the chinese university of hong kong hong kong institute of educational research mcls 6508

The Chinese University of Hong KongHong Kong Institute of Educational Research

MCLS 6508

Selected Topics in Liberal Studies

TSANG, Wing [email protected]

http://www.fed.cuhk.edu.hk/~wktsang/

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.fed.cuhk.edu.hk/~wktsang/

Which Topics?

文滙報 2013 年 8 月 30 日

■ 2013年 10月 16日 (三)

觀點 > 觀點張銳輝﹕聽聽教育工作者的聲音——請梁議員不要再自說自話【明報專訊】早前又見梁美芬議員質疑通識教育科的文章，文中的觀點大部分早已在她以前的文章中提出過，而過去幾個月來，已有不同的前線教育工作者及教育學者，撰文以學術分析及前線教學經驗，向社會人士作出科學理性的解說與分析。奈何梁議員對教育界及至社會各界的解說置若罔聞，繼續自說自話。現唯有整理各界回應於下：

‧ 梁議員的觀點（一）：教師的政治立場，會令學生猜忖，老師也會以個人政治取向閱卷評分。

‧ 學生、前線教育工作者及學者回應：本人曾參與過兩屆新高中通識的評分，過程裏感受到考評局很嚴厲要求評分者要持平，而評分過程亦由多於一位老師評分，所以為合政府口味而提出支持政府之類答案並不是得分關鍵，而是考生在立論過程如何展現高水準思維。近年來，學通識的學生與教通識的老師都清楚知識考試裏持一面之詞，或背誦新聞知識來回答通識考題相信在考評裏不會成功。（李維儉老師，《信報》，8月 3日）通識科既無固定政治取態，也不要求同學認同或否定某政治主張，當然容許考生就政治爭議作獨立思考及表達意見，只要理據充分，自可得分。（何滿添校長，《信報》，5月 18日）「聯席」多番提及學生在考評過程中取態時備受壓力，會有偏頗狀，不過，就校本評核 5年以來的正式運作，以及兩屆考生的放榜及上訴結果，均未見有「聯席」擔心的事實出現。（許承恩老師，《明報》，9月 3日）老師們縱有個人立場，但會讓其他聲音、意見表達出來。其實所謂的「保持中立」不也是一種立場？那就是不願表達任何意見的立場。老師也是社會公民，只是做每個公民都應做的事，自然也會有不同的立場。（潘詠詩老師，《明報》，9月 8日）（梁美芬）言下之意，即一直以來我們這一批教師不公正，不公平。可惜，梁女士指出這個問題後，竟無援引例證，便未審先判。（楊仰風老師，《成報》，9月 9日）難道梁美芬認為考評局不能客觀持平地評核學生成績，反會偏頗地讓支持拉布的學生取得較高的分數？如梁美芬的幻想屬實，學民思潮大概每年也有數十個 5**了。（黃之鋒同學，《明報》，9月 7日）

■ 2013年 10月 16日 (三)

觀點 > 觀點張銳輝﹕聽聽教育工作者的聲音——請梁議員不要再自說自話【明報專訊】……

‧ 梁議員的觀點（二）：爭議性政治議題（如佔中）不應教亦不可考。

‧ 前線教育工作者及學者回應：即使學校不教授此等爭議性議題，學生都會在媒體、社交網絡及朋輩口中得知有關事件，甚至有第一身的經歷，例如參與反國教的遊行和集會等。可是，於此等途徑接收的資訊未必全面，而學生亦未必能有效處理及分析各種資訊，因而可能產生各種誤解。經過學校裏曾受有關教授爭議性議題訓練的老師有系統地提供全面的資訊及從多角度的分析，學生則能對此議題有更深入詳盡及較全面的理解，從而作出知情的抉擇。（香港教育學院：梁恩榮博士、盧恩臨女士，《明報》，6月 25日）教育研究指出在教授一些抽象或深奧的概念或議題時，可採用螺旋課程設計（spiral curriculum），根據學生的能力，從小開始由淺入深教授。例如人權此一概念，在幼稚園已有人權教材套，配合簡單的日常生活例子，教授學生認識的權利及義務。通識科所涵蓋的各個議題均有其深奧之處，例如溫室效應可以涉及艱深的化學及地理專門知識，逃避處理，只是鴕鳥的做法！（香港教育學院：梁恩榮博士、盧恩臨女士，《明報》，7月 13日）同學每天均離不開政治和社會議題，如果連教學和擬題也要刻意避開日常事件，這去政治化的方向是否香港教育界之福，個人有極大疑問和保留。（何滿添校長，《信報》，5月 18日）無論梁議員是否同意八十後的抗爭手法、政黨拉布、佔領中環等不同形式的社會政治參與，這些議題都是今日香港青少年接觸的世界的一部分，亦與課程內容相關。老師如果接觸到教協「佔領中環」的教材，又決定在課堂使用，大可以將教材和媒體上不少反對「佔中」的文章一併給予學生閱讀，引導多角度思考和分析，而不是避了議題便算。（陳岡校長，《信報》，5月 10日）政治乃社會生活的重要部分，公開試題中，去年一條問及「政黨政治」，今年一條問及「拉布」，學生能自由選擇正反立場，論據充足便可得分。這兩道題均與香港的重要權力機關─立法會息息相關。其實，全港考生在應考文憑試時，接近或已屆十八歲，作為一個將成年的公民，亦完成了十二年免費教育，應對現實政治有基本的認識和思考。（楊仰風老師，《成報》，9月 9日）

Is LS Worthy of the Status of Core Subject in NSSC: The Curriculum of the Future

必修 ? 必考 ? 必計 ?

MCLS 6508Selected Topics in Liberal Studies

Lecture 1

In Search of the Meanings & Pedagogical Knowledge & Practice

for a Curriculum of the Future

In Search of the Meanings and Values for LS in NSSC: The Curriculum of the Future

Michael Young in his book The Curriculum of the Future (1998) makes a distinction between curricula of divisive specialization and connective specialization in analyzing the curricular structure of post-compulsory and A-level education in England and Wales


Curriculum of divisive specialization It refers to curriculum in post- compulsory

education which corresponds with the mode of production of Fordism, which bears the following features: Rigid insulation between manual and non-manual labor Rigid sectional form of divisive specialization among

occupational and professional groups Complex division of labor into mechanical, repetitive and

observable motions Separation between conception and execution of work Strict hierarchical structure of delegation of authority and

line of commands


Curriculum of divisive specialization In connection to the mode of production of Fordism, the

curriculum of in post-compulsory and A-level education is organized in the form of what Young called "divisive specialization"

Sharpe separation between academic study and vocational training

Sharpe division among curricular streams, such as science, humanities and social study

Selective and exclusive rather than participating and inclusive education system

Inflexible in movement and transferring between divisions and streams

Exaggerate differences between high low prestigious institutions and programs


Curriculum in connective specialization It refers to curriculum, which Young advocates

would be advantageous to the labor formation of the economy of the 21st century, which bears the following structural attributes

Flexible specialization of production and greatly decrease the division between manual and non-manual labor both in scale and scope

Sectional specialization was replaced by corporate specialization, which encouraging vertical integration among different occupational and professional groups within corporations.

New information-based technology replacing mechanical and repetitive motions of human labor


Curriculum in connective specialization …..the labor formation of the economy of the 21st

century…..the following structural attributes Human-centred organization and flatter management

structureInteractively integration between conception and execution

of work in models such as quality circles, quality terms, learning community


Curriculum in connective specialization In relation to the mode of production of post-

Fordism, Young suggests that school curriculum for the 21st century should be in the form of “connective specialization”

Connective specialization “as a curriculum concept it points to the interdependence of the concept, processes, and organization of curriculum. As definition of educational purposes it seeks to transcend the traditional dichotomy of ‘the educated person’ (academic and non-manual) and ‘the competent employee’ (vocational and manual) which define the purposes of the two tracks of a divided curriculum.” (Young, 1998, p. 78)


Curriculum in connective specialization ……school curriculum for the 21st century should be

in the form of “connective specialization” It therefore "provides the basis a very different curriculum

for the future" which he terms "connective specialization". "Such a curriculum …would need to build on and give specificity to the principles of:

• breadth and flexibility

• connections between both core and specialist studies and general (academic) and applied (vocational) studies

• opportunities for progression and credit transfer

• a clear sense of the purpose of the curriculum as a whole." (Young, 1998, p. 79)

Liberal Studies as connective-specialization curriculum in NSSC in HKSAR

Curriculum of the Future: The Nature of LS in NSSC

Comparison of the definitive features of Liberal Studies & traditional school subjects

Curriculum of the Future: The Nature of LS in NSSC

Liberal Studies Traditional Subjects

Curriculum Content - Interdisciplinary - Weak classification

- Disciplinary - Strong classification

Curriculum form - Modularized or issue-based

- Inquiry-oriented - Weak frame

- Structured & systematic

- Acquisition-oriented - Strong frame

Educational Knowledge Code

Integrative code Collection code

Form of specialization

Connective specialization

Divisive specialization

Curriculum objective

Liberated and critical mind

Disciplined mind

Curriculum Text Hyper-digital text Fixed-typographic text

Assessment Continuous & non-standardized assessment

Single & standardized assessment

Liberal Education for Informational-Knowledge Age


Problems confronting liberal education in knowledge society: Four trends have changed the problem of liberal education beyond recognition in recent decades: knowledge is growing so rapidly and uncontrollably that the

very idea of an ‘all-round’ (or ‘general’) education is coming to seem unfeasible;

nonetheless, it seems increasingly obvious that knowledge skills of some kind are essential in a society where ‘knowledge work’ has become the most productive and highly remunerated kind of work;

moreover, it seems clear that these knowledge skills, whatever they are, can’t be confined to an elite, but must be imparted to everyone;


Problems confronting liberal education in knowledge society: Four trends have changed the problem of liberal education beyond recognition in recent decades: ….. in a pluralist society, the old classical model of learning

knowledge skills (illustrated for example by European elite education) is challenged by some groups in society who reject the culture in which such education has been embedded.” (Henderson and Smith, 2002, p. 1)


Carl Bereiter in his book entitled Mind and Education in the Knowledge Age (2002) suggests that there are two conceptions of the mind


Carl Bereiter in his book entitled Mind and Education in the Knowledge Age (2002) suggests that there are two conceptions of the mind Mind as container: The traditional conception of the mind is

metaphorically pictured as a container or a file cabinet, which store all the information and knowledge a person received from her environment.

Mind of connectivity: Bereiter asserts that it is evidenced in cognitive studies that human mind does not simply receive and store information and knowledge. It will make intelligent and understanding connection about them.


Berieter asserts that the connectivist conception of the mind is essential to the education in the knowledge age. IT is because In knowledge age, information and knowledge increase so rapidly

in both quality and quantity that it is unrealistic to expect a human mind to store this ever growing volume of knowledge.

In knowledge society and attention economy, the most productive work has been attributed to the “knowledge work”, which in essence means exactly the capacity to make creative, intelligent and relevant connectivity about seemingly diversified information and knolwegde.

Berieter also suggests that in cognitive studies of deep understanding and mastery of sophisticate skill, it is found that the mechanism working behind these high-level sense making is the capacity to make intelligent and relevant connectivity about the seemingly complicated situation.


Conception of knowledgeability Karl Popper’s conception of World 3: Berieter makes reference

with Karl Poper’s conception of three world of knowledge World 1: It refers to knowledge about the physical world, which

could be created by “all animals whose nervous systems have some requisite degree of complexity.

World 2: It refers to knowledge about the subjective and mental world, which could mind mainly be created by human species.

World 3: It refers to knowledge about ideas and what Berieter call conceptual artefacts.


Conception of knowledgeability Carl Bereiter depict his conception of conceptual artifact as

follow.

“Such as conceptual artifact is the kitchen recipe. Recipes have a life outside the minds of people who know them and outside the embodiments in printed form. We speak of recipes being handed down from generation to generation, undergoing modification, splitting into various versions.” (Berieter, 2002, P.3)


Conception of knowledgeability Carl Berieter’s concept of knowledgeablity: With reference to

Berieter’s conectivist concept of mind and coneptaul artifact (i.e. Popper’s concept of World 3) Berieter coins the concept of knowledgeability. It refer to the capacity of the human mind in making intelligent and creative connections with knowledge and in making use of conceptual artefacts in handling ideas, propositions, hypotheses, and various forms of abstract thinking about the World 3.


Conception of knowledgeability Accordingly, Berieter suggests that education for the knowledge

age is the effort to enculturation human mind into world 3 and the community of knowledge workers, who are working skillfully with conceptual artefacts in a respective field and/or discipline, and can creatively and intelligently make connectivity about informations, ideas, concepts, theories, perspectives, or any other kinds of conceptual artefacts. Berieter summarize his approach of education in juxtaposition with traditional approach of education as follow

Old approach to education New approach to education

Knowledge transmission Knowledge construction

Memorization Reasoning

Teacher directed Learner centered

Competitive Collective

Tightly scheduled Opportunistic

Fact centered Idea centered

In Search of Pedagogical Knowledge In Search of Pedagogical Knowledge & Practice of LS& Practice of LS

Pamela Grossman’s conception of teacher knowledge (1990) Subject matter knowledge General pedagogical knowledge Knowledge of context Pedagogical content knowledge

Lee S. Shulman’s conception of categories of knowledge base (1987) Content knowledge (or subject matter knowledge) General pedagogical knowledge Curriculum knowledge Pedagogical content knowledge Knowledge of learners and their characteristics Knowledge of educational contexts Knowledge of educational ends, purposed and

values, and their philosophical and historical grounds


Morine-Dershimer and Kent’s conception of teachers’ pedagogical knowledge Pedagogical content knowledge


PedagogicalContent

Knowledge

Assessment Procedures, Evaluation of Outcomes

Educational Ends, Goals,

Purposes and ValuesPedagogical Knowledge

Knowledge of Learners& Learning

CurriculumKnowledge

ContentKnowledge

Knowledge of Specific Contexts

Knowledge of GeneralEducational Contexts

In Search of Pedagogical KnowledgeIn Search of Pedagogical Knowledge

Morine-Dershimer and Kent’s conception of teachers’ pedagogical knowledge Pedagogical content knowledge Teachers’ reflections on pedagogical knowledge

General PedagogicalKnowledge

Instructional Models and Strategies

Classroom Management and

Organization

Personal Beliefs/

Perceptions

Classroom Communication and Discourse

Context Specific PedagogicalKnowledge

Reflection

Personal Pedagogical Knowledge

Personal Practical

Experiences

Knowledge of GeneralEducational Contexts

PedagogicalContent

Knowledge

Assessment Procedures, Evaluation of Outcomes

Educational Ends, Goals,

Purposes and ValuesPedagogical Knowledge

Knowledge of Learners& Learning

CurriculumKnowledge

ContentKnowledge

Knowledge of Specific Contexts

Liberal & general education in knowledge Society

Interdisciplinaryknowledge of

weak classification

Modularized, issue-based, connective & integrative structure, and Inquiry-oriented

Issue inquiry approach with

hyper-texts

Learners habitualized in

banking-oriented education

Continuous & non-standardized assessment

Aim at nurturing Critical Thinking

Examination-oriented classroom and school contexts

?

The Curriculum of the future: The Meanings and values of LS for the future citizens of HKSAR

Issue Enquiry Approach (IEA): The political essence in the curriculum & pedagogy of LS

Critical Thinking (CT): The radical interest in the curriculum & pedagogy of LS

Independent Enquiry Study (IES): …….

Which Topics?

MCLS 6508Lecture 1

In Search of the Meanings and Pedagogical Knowledge & Practice for a Curriculum of the Future

END

the chinese university of hong kong hong kong institute of educational research mcls 6508

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