Could Official STEM Curriculum Documents Function as Enablers of Successful Boundary-Crossing? The Hong Kong Case

Abstract

The ability to bridge between perspectives is essential for handling new and complex global challenges. This study aims to consider how far the official STEM curriculum documents in Hong Kong facilitate interdisciplinary dialogues. The official STEM-related curriculum documents were examined as the boundary objects that bridge between constituent disciplines. Three research questions were formulated regarding how the STEM curriculum documents in Hong Kong fostered (i) the legitimation of the use of multiple disciplinary perspectives, (ii) the translation of different disciplinary perspectives, and (iii) the routinisation of frequent and smooth boundary-crossing. Directed content analysis was performed with the coding scheme constituting the following six aspects: (i) Othering, (ii) Legitimating coexistence, (iii) Communicative connection, (iv) Efforts of translation, (v) Increasing boundary permeability, and (vi) Routinisation. We could conclude from the analysis that the STEM curriculum documents in Hong Kong could facilitate interdisciplinary dialogues to a somewhat limited extent. On the positive side, the coexistence of different disciplinary perspectives was officially legitimated. Moreover, the student-centred project-based approach advocated by the documents permitted students and projects to serve as communication connections between teachers of different subjects. Examples could also be found in the documents regarding how the various project elements could be temporally arranged to mandate boundary-crossing.On the flip side, however, there is minimal discussion of the contribution of various disciplines. Students might find it challenging to distinguish and relate the different disciplines. There is no specification about how teachers of different subjects should communicate and how knowledge translation should occur. There is also a lack of support for developing routines for interdisciplinary knowledge integration and application. It is hoped that this work could stimulate the further use of the concepts of "boundary-crossing" in the analysis of integrated STEM-related curricula. Such research could support continuous STEM curriculum development that advances interdisciplinary dialogues.