform has proposed to be promoted in schools. National identity covers (i) cultural identification (including languages, words, religious beliefs, attributes, traditions and customs, morals and ethics, social norms, literature, arts, etc.); (ii) citizenship (in terms of concern for society and sense of belonging); and (iii) patriotism (such as the notion of the country and the peoples in addition to a sense of belonging towards the country). These concepts are closely related to the personal sense of belonging towards the country.
period Period generally refers to the regular arrangements of lesson time for different subjects in schools. They are shown in the allocation of study units in the class timetables.
life event Events and encounters of students’ daily life can serve as learning contexts and materials in the design of MNE teaching activities to help students cultivate positive values and identity. Life events in the five domains, namely the personal, family, social, national and global domains, can be categorised according to the frequency of their occurrence into core events (common events that most students experience during their journey of growth, e.g. furthering study and making new friends); extended events (events that not all of the students experience, e.g. family disputes and running student union elections); and special events (events in special circumstances or individual social incidents, e.g. unemployment of family members, illness of family members and natural disasters).
value conflict In ordinary life contexts, a person experiences value conflicts when they are facing an ethical dilemma. Such a situation often involves conflicting values, which the individual has to deliberate on, weigh up, judge and choose between, in order to reach a reasonable judgement.
controversial issue
Controversial issues often arouse general social discussion, in which people are influenced by their own understanding and values, making it difficult to reach a consensus. Discussion of controversial issues constitutes an essential part of values education. Through their guidance to students in such discussions, teachers can help students clarify their values and make judgements in caring and reasonable manner.