Cross-Curricular Themes and Curriculum Reform in Hong Kong: Policy as Discourse

This paper critically evaluates the Hong Kong government's recent attempt to introduce cross-curricular themes into the school curriculum. It is argued that the policy failed to have a significant impact because many of its key elements defined the themes as marginal and dispensable. Moreover, the policy embodied a discourse which portrayed teachers as empowered and, consequently, as the primary source of problems of its implementation.