Frequently Asked Questions on the New Academic Structure for Senior Secondary Education and Higher Education
Technology Education Key Learning Area (Subject: Health Management and Social Care)
Q1. Health Management and Social Care (HMSC) is not offered at primary and junior secondary levels, how do schools prepare for the interface?
A1. At present, primary students have acquired some basic knowledge related to HMSC when studying the strands of ‘Health and Living’, ‘Community and Citizenship’
under the Primary General Studies curriculum. At junior secondary level, students learned some of the basic concepts and knowledge of HMSC through their studies of related subjects like Science, Home Economics and Life and Society under respective Key Learning Areas of Science Education, Technology Education as well as Personal, Social and Humanities Education.
Q2. What are the special features of HMSC curriculum?
A2. HMSC is one of the elective subjects under the senior secondary curriculum. It provides a context for students to understand the concepts of health and healthy practices, to take on responsibility for good citizenship in building a caring society, and to formulate a caring and support system which fits into our local needs and strengths, and assists in better managing the transitions our society is involved in.
HMSC aims to develop the necessary knowledge and awareness of emerging health and social problems that are affecting not only our lives but also the society and the world at large.
The design of the HMSC curriculum rests on the notion of the interconnectedness of the various levels at which phenomena related to health and sickness, well-being and ill-being, and personal and community care are to be understood. These levels can be interpreted as the individual, the family, the peer group, the community, the institutional setting, society, the nation and the world.
The HMSC curriculum includes five main topics in the compulsory part and three modules in the elective part. In the learning process, students have the opportunity to develop a holistic view of health and social care through personal empowerment, involvement in groups, community learning and action, and the application of
strategies of social advocacy. In this way, students should be able to acquire the foundation knowledge stipulated in the compulsory part before attempting the elective part.
Q3. How to plan and organise School-based Assessment (SBA) in HMSC?
A3. The primary rationale for SBA in HMSC is to enhance the validity of the assessment by including a wider range of learning outcomes through employing assessment modes that are not possible in written examinations. Students could be more motivated as they are required to participate in various meaningful learning activities under SBA. Teachers could develop more good practices and carry out in-depth assessment of student performances to align with the curriculum aims.
Field Learning Task is the SBA task in HMSC. This could be carried out in various forms, for example: community service, organising / participating school / public events related to HMSC, visits / tours to health / social care organisations to conduct interview or just as observer on specific events. By conducting the field learning, participating in the community service, organising the work-related activities and writing the reflective journals, students engage in the stages of experiential learning through experiencing, sharing, analysing, induction, deduction and application. All these contribute to a positive environment for students with diverse learning abilities.
Q4. How does EDB support the learning and teaching of HMSC?
A4. There is a series of Professional Development Programmes for HMSC teachers. They include “understanding and interpreting the curriculum”; “assessing student learning”; “learning and teaching strategies”; and “enriching knowledge”.
Due to the ever-changing nature of the issues in HMSC, teachers cannot rely on one single learning and teaching resource or textbook. To facilitate learning, a wide range of learning and teaching resources such as reference books, related policy documents or reports, research findings, information leaflets or brochures, newspaper, websites are needed to help students learn effectively in more interesting and interactive ways, broaden their learning experiences, and lay a solid foundation for their lifelong learning.
The One-stop Portal for Learning and Teaching Resources is developed in which the
updated texts, electronic materials and hyper-links to other related web-based resources in HMSC are available. HMSC teachers can also use HMSC EdBlog as a platform to share their experiences and materials.
Q5. Will EDB develop any learning and teaching resource materials to support HMSC teachers if there is no textbook for this subject?
A5. A wide range of resources in the form of text materials and electronic version (in both Chinese and English) covering all topics of the HMSC curriculum are developed, for example: a glossary of terms, a web-based database with audio-visual resources (e.g.
ETV programme, poster, leaflets, powerpoint), a series of learning and teaching resource /reference materials including samples of teaching schemes, lesson plans, teachers’ notes, handout for students, assessment tasks, etc. For an overview of resources available, please refer to Chapter 6 of the HMSC Curriculum and Assessment Guide (S4-6).
Q6. Who can teach HMSC?
A6. Teachers teaching subjects such as Home Economics, , Biology or Liberal Studies would have the proficiency to deliver some of the learning elements. However, they still need to update their knowledge in order to teach HMSC. Teachers could also consider taking professional development programmes in the following areas:
sociology, social work, counseling, nursing, public health, food and nutrition.
Q7. What are the prospects for studying HMSC?
A7. The HMSC curriculum contributes to the broad foundation required to enable students to make decisions about further education and career development at post secondary pathways. The curriculum provides students with the requisite knowledge, as well as the capacity for continuing their learning in the degree programmes of health care and medicine, nursing, psychology, public health, social work and sociology in local or overseas institutions. Upon their graduation, they can work in different sectors such as health care, social service, education and public administration as the doctors, nurse, social workers, teachers and government executives.
