Designing the First Political Leadership Program for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region: A Case Study of Teaching Innovation |
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Shiu Hing LO (University of Hong Kong) |
Abstract This paper will share the experience of HKU SPACE in teaching innovation by designing the first political leadership program for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). This program was designed by the social science subject group at HKU SPACE in the middle of 2017, when there was a need for the HKSAR to train more young people to understand the basic theories and concepts of politics, to acquire the necessary knowledge of political communications, and to conduct research on public policy issues. The program was designed in embracing four modules: the first one focusing on the training of the basic theories and concepts of politics; the second including a series of lectures delivered by policy experts in various policy areas (such as health, education, economic and monetary policy, housing, elderly care, constitutional law); the third module emphasizing how students can tackle media questions and communicate with the public in an effective manner (with media experts being the trainers); and the final and fourth module training students to conduct public policy project research. Overall, the program was designed in such a way as to enhance the teaching of politics and political leadership, and to improve students’ learning experiences by exposing them to policy experts and requiring them to conduct research projects. The program also included a visit to Beijing where students could interact with top Chinese authorities responsible for Hong Kong matters. Students are also trained the skills of delivering public speeches, responding to critical questions, preparing and writing a public policy project, and presenting their arguments and dealing with critiques in a positive way. The entire program lasted for one year and was pitched at QF level 6. Most significantly, the program was unprecedented in the history of the HKSAR as it represented the first attempt to educate students in not only the skills of public policy research, political communications, and political analyses, but also the knowledge of Hong Kong’s relations with the central government in Beijing, Hong Kong politics, and the special administrative region’s diverse and complicated policy issues, problems and solutions. From the pedagogical vantage point, the program represented a unique design in enhancing teaching and learning experiences in the development of political leadership in the HKSAR. Student feedback to the program was positive, demonstrating a genuine need for Hong Kong to develop and continue with such political leadership program. |
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