DBSPTA Newsletter 2019 ver12

A Qualitative Study of a Dual-Curricula School: Diocesan Boys’ School
With 150 years of history in education,
Diocesan Boys’ School (DBS)
has a solid foundation and reputation
in Hong Kong. With no surprises,
every year during the application
season, there is always a long queue
along the drive. As a parent of DBS,
this should not sound unfamiliar at
all. However, why would the school
bother to implement the International
Baccalaureate Programme?
Moreover, how is the implementation
affecting the ecosystem of the
school?
DBS is one of the very first Direct
Subsidy School (DSS) that adopted
a dual-curricula approach with NSS
and IB to provide an educational
choice to parents and students.
In Biology, the word “ecosystem”
describes how living and non-living
organisms co-exist in the same community.
This terminology is adopted
to describe DBS as New Senior
Secondary (NSS) and International
Baccalaureate (IB) co-exist in the
same school.
To answer these questions, I interviewed
our Headmaster, Mr. Ronnie
Cheng to collect information on the
development of the dual-curricula
school. Moreover, 12 DBS parents
with children from both NSS and IB
were also interviewed to collect information
on their user experience.
The following will be a summary of
all informants.
Headmaster Cheng mentioned
that the school switched to DSS
in 2004. Since then the school has
been thinking of what they can do
with the flexibility given by the
scheme. Soon in 2006, the school
decided to explore IB, partly because
of DBS’ ethos in liberal education.
The school has always been trying
to explore ways to cater to students
with different learning styles. On
the other hand, a rise in attrition
rate was observed. Students were departing
for IB schools, either locally
or overseas. Although it was not an
urgency to explore, the school would
like to understand why the boys
were leaving and would like to see
what can be done to keep them at
home.
The implementation process
involves the authorisation process,
which IB mandate the school to
write the policies and ethos. Since
DBS is a subsidised school, the
school policy was the government’s
policy. Yet, DBS has its own founded
ethos, mission, and vision. But
only some of these were put into
words, and not to the degree that IB
demands. The development of the
school’s mission statement and policy
was then developed in a roundabout
way. It was first written for IB
and later became the school’s policy,
which is beneficial to the school.
As for teachers, the school
brought in a group of expats who
are experienced in IB teaching and
philosophy. At the very beginning
of IB in DBS, the two curricula were
more like operating separately and
have some glitches here and there.
However, after years of operation,
the school encourages cross-fertilisation
of the two curricula through
teacher visits. Teachers from the two
curricula visit each other to observe
and learn from each other. The
cross-fertilisation is conducive to
teachers’ professional development
and is good for the school culture.
As for students, the IB boys were
placed in the Michiko Miyakawa
Building but the school has no intention
to segregate the boys from the
two curricula. Yet, both NSS and IB
boys are all wearing the same uniform,
going to the same assembly,
participating in the same extra-curricular
activities, and sharing the
same resources from the school. To
cater to the needs of students, the
school hired extra social workers,
university counsellors, etc. to assist
the students of both curricula.
Most of the parents have given
the educational choices to their
children instead of choosing for
them. Yet, most of them have done
thorough research in IB since a very
early stage to assist their children
to make the right choice. Two of the
parents shared that they began their
research of the two curricula since
their son was still in primary school.
Although they don’t know whether
their children will choose DSE or IB
in grade 10, having an option between
the two curricula is still a vital
reason for choosing DBS instead of
other schools. Moreover, it was a
surprise to find out both NSS and
IB parents are all very positive to
the educational choice regardless of
the curriculum their children have
chosen at the end.
The learning approach perhaps is
the most important factor for students
and parents to decide which
curriculum they should choose.
Many of the IB parents indicated
that they preferred the IB curriculum
due to the whole-learning
approach as each subject fosters
critical thinking. They also enjoy
the flexibility of choosing between
higher level and standard level
for subjects of their interests and
strengths. Whereas the NSS parents
indicated that the NSS curriculum
is more suitable for their children as
their children are used to the same
learning style from the junior form
and were able to do well, so they
would like to continue with the local
curriculum.
In conclusion, both the NSS and IB
curriculum have their strengths and
the implementation of IB causes the
whole school to evolve in a positive
direction through sharing between
students, parents, and teachers
which fosters better understanding
and acceptance of the other curriculum.
Every stakeholder has contributed
to the bridging and the relative
harmony of the school in all aspects.
May everyone in DBS continue to
uphold the ethos of liberal education
together.
Tina Tsang
32 DBS PTA Newsletter
DBS PTA Newsletter 33
2019
2019