Liberal studies helps open minds, rather than creating radical students
Stephen Chiu and Trevor Lee say the focus on balance may temper activism, as research shows
Months after the end of the Umbrella Movement, its student leaders continue to shine in the international media spotlight. Alex Chow, Lester Shum and Joshua Wong have become household names.
Apparently, today's students are playing a vanguard role in protest politics.
Many people have sought to explain why this "post-90s generation" have taken a radical turn politically, and some members of the political establishment have pointed to the introduction of a new compulsory subject at senior secondary level - liberal studies.
Liberal studies became part of the curriculum in 2009. Since then, it has been blamed for opening the floodgates, allowing radical ideas into the classrooms and prompting students to take their views to the street. Among its six modules, one - "Hong Kong Today" - covers the topical issues concerning citizenship, identity, rule of law and socio-political participation.
Conservative politicians and commentators have expressed serious concern over the politicising effect of liberal studies. There have therefore been calls to overhaul the curriculum in several ways, including trimming the political content and even making it an elective subject, rather than a core one.
More recently, a number of officials - in Hong Kong and on the mainland - have denounced teachers who, according to these officials, have used their classrooms to promote left-wing political causes. However, this was not what we found in our in-depth interviews with 36 senior secondary students from 15 schools and 20 core members of Scholarism who had taken classes in the subject. Liberal studies had little impact on student activism, the survey showed.
