Chapter 6: Developing an Integrated Approach to Social Education: A Case Study of Two Junior Secondary Schools in Hong Kong

To promote integrated study in the humanities and social sciences, a Key Learning Area (KLA) in Hong Kong’s current curriculum reform program, Personal, Social and Humanities Education (PSHE), has been created as part of the basic education curriculum. It covers a broad range of content previously taught in the various humanities and social science subjects and aims to provide “the basics for a general and liberal education” (Curriculum Development Council, 2002, p. 5).

Various attempts have been made in the past to integrate humanities and social sciences subjects at the junior secondary level in Hong Kong. Subjects such as economics and public affairs and social studies were offered and cross-curricular programs such as civic education, sex education, moral education and environmental education were added in the junior secondary (Grades 7-9) curriculum. But their low level of adoption by schools in the formal curriculum (Morris, 1997) suggested that they were far from being successful in accomplishing their goal. Learning in these subjects and cross-curricular themes remained fragmented. Morris and Chan (1997, p. 256) observed that social studies emerged to be “a large collection of topics from different subjects.” To what extent can the new curriculum initiative enhance integrated learning in the humanities and social sciences? Will the development of the Personal, Social and Humanities Education Key Learning Area represent another “symbolic change” (Cuban, 1992, p. 218) that stopped at the intended curriculum? This chapter investigates the curricular and pedagogical practices of teachers teaching a study unit in the PSHE curriculum in two secondary schools. Through critical examination of the contexts, processes and outcomes of the teaching and learning of the two school-based study units in this KLA, this chapter identifies and discusses the issues and problems in promoting learning through an integrated approach to PSHE in the junior secondary curriculum. The findings help to inform teachers’ practice in this important area of learning and shed light on the prospect for the development of an integrated PSHE curriculum in Hong Kong.