Education Bureau launches professional development programmes
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     The Curriculum Development Institute (CDI) of the Education Bureau will provide about 780 Professional Development Programmes (PDPs) in the 2011/12 school year to cater for the needs of around 60,000 school heads and teachers of secondary and primary schools and pre-primary institutions in Hong Kong in implementing the curriculum reform to promote effective learning.

     Taking into consideration related surveys, feedback collected through various channels and teachers' changing needs, the PDPs to be offered in the 2011/12 school year will cover themes that are given priority in the curriculum reform (such as promoting language and reading across the curriculum, catering for learner diversity, generic skills, effective use of quality learning and teaching resources, managing curriculum interface issues, effective use of lesson time, and holistic planning for moral, civic and national education).  Several thematic programmes related to moral, civic and national education (e.g. Enhancing Students' Life Skills to Fight Temptation, Seminar Series on the Revolution of 1911) will also be organised to sustain and deepen the positive impact of curriculum reform in schools.

     For primary schools and pre-primary institutions, the bureau has particularly strengthened the programmes on sharpening teachers' understanding and mastery of curriculum planning, implementation and evaluation, consolidation of teachers' mastery of effective learning, teaching and assessment strategies to enhance students' development and learning.  These PDPs will provide necessary knowledge and skills that facilitate school-based curriculum development.

     For secondary schools, the programmes will focus on effective learning and teaching strategies, deepening assessment for learning, enriching knowledge, strengthening three-year New Senior Secondary (NSS) curriculum leadership and planning for effective implementation of the New Academic Structure.

     The PDPs have always been well received by schools as they help them to prepare their annual whole-school development plans as well as individual teachers' staff development plans. They support teachers and schools to sustain reform in basic education and to better implement the NSS curriculum.

     Information on student activities provided by different organisations is also appended to facilitate early planning of student learning activities related to Key Learning Areas and Life-wide Learning so as to achieve the learning goals set out by schools.

     The overview of the PDPs and student activities for the 2011/12 school year can be accessed on the CDI websites (www.edb.gov.hk/cd/pdp/sec) and (www.edb.gov.hk/cd/pdp/pri) for secondary and primary programmes respectively.  The printed version in the form of booklets will soon be delivered to schools. The web version of the PDPs for heads and teachers of pre-primary institutions is available at the website: www.edb.gov.hk/cd/pdp/kg .

     Further details of the PDPs will be uploaded by stages onto the Training Calendar System of the Education Bureau (tcs.edb.gov.hk).

Ends/Friday, July 8, 2011
Issued at HKT 15:02

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