Teaching and learning of personal and social education: Program evaluation and curriculum development

Whole person development is an important aspect in the contemporary education. It is one of the education objectives of the HKSAR as shown in Aims of Edcuation(1993) and Educaiton Blueprint (1999). Although its importance is recognized by most educators in Hong Kong, few integrated curriculum of Whole person development is provided in local school systems. Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIED) has attempted to provide Personal and Social Education (PSE) which is one of the integrative curriculum to achieve Whole person development to the student-teachers in the hope that they can implement PSE in local schools in future. To improve the teaching and learning and the curriculum development of PSE, a module evaluation was conducted at 1997 to collect feedback from students. 377 questionnaires were collected and analyzed. This paper reports the result of the evaluation and makes suggestion for the PSE curriculum development. The students' evaluation toward the module was good. They enjoyed the teaching and learning process. The module was systemic, relevant and practical. The reflection for the formation of full integrated curriculum of PSE in teacher education program and primary school are discussed. There is a need for the educators to develop and implement the concept of PSE in the local school context.