Chinese writing curriculum reforms in Hong Kong in recent years and their impact on teaching and learning

Abstract

An account is presented of how schools in Hong Kong have responded to major changes to the official writing curriculum, from the highly structured, whole-class approach which predominantly involved all students in the class painstakingly learning written script and modeling their writing on carefully chosen examples of traditional writing, to an approach which sees students regarding writing as a vehicle for learning and a means of describing and relating personal ideas, impressions and phenomena pertinent to the learner’s own learning and intentions. Various sources of objective evidence are used to present an account of the transition and problems teachers and schools faced in adapting to the new curriculum. Teachers from primary and secondary schools were interviewed separately; focus groups and departmental heads commented on transitional problems and successes, with objective evidence being used to exemplify issues. The paper examines progress and problems in the introduction of a curriculum spanning primary 1 to examination classes in the secondary school, setting a baseline for future changes.