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The Curriculum Development Institute (CDI) of the Education Bureau (EDB) will provide about 810 Professional Development Programmes (PDPs) in the 2015/16 school year to cater for the needs of around 60,000 principals and teachers of secondary and primary schools and pre-primary institutions in Hong Kong in implementing school-based curriculum planning to promote effective learning by students. Booklets on the PDPs are now available on the CDI website for schools' reference.
A spokesman for the EDB said today (July 10) that the planning for the PDPs has taken into consideration survey results, feedback from school heads and teachers collected through various channels and the latest developments in education. With the advent of Learning to Learn 2.0, the objectives, content, modes of delivery and duration of the PDPs are designed to suit the needs of heads and teachers so as to enhance the effectiveness of student learning through appropriate strategies such as whole-school curriculum planning, learning and teaching, assessment, and curriculum management and leadership.
"We hope that schools could make full use of these programmes to raise the awareness and knowledge of teachers. Upon completing the courses, teachers may integrate what they have learnt into their school-based PDPs through professional sharing and collaborative learning among teachers so as to build communities of practice in their schools to facilitate curriculum development and renewal in basic and senior secondary education.
"In this school year, we have enhanced PDPs in various aspects at different education levels. For instance, at the pre-primary level, there are programmes on strengthening the curriculum interface between kindergartens and primary schools, acquiring knowledge of the brain's executive functions and enhancing planning in curriculum and assessment. At the primary and secondary levels, we have programmes on areas such as information technology in education, self-directed learning, values education, and Science, Technology and Mathematics Education (STEM), as well as Chinese History and culture. In addition, in light of the completion of the New Academic Structure (NAS) Medium-term Review in June, related PDPs have been introduced in the part on senior secondary education to better support schools in addressing the latest measures on curriculum and assessment put forward in the different stages of the NAS Review," the spokesman said.
The PDPs have always been well received by schools as they help schools formulate their whole-school and individual teachers' staff development plans, as well as support teachers and schools to sustain the reform in basic education and better implement the senior secondary curriculum.
The booklets of the PDPs for the 2015/16 school year are available on the CDI website for pre-primary institutions (www.edb.gov.hk/cd/pdp/kg), primary schools (www.edb.gov.hk/cd/pdp/pri) and secondary schools (www.edb.gov.hk/cd/pdp/sec). The booklets are only available online. No printed version will be distributed to schools.
Information on activities provided by different organisations is also appended to the booklets to facilitate schools' early planning of student learning activities in different Key Learning Areas as well as Life-wide Learning so as to achieve the learning goals set by the schools.
Further details of the PDPs will be uploaded in phases to the Training Calendar System of the EDB (tcs.edb.gov.hk).
Ends/Friday, July 10, 2015
Issued at HKT 17:01
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