The Arts Education KLA Level – Curriculum Planning

At the Arts Education KLA level, a school Arts Education curriculum consisting of diversified learning opportunities inside and outside the classroom should be offered to maximise students’ learning in and through the arts.

(i) Aligning with the School Development Plan

A school Arts Education curriculum should align with the school development plan for strengthening students’ all-round education. The Arts Education KLA co-ordinator, in collaboration with panel members of the Arts subjects, should draw up concrete strategies for planning, implementing and evaluating the Arts Education curriculum in response to the major concerns in the school development plan.

(ii) Offering Diversified Arts Learning Experiences

In addition to Chinese, western and local arts, exposing students to the arts of different cultures could help enrich their arts learning experiences and broaden their world knowledge. Moreover, students should participate in appreciating, creating and performing activities which complement each other for students’

comprehensive understanding of the arts.

(iii) Learning across the Arts

Curriculum planning across the arts helps students make associations between different learning experiences related to the arts in a rich and integrative manner.

Students’ learning of one art form can be enhanced through the application of knowledge developed in another art form, make better connections among their arts learning experiences and form a more holistic perception of the arts. Teachers can identify themes and common elements for connecting different art forms in curriculum planning, and arrange learning opportunities in lessons and beyond the classroom.

(iv) Strengthening Interface between Key Stages

Smooth transition between key stages will help students build a solid foundation and sustain their interests in learning the arts. Teachers should adopt different strategies to help students proceed across key stages. Examples are as follows.

 Design an age-appropriate and coherent Arts Education curriculum by considering students’ development in the cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains, such as from understanding of direct representation to symbolic presentations, from expression of personal emotion to care of society, and from acquisition of simple to complex skills. Therefore, Arts teachers have to acquire a better understanding of students’ previous knowledge and learning experiences of the arts, especially for students’ progressing from Kindergarten to Primary 1, from Primary 6 to Secondary 1, and from Secondary 3 to 4. The learning objectives for Music and Visual Arts, and examples of learning activities from Key Stages 1 to 3 are at Appendices II and III.

 Train some upper primary/senior secondary students as mentors to help lower primary/junior secondary students adapt to their learning and school life.

 Provide induction programmes to students and parents to familiarise students with the Arts Education curriculum, and help students reflect on their inclinations or aspirations of further studies and career development.

Refer to Chapter 9 of the BECG and Booklet 8 of the SECG for more information on interfaces between different key stages.

(v) Embracing Learner Diversity

Embracing learner diversity is not about minimising students’ learning differences or uniformising their learning achievements. It is to allow all students, including students with special educational needs and students who are gifted, to perform to the best of their abilities in the arts. Teachers should take into account students’

learning abilities, styles and interests, cultural backgrounds in planning the curriculum.

In the Arts Education KLA, schools should provide sufficient opportunities to students with special educational needs to realise and develop their potential through curriculum adaptation, e.g. tailoring the learning objectives, contents and activities, deploying the resources and manpower. A wide range of LWL activities related to the arts should also be planned and provided for students to demonstrate their achievements.

Schools should use identification tools and models (e.g. nomination by teachers or parents for students with outstanding academic and non-academic achievements) flexibly to identify gifted students for appropriate placement and providing them

lead and collaborate with panel members in adopting the operation mode of gifted education.

 Level 1 – Whole-class (School-based)

Schools provide students with ample opportunities for discovering and developing their artistic potential through exposure to different art forms and participation in diverse arts learning activities.

 Level 2 – Pull-out (School-based)

Schools should conduct enhancement programmes outside lesson time to allow systematic training and further development for students with outstanding performance in the arts.

 Level 3 – Off-site

Enrichment programmes and activities offered by outside bodies (e.g. tertiary institutions, non-governmental organisations and professional bodies) could provide challenging enrichment opportunities for exceptionally gifted students nominated by schools.

Refer to Chapter 4 of the BECG, Booklet 5 of the SECG and Section 4.4 of this Guide for more information on strategies to cater for and embrace learner diversity.

(vi) Facilitating Life-wide Learning

Life-wide Learning (LWL) activities may engage students in authentic contexts to learn the arts, e.g. attending a live concert, performing in an orchestra, participating in a drama performance, visiting an art exhibition, creating a mural on site and appreciating a movie/TV advertisement. These activities are essential for students to acquire first-hand experience of the arts.

LWL should be an integral part of the school Arts Education curriculum. Schools should adopt appropriate measures, such as establishing connections with community organisations, allocating learning time, and deploying human resources and funding for the organisation of arts-related LWL activities. All LWL activities should complement student learning of the arts in the classroom and should not be a collection of unconnected arts activities.

Refer to Chapter 6 of the BECG, Booklet 7 of the SECG and Section 4.3.2 of this Guide for more information on LWL.

(vii) Providing Multiple Pathways to Support Further Studies and Future Careers

A well-designed Arts Education curriculum should enable students to stretch their potential, explore their interests and develop a solid foundation of the arts.

Appropriate guidance should be provided for students to understand the opportunities of Vocational and Professional Education and Training (VPET) related to the arts. Suggested strategies are as follows.

 Make good use of the Student Learning Profile (SLP) to record senior secondary students’ various arts learning experiences and help them reflect on their interests and needs for further development in the arts.

 Encourage students to study the Arts elective subjects at Key Stage 4 to foster their in-depth studies of the arts.

 Invite arts practitioners to share professional experience to prepare students for their academic development and career planning.

 Arrange visits to tertiary institutions, arts organisations and workplace for better understanding about the needs of arts-related professions and prospects.

Refer to Booklet 9 of the SECG for more information and suggestions on VPET.