Influences of teachers' expression of personal viewpoints in liberal studies classrooms on the development of students' independent thinking

Abstract

As Liberal Studies being one of the core academic subjects in New Senior Secondary curriculum in Hong Kong, its effectiveness always arouses debates in the society. Some people believe that it improves the problem of transmission of knowledge in traditional local schooling while some doubt if it can promote students’ independent and critical thinking.

The research aims at investigating the possible influence of teacher’s expression of personal viewpoints in Liberal Studies lessons on students’ development of independent thinking by analyzing the opinions of students, teachers as well as personal observation in class. The samples of the research are 2 Liberal Studies teachers and 46 of form 4 and 5 students who study the subject at a local secondary school. Mixed-method was adopted and the research instruments include questionnaire, one-on-one and group interviews as well as lesson observations.

According to the findings, both students and teachers generally prefer teacher’s neutrality in order to minimize unnecessary influences on students’ thinking. However, lesson observations show that there is no negative impact on the development of students’ independent thinking when teacher discloses personal stance, which is in line with previous research. Since this research covers2 modules of Liberal Studies only, more research about teachers’ expression of personal viewpoints in other modules and at different stages of the lessons should be done before coming concrete conclusions about the impacts of teachers expressing personal standpoints on the development of students’ independent thinking in Liberal Studies classrooms.