Free Essay Sample: Curriculum and Assessment

My assessment of this program is a positive one since it clearly shows the impacts that it has on students, the school, the teachers and the education system at primary school level as a whole. The students get to be motivated to find out things on their own as well as have minds that are always asking things that they wish to know or do not understand. They also cultivate a culture of learning actively in them. The school gets to produce better students and release them into the community while the teachers get their skills sharpened while at the same time they also increase their knowledge of subjects as they learn from the pupils. It is a very system that would be very useful in the learning process since the pupils have proved to be way better if they got incorporated into the system. I strongly advise the state to make sure it continues to work well under the supervision of able personnel. If possible, other states could also borrow a leaf from the practice and ensure they try it to their students who are at the primary school level. If it works, then the state have a reason to smile even as they see the results of the primary school pupils get better as the days go by. If it doesnt, there is always the option of trying to conform it and changing it to make it suit the circumstances of the country or state in question. (Yu, H, 2002)

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The main aim of the program that was carried out was to ensure that the schools got to incorporate a few things into the system that would go a long way in ensuring that the students get a better understanding in what they do. They were to be incorporated in the learning process by way of participation. They would be allowed to talk and participate in the process of learning as well as get to be assessed by the school teachers and get their results back. (Doyle, W. & Ponder, G. A, 1977-78)

In order to revolutionize the education system in Hong Kong and make it better for the learning students in class in their various subjects, the government came up with a program that would be incorporated in their curriculum. The project, Partnership for Improvement of Learning and Teaching (2004-09), aimed at equipping the teachers professionally since they are at the center of the learning experience. The Education Commission finally produced the process that would be incorporated by the teachers with an aim to improve the quality of the primary school students as well as that of the teachers as far as their professional skills were concerned. In a nutshell, the teachers were expected to be transmitters of knowledge, resource professionals, facilitators, consultants, counselors and assessors (Education Commission, 2000). The key points that were to be taken into consideration by this program were; ensuring that there was quality in the way the learning was carried out as well as the way the instructions were made, making sure that there existed a number of ways on the process of learning and teaching, increasing the level of pupil engagement in their learning and lastly, ensuring that the results were satisfactory and much better (Lee & Leung, 2009).

In primary school, the project required a model, popularly known as the 4P model, put in place. It involved four phases, problem clarification, Planning, Program action and Progress evaluation. In the first phase, problem clarification, the students were tested and gauged whether they understood the concept of variables; all three of them, namely, the constant, independent and the dependent variable. The next two phases were dedicated to letting the students think about questions that were given to them and engage them in the process by opening up their minds and increasing their thinking capacity and stretching it to the limit and ensuring that they participate in the process. The last stage, progress evaluation, involved going through the results and assessing them. The results showed that the students progressed more by learning what to do practically. They also liked it. The pupils were also encouraged to interact and talk to other pupils of other nationalities by way of interviews which would also compliment their classroom reading and increase their understanding of culture at the same time. The overall effect was also that the students got a better grasp on their confidence levels as they presented their findings in front of the class. The 4P model, when applied encourages the teachers as well as the students even as they get the results. The teachers get to learn from the students as well as see things from a students point of view. The pre-test and the post-test also work great in that the teachers get to gauge the students before applying the lessons then reviewing the results afterward. The teacher could enhance the teaching skills as well as the pupils skills in their areas of weakness as they gauge the results and come up with an opinion. This way, pupils get a better understanding of the concepts since they were incorporated in the collaborative learning process, and if there is an instance where they can be corrected, this is known and pointed out. The overall result is that the pupils became better learners, and the education system is revolutionized for the better.

What the teacher needs to do is come up with a program for the study. A practical one, as per the 4P model. The teachers need to collaborate and come together as a team. They exchange ideas that will make them cover the curriculum better. The teacher should also make sure that they make the content of the subject or lesson the main aim of focus or concentration. The practice of coming together and exchanging ideas as a team helps in ensuring that the teachers get feedback on their teaching skills (Leonard, D, 2003). This process ensures that the teachers get the outcome to be the best as far as their teaching is concerned. On their practical teaching, the instructional material has set ways in which the lesson can be carried out. For instance, the teachers can come up with an action material for a small research exercise that they give to the students. Then after the students have gone through it, they can later on assess how the students put his thoughts together for the small exercise (Miles, M. B. & Huberman, A. M., 1994). The teacher is required to have set goals, plan on how to execute the goals that have been set, carry out the plan as dutifully as planned then assess it later on. This would help them to examine critically the content, and the knowledge put together.

In order to plan effectively for these lessons, the teachers need to go for the training program where they would be taught on how to execute the program, be issued with the instructional material then they can organize the students and use the lessons procedure that they have laid out for the experience to use. The end result is better students who have grasped the concept of learning better since they are doing it the way they want, practically.

References

Yu, H. (2002) A shift in Hong Kong Principals Leadership Conceptions, Asia Pacific Education Review, 3(1) 37-47.

Miles, M. B. & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis: An expanded sourcebook, 2nd edition. Thousand Oaks.

Leonard, D. (2003). Reconceptualizing teacher professional development: The teaching English support service in context. Laois Education Centre

Education Commission, (2000). Learning for life, learning through life: Reform proposals for the education system in Hong Kong. Hong Kong Teachers Centre Journal

Doyle, W. & Ponder, G. A. 1977-78. The practicality ethic in teacher decision-making, Interchange, 8(3), 1-12.