UK GCE General Studies vs HK Liberal Studies I

Liberal Studies? General Studies? Critical Thinking?

It is fair to say that the education system in Colonial HK was molded by that of Britain copying GCSE and GCE. In post-colonial HK, following the US-and-UK led educational trend rather than surrendering its "educational sovereignty" to the PRC, it is even fairer to justify that HK is yet to be "nationalized".

In this regard, however, Liberal Studies simply does not exist at all in the UK GCE (General Certificate of Education, equivalent to HKALE). The immediate parallel subject could be General Studies (7831).

General Studies (here I stick to the Advanced GCE and its specifications) are divided into three key domains: scientific, cultural and social, with culture, science and society making connections across these three domains. The scientific domain addresses science, mathematics and technology; the cultural domain focuses on culture, morality, arts and humanities; the social domain explores society, politics and the economy.

The subject is designed to encourage students to: 

1) develop a greater awareness of human knowledge, understanding and behaviour; 

2) integrate knowledge from a range of disciplines in a way that will allow candidates to develop a synoptic view of how they relate to one another and to show how each may contribute to the understanding of issues being studied (see below); 

3) appreciate that there are various ways of interpreting different types of information and assess the relative merits of evidence in order to understand such concepts as objectivity, neutrality and bias; 

4) think critically, logically and constructively about significant problems, acquire an appreciation of the strengths and limitations of different approaches and demonstrate an ability to justify their own; 

5) develop a critical awareness and understanding of perennial and contemporary issues and develop a greater awareness of their historical and contemporary contexts in order to enhance skills of evaluation; 

6) communicate with coherence and clarity in an appropriate format and style. 

Issues to be studied are 1) spiritual, moral, ethical, social and cultural issues; 2) environmental and health issues; 3) the European dimension; 4) avoidance of bias. It clearly states that "answers to such questions will inevitably differ widely. However, where appropriate, they should demonstrate awareness of the issue concerned, factually-supported opinion, evaluation and a reasoned conclusion".

From the official specifications of HK Liberal Studies, I found one single word most puzzling to me: independent. Independent thinkers, independent thinking independent learning, independent study, independent enquiry study, even independent field of knowledge frustrated my independent intellectual enquiry. From the specifications of General Studies, I noticed only The Independent and The Independent on Sunday. Even from that of Critical Thinking, I dug none at all (except independent sources). Secondary school education should have assumed that students learn to think and learn independently whereas independence entails no criticism or critical thinking.

Another aspect from the criticism side is that students inevitably think, speak and write nonsense. Given that HKers are Homo oeconomicus (economic human), such kind of pragmatism is too familiar to everyone of us, which is itself nonsense. What do we expect from a 17-or-18-year-old teenager without any real-life (or cruel life) and working experience? I found this claim too unrealistic. The subject matter aims not to test student's aspiration. A kidult is neither socially nor economically independently. Let's not forget power is knowledge.