Major Pedagogical Strategies to Enhance Learning and Teaching

learning. The table below shows some of the roles that a PSHE teacher is playing.

Role of a Teacher Examples

Transmitter of Knowledge

 Giving a brief lecture on the background of the issue to be explored

Demonstrator  Showing students the task requirements and expectations Resource Person  Providing advice on sources of information

Facilitator of Learning

 Helping students formulate appropriate learning goals and identify the most appropriate means of achieving them

 Assisting students to develop positive learning habits, master learning strategies and develop meta-cognitive skills

 Creating stimulating and motivating contexts for learning

 Developing a mutually supportive, tolerant and accepting learning community

Assessor

 Monitoring and assessing student learning

 Conducting a debriefing and providing feedback on students’

strengths and weaknesses Co-learner  Learning alongside students

PSHE teachers often play different roles in the learning and teaching process. Example 27 “Multiple roles of teachers” provides analysis and demonstration of the roles of a teacher of Life and Society (Secondary 1 - 3) in the learning and teaching of the topic

“Poverty Issue in Hong Kong”.

4.3.3 Emphasising knowledge construction through enquiry learning

• The enquiry approach is emphasised in the implementation of the PSHE KLA curriculum. Students are encouraged to devise and review their own learning plans, ask questions, seek answers and share their findings and recommendations on the issues under study with the teacher and their peers.

• Teachers have a significant facilitator role to play in students’ enquiry process.

On the one hand, they provide opportunities for students to practise and develop self-directed learning capabilities and habits through well-planned learning activities. On the other hand, they give suitable guidance and feedback to students in the learning process. With reference to schools’ experiences and good practices, some positive actions to be taken by PSHE teachers in adopting enquiry learning are recapitulated below:

- Guiding students in choosing curriculum-related enquiry questions;

- Providing advice on the feasibility of proposed data collection methods and the availability of resources;

- Helping students organise systematically the information gathered, which are at times fragmented and incoherent, by providing them with thinking tools or a framework for analysis;

- Monitoring students’ progress at different stages of enquiry to ensure that students, especially those from Key Stages One to Three, are meeting the objectives set for the different stages;

- Providing an open learning environment for students’ active participation in individual enquiries, group discussions and presentations of different views, as well as collaboration in solving problems;

- Posing thoughtful and open-ended questions to guide students’ thinking and seek clarification from students to help them reconceptualise their views;

- Encouraging peer interaction among students by providing opportunities for them to co-learn and work in pairs or groups, ask questions and give feedback to each other;

- Providing debriefings to students to help them organise the learning points in a coherent and appropriate way and guide them to reflect on their own learning;

- Giving formative and summative feedback to help students better connect the enquiries with the lesson content learned; and

- Withholding ideas until students have aired their views.

A teacher of a secondary school adopts an enquiry approach in a Secondary 3 Integrated Humanities lesson to help her students understand the impact of World War I on the countries involved and the content of the Treaty of Versailles. For details, please refer to Example 28 “Learning through enquiry in a junior secondary Integrated Humanities lesson”.

A teacher of a secondary school relates students’ learning in Economics with their daily lives with the aim of raising students’ learning motivation and exposing them to the explanatory power and limitations of Economics in real-world situations. For details, please refer to Example 29 “Enhancing learning motivation and learning effectiveness through enquiry into daily-life situations in Secondary 5 Economics”.

A History teacher adopts enquiry learning in teaching a controversial topic “The Reasons behind Ethnic Conflicts between Israeli and the Arabs” in senior secondary History.

Students’ prior knowledge, diversified learning activities, ready-to-use learning and teaching resources, and teachers’ supportive roles are most critical. For details, please

refer to Example 30 “Teaching controversial issues through enquiry learning in senior secondary History”.

4.3.4 Strategies for teaching controversial issues

• In the PSHE KLA curriculum, some topics involve enquiring controversial issues. These issues often involve different perspectives, values and interests, with the result that it is hard to reach a consensus on many of them. Examples include the formulation of retirement protection policy and standard working hours in Hong Kong.

• With teachers’ careful planning, support, and emphasis on making rational judgement, discussion on controversial issues related to the PSHE KLA curriculum can facilitate students’ understanding of the complexities and controversies of the issues, as well as the views and values that underpin the decisions of different stakeholders concerned. Through well-organised learning activities involving discussion and sharing, students’ perspectives can be broadened and their understanding of society can be deepened. With teachers’

skillful guidance, the key focus of nurturing students’ humanistic qualities, such as care for others and respect for different values, can also be effectively promoted.

• The following are some principles for the learning and teaching of controversial issues:

- Selecting issues: The issues selected for enquiry should be related to the PSHE KLA curriculum to facilitate students’ application of what they have learned in interpreting new information and constructing new knowledge and understanding. Attention needs to be given to students’ maturity and ability levels and interests so that learning can be built on students’ prior knowledge, experiences and capabilities. Where applicable, teachers could also select global issues for discussion and/or comparison to deepen students’ understanding of their society and broaden their international perspectives.

- Adapting learning and teaching materials: Teachers should select trustworthy and well-documented materials which provide sufficient background information on the issue being studied. The materials should include views and concerns of different stakeholders on the issue to provide students with multiple perspectives. Adaptation of learning and teaching materials may be needed to ensure that they are comprehensible to students.

Students should also be encouraged to search and read a wider variety of resource materials, including books, documentaries, etc.

- Cultivating positive classroom atmosphere: Teachers play a vital role in fostering a positive classroom atmosphere which is receptive to and supportive of students’ views and values, and where peer learning is emphasised.

- Encouraging students to make recommendations: Teachers have a key role to play in guiding students to identify the key questions about the issue, to review the evidence collected, and to understand and analyse the views of different stakeholders and the values they cherish. Teachers should also help students make informed judgements, provide opportunities for them to explore different possibilities to solve problems, and make feasible suggestions to tackle the issue.

- Providing debriefing for consolidation of learning: While it may not be likely for students to reach a consensus, teachers should conclude the lesson to consolidate what students have discussed, and what remains to be probed further.

• Through this enquiry process, students’ holistic thinking skills (i.e. the integrative use of critical thinking skills, creativity and problem solving skills) can be fostered and their humanistic qualities, such as an open-mindedness and respect for different opinions, can be nurtured.

• Teachers’ professional guidance, feedback, and input are of paramount importance to encourage students to analyse events and issues in a rational and objective manner, and adopt positive values and attitudes as one of the guiding principles to make judgements and decisions. Teachers should refrain from the dissemination of information, or expression of opinion, of a clearly biased political nature in schools. Moreover, it is the professional duty of teachers to clarify students’ misunderstandings and misconceptions and provide positive guidance.

Many modules in Life and Society (Secondary 1 - 3) involve controversial issues, for example, standard working hours and retirement protection. A Life and Society teacher shares his experience and provides some tips on teaching controversial issues. For details, please refer to Example 32 “Teaching controversial issues: Reflection of a Life and Society (Secondary 1 - 3) teacher”.