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Seminar I HK secondary teachers at the front line in 2022: an analysis of the key challenges for junior secondary schools using MOI English

Seminars / Lectures / Workshops

RCPCE Events

13 Mar seminar_1000x540
  • Date

    13 Mar 2023

  • Organiser

    Department of English and Communication

  • Time

    17:00 - 18:00

  • Venue

    Zoom  

Speaker

Dr Jane Lockwood

Mr Peter Woodhead

Dr Özgehan Uştuk

Remarks

This event is jointly organised with the Research Centre for Professional Communication in English, PolyU.

Summary

Hong Kong secondary schools have undergone dramatic changes over the last 4 years mostly due to the social unrest, the extended lockdowns during covid and the revision of the secondary school curriculum. The government school sector has seen the departure of over 7,000 teachers, two thirds of whom were experienced secondary school teachers. This has created not only educational management and leadership vacuums, but also an unusually high staff turnover and influx of the number of new teachers, many of whom are fresh graduates and do not yet have PGDEs. These changes come on top of the normal challenges in MOI English secondary schools where the decentralised curriculum puts demands on syllabus, materials and assessment development on the classroom teachers. The EDB continues to respond to these changes with professional development in the form of a mixture of school-based support programmes and short training events targeting EMI schools.

This seminar will offer some unique insights, informed by visits to over 30 schools and multiple classrooms, about some of the key challenges being experienced in the secondary school sector with specific reference to the delivery of good quality Language Across the Curriculum (LAC) practices in subjects MOI English classrooms.

The Department of English and Communication has been awarded over 20 EDB projects in the last 8 years and the project team (Dr Jane Lockwood and Mr Peter Woodhead) will present a candid account of the successes and on-going challenges of MOI English teaching in this sector and a picture of what it is like in 2023 for subject teachers at the front line.

Keynote Speaker

Dr Jane Lockwood

Dr Jane Lockwood

Department of English and Communication, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Dr Jane Lockwood is Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of English and Communication at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and has worked in Hong Kong for over 25 years. She has worked with many of the EDB changes in the schools sector and has also published widely in workplace communication and communications assessment practices.

Mr Peter Woodhead

Mr Peter Woodhead

Educational Consultant

Mr Peter Woodhead has been an educational leader and adviser to both local and international schools in Hong Kong. He has extensive experience of leading reforms in Curriculum, Assessment, Pedagogy and use of Learning Technology and worked as an associate professor for the University of Hong Kong teaching on the Msc(ITE) course and as a consultant for the Hong Kong Polytechnic University working with Hong Kong schools on Language across the Curriculum.

Dr Özgehan Uştuk

Dr Özgehan Uştuk

Department of English and Communication, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Dr Özgehan Uştuk is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of English and Communication at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He has also worked as a teacher and teacher educator. He is the current chair of the TESOL International Association's Research Professional Council.

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