A study of the impact of the first phase of the curriculum reform on student learning in Hong Kong

Purpose - To prepare Hong Kong students to face a rapidly changing twenty-first century, the Hong Kong Government implemented a major curriculum reform entitled Learning to Learn - The Way Forward in Curriculum Development. This reform has shaped the direction of Hong Kong's school education since 2001. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of the reform from the perspectives of the major stakeholders, namely principals, teachers, and students. Design/methodology/approach - The paper was written based on the data obtained from a large-scale study that covered over 250 primary and secondary schools, or about 20 per cent of the total population in Hong Kong. Both qualitative (focus group interviews) and quantitative methods (questionnaire survey) were employed in the study. Findings - The findings indicated that moderate progress has been made in students' overall performance in generic skills, positive values and attitudes, language proficiency, and over the key learning areas. On the other hand, the progress made in secondary schools was perceived to be less than that made in primary schools. The views of frontline teachers could also be different from senior teachers and principals as to the degree of achievement. There also existed a gap as the progress reported for critical thinking and self learning abilities might be less favourable when compared to those reported for IT, reading habits and healthy lifestyle. Originality/value - The original findings and policy suggestions of the paper are of reference value to curriculum policy planners, researchers and educators.