香港新高中通識教育科課程制定的過程與性質

The Decision Making of Liberal Studies in Hong Kong New Secondary School Curriculum: Process and Nature

2003年，學制改革及通識教育科課程列為必修，對中學教育影響甚大。研究者認為，香港高中通識教育科設計獨特，是跨學科的課程，學習觀、教學觀和評核觀都與傳統學科不同。本研究嘗試訪問決策工作小組成員，瞭解該科課程制定的過程，並分析香港課程決策的特點。研究結果顯示，在通識教育科課程的決策過程中，政府仍扮演著主導者的角色。此外，整個決策過程雖然沒有正式的學術研究，但工作小組的決策仍有一定的理據，如引用香港過去的、參考國外的實踐、考慮推行試驗計畫、配合香港其他課程改革的措施等。其次，政府雖然掌握主導課程決策之權力和影響力，仍願意接納參與者的意見，以凸顯其開明、願意諮詢的取向。研究者認為，香港課程決策主要還是以控制政治學為主導。如何改善決策模式，仍是重要的課題。

In 2003, curriculum reforms and the inclusion of Liberal Studies in the New Senior Secondary Curriculum brought a great impact on Hong Kong Secondary Education. The author thinks that the curriculum design of Liberal Studies is very special as it belongs to inter-disciplinary design and the conceptions of learning, teaching and assessment are very different from traditional subjects. This study tries to reveal the process of designing the curriculum of Liberal Studies and give analysis to the characteristics of curriculum decision making in Hong Kong by interviewing the members of the working panel concerned. The results show that the government has fully controlled the situation in the process of curriculum making. Though there was a lack of formal research, the working panel acted on the basis of empirical evidence for their decision, for instances, the past experience in Hong Kong, the case references from other places, the consideration of implementing pilot study, and the consideration of matching up other measures in curriculum reforms. It is also found that the government showed willingness to accept views from all stakeholders on the decision, though it got hold of it, in order to present a liberal status. The author believes that the curriculum decision making in Hong Kong is still in grasp of the political parties and it would be an important task to improve the situation.