Hong Kong Benchmarks for Career and Life Development
Hong Kong Benchmarks for Career and Life Development
HKBM is a systematic self-improvement framework for schools to build quality CLD provisions that can be benchmarked with global standards. With experience gained from Phase I, it was developed in consultation with CLAP@JC’s global advisor Sir John Holman (the author of UK’s Gatsby Benchmarks) and local educators. The ten guiding principles advisors (or “Benchmarks”) for self-evaluation was derived and piloted in six schools with diverse backgrounds since September 2019. Building on the foundation of the pilot, the HKBM become an integral part of CLAP@JC.
Messages from Thought Leaders
Dr. Stephen W. Y. YIP
Director (Schools), CLAP@JC
Co-Director, Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT)
The Education University of Hong Kong
HKBM Articles
Developing Benchmarks for Career and Life Development in the UK and Hong Kong
Sir John Holman & Dr Stephen. Y.W. Yip
December 2020
Why do we have CLAP@JC?
Career and Life Development is not a brand-new concept in Hong Kong schools, in contexts of government’s policy support and professional traditions in career guidance. However, there are still issues and practical questions in terms of quality, quantity, scope and diversity of CLD provisions especially from the whole school development perspective. According to recent school survey in 2020, a common holistic framework for schools to plan and coordinate CLD provisions is one of the neediest areas for further development. Other local research studies also confirm this need. With a timely pilot completed, the HKBM, which tangibly demonstrates what good looks like in school landscapes, is introduced as the core component in CLAP@JC. With programme’s critical friend support and other measures (e.g. accredited Professional Development, hub learning, enterprise connections), we expect participating network schools will adopt the HKBM as a holistic self-improvement tool for building own school’s ongoing CLD provisions from good to great.
What are the key features of CLAP@JC for schools?
The overarching feature of the project is about professional networks for betterment. In the midst of dynamic waves of challenges to schools, teachers often have little space for hard-work programmes that usually aim to totally ‘re-create’ or re-start their present work. In this carefully-tailored programme, we take a more naturalistic approach with support that helps leaders to self-evaluate, prioritise and plan the CLD provisions holistically. Having the common venture of using HKBM, network schools are assigned in hubs to exchange ideas and knowledge for building capacity in different aspects of CLD. Key support measures are listed in the “Programme Overview and Support for Network Schools“.
Why is HKBM relevant to schools?
The HKBM is well-aligned with relevant Education Bureau’s guidelines (e.g. Guides on Life Planning Education and Career Guidance for Secondary Schools 2014, Secondary Education Curriculum Guide Booklet 7)(See HKBM articles). Details of HKBM is in the “Hong Kong Benchmarks for Career and Life Development”. Moreover, it is well-connected to global standards and has rich local uniqueness.
What kind of schools does the programme expect to join?
In principle, ALL schools are suitable to join the project, providing they have a demonstrative commitment of their students’ CLD and is willing to adopt HKBM as the ongoing improvement tool. Schools which may have already joined or participated in different CLD-related projects (e.g. CLAP Phase I, the Big Education Platform, EDB activities), are also welcomed to join this meaningful network programme.
Is Clap Portfolio Infinity System still available?
From the Academic Year 2020/21, the CLAP Portfolio Infinity system (including Career Interest Inventory (CII)) will be migrated to EDB. If the school would like to use the Portfolio Infinity system after 1 September 2020, the school may wait for EDB’s Life Planning website.