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The Curriculum Development Institute (CDI) of the Education Bureau (EDB) will provide about 830 Professional Development Programmes (PDPs) in the 2016/17 school year to cater for the needs of around 60 000 principals and teachers of secondary and primary schools and pre-primary institutions in Hong Kong in implementing school-based curriculum planning to promote effective learning among students. Booklets on the PDPs are now available on the EDB website for schools' reference.
A spokesman for the EDB said today (June 29) that planning for the PDPs has taken into consideration feedback from school heads and teachers collected through various channels and the latest developments in education. Phasing into the stage of continual curriculum renewal, the objectives, content, modes of delivery and duration of the PDPs are designed to suit the diverse needs of heads and teachers so as to enhance the effectiveness of student learning through appropriate strategies such as whole-school curriculum planning, learning and teaching, assessment, and curriculum management and leadership.
"We hope that schools can make full use of these programmes to raise the awareness and knowledge of teachers. Upon completing the courses, teachers are encouraged to integrate what they have learnt into their school-based PDPs through professional sharing and collaborative learning with other teachers so as to build communities of practice in their schools to facilitate curriculum development and renewal at different key stages.
"In the 2016/17 school year, we have enhanced PDPs in various aspects at different education levels. For instance, at the pre-primary level, there are PDPs on strengthening whole-school curriculum planning, learning through play, catering for children's diversity and assessment for learning. At the primary and secondary levels, we have strengthened PDPs in areas such as assessment literacy, science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education, values education, life education, information technology in education, self-directed learning, as well as Chinese history and Chinese culture. In addition, in light of the completion of the New Academic Structure Medium-term Review, related PDPs will be introduced on senior secondary education to better support schools in implementing the latest measures on curriculum and assessment put forward in the Review," the spokesman said.
The PDPs have always been well received by schools as they help schools formulate their whole school and individual teachers' staff development plans, as well as support teachers and schools to sustain the education reform and improve the implementation of the senior secondary curriculum.
The booklets of the PDPs for the 2016/17 school year are only available online and have been uploaded to the EDB website for pre-primary institutions (www.edb.gov.hk/cd/pdp/kg), primary schools (www.edb.gov.hk/cd/pdp/pri) and secondary schools (www.edb.gov.hk/cd/pdp/sec).
Information on activities provided by different organisations is also appended to the booklets to facilitate schools' early planning of student learning activities in different Key Learning Areas as well as Life-wide Learning, so as to achieve the learning goals set by the schools.
Further details of the PDPs will be uploaded in phases to the Training Calendar System of the EDB (tcs.edb.gov.hk).
Ends/Wednesday, June 29, 2016
Issued at HKT 17:37
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