ERIC Number: EJ1141617
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017
Pages: 18
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0958-5176
EISSN: N/A
Is Liberal Studies a Political Instrument in the Secondary School Curriculum? Lessons from the Umbrella Movement in Post-Colonial Hong Kong
Fung, Dennis Chun-Lok; Lui, Wai-Mei
Curriculum Journal, v28 n2 p158-175 2017
This paper examines whether Hong Kong teachers and students perceived Liberal Studies and its ongoing curriculum review as politically driven during and after the Umbrella Movement, a large-scale civil disobedience campaign that took place in September 2014. The findings presented herein show that both groups disagreed with the claim that Liberal Studies was used as a political instrument to instigate students' participation in the protest movement. Moreover, they also reveal that teachers have maintained their neutrality towards controversial issues related to politics during Liberal Studies lessons. Whilst the participating teachers and students considered the government's proposed reform of Liberal Studies to be politically motivated, they held differing attitudes towards the addition of more China-related elements to the subject. On the basis of these results, this paper analyses the potential role of Liberal Studies in the democratisation of local society. It also provides an indication of the curriculum's dynamic nature, explanation of students' resistance to the review policy and suggestions for the subject's future development.
Descriptors: Secondary School Curriculum, Foreign Countries, Liberal Arts, Political Influences, Political Issues, Social Change, Activism, Civil Disobedience, Secondary School Teachers, Controversial Issues (Course Content), Student Participation, Questionnaires, Semi Structured Interviews, Democracy, Politics of Education, Secondary School Students, Teacher Attitudes, Student Attitudes
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Hong Kong; China
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A