Background of the Liberal Studies Subject

Beginning from the launch of the New Senior Secondary curriculum in 2009, Liberal Studies became the fourth core subject in the senior secondary curriculum, after Chinese Language, English Language, and Mathematics.

The impetus for the introduction of Liberal Studies as a core subject was because of rising doubts in Hong Kong higher education students’ competitiveness in recent years.  Most criticisms target local students inability to meet the highly competitive demands of social development and the international market due to a lack of practical creativity and independent, multi-angled thinking skills.  In response to these criticisms, the Liberal Studies curriculum aims to deepen students’ understanding of themselves, their society, country and the world.  It also aims to expose students to current issues in different areas of inquiry (e.g. culture, society, economy, politics), through which students can develop independent, multi-angled thinking skills and personal values.  With reflection, students can use these thinking skills and personal values to help them make decisions in life, and eventually become well-informed and responsible citizens of society, country and the world.

School-Based Educational Philosophy and Strategies

The Liberal Studies Team at Kung Lee College has always stayed true to the principle of “teaching students in accordance with their aptitude”.  To this end, students are taught with a wide range of teaching strategies, so that they can develop knowledge, skills and attitudes, with which they can not only tackle the demands of the HKDSE, but also become well-informed, rational, and responsible citizens of their country.

• Student-centred field trips and project learning

Different topics are raised during the course add variety and raise students’ learning motivation.  Moreover, inquiry-based learning is a cornerstone of the Liberal Studies subject, so the College organises different field trips to broaden students’ horizons and raise learning effectiveness.

• Cross-module learning

Liberal Studies demands that student are able to think about issues from multiple perspectives, and to show such ability through clear responses to questions.  In order to better prepare students for the HKDSE, cross-module learning themes are introduced for Forms 5 and 6, through which students not only learn HKDSE strategies, but also organise the conceptual knowledge that they have learned in different modules.

• Catering for learners’ diversity through learning in small steps

The College upholds the principle of “teaching students in accordance with their aptitude”.To cater for learners’ diversity, the Liberal Studies curriculum is organised from easy to difficult, for the benefit of students of different abilities.

Conclusion

Liberal Studies was established as a subject in response to needs for social development. The Liberal Studies Team at Kung Lee College upholds the principle of “teaching students in accordance with their aptitude” by using a wide range of teaching strategies, so that they can develop knowledge, skills and attitudes, with which they can not only tackle the demands of the HKDSE, but also become well-informed, rational, and responsible citizens of their country.

Apart from learning at school, students also participate in various external activites