Shifting from the Hidden Shadow to the Bright Sunshine under the COVID-19 Pandemic Implications for the Education New Normal from Hong Kong’s Learning System

Abstract

The sudden and unprecedented outbreak of the global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has brought along a series of abrupt and sweeping disruptions on almost all learning systems around the world. The pandemic has simultaneously revealed many weaknesses and problems associated with the existing educational model, which serves as a timely reminder that educators should start thinking and doing education in a very different manner. Nonetheless, this does not simply means restoring the long-standing norms, or reorganising and perpetuating existing practices as “back to normal”, but discarding and transforming many obsolete assumptions and conventional operations as “new normal”. As one of the high-performing learning systems around the world throughout the decades, Hong Kong has successfully transitioned from disruptive schooling to “new normal” throughout the pandemic. With the collection of the series of rich experiences and concrete examples emerging and evolving across different layers of Hong Kong’s learning system, this conceptual article aims to shed light on ten key principles in terms of shaping a more responsive, resilient, and sustainable curriculum system for all students to survive or even thrive in the uncertain and unpredictable environment ahead of them.