香港教科書政策的理念和實踐

Textbook Policy in Hong Kong: Rationale and Practice

近年來香港政府制訂政策鼓勵學校開發校本教材，但是教科書仍然是香港教師最常用的教學材料。這種現象的背後，是教師們沒有時間或缺乏專業的技能來設計高質量的校本教材。與香港政府在經濟上的「自由不干預」政策相適應，政府將教科書出版視為一種商業活動。出版商之間的競爭促進教科書質量的不斷提高。這一教科書出版系統並不意味著政府角色的缺失，教科書出版商多會將教科書送交政府進行審查，這成為香港教科書質量保證系統的重要組成部分。除此之外，教師選擇教科書的專業性也是保證教科書市場化營運成功的重要元素。

Textbooks are still widely used in schools in Hong Kong despite the Governmentpolicy of encouraging the development of school-based teaching andlearning materials. Behind this situation lies the fact that teachers have neitherthe time nor the expertise to design high-quality school-based learning materials.The Hong Kong Government, in line with its laissez-faire economic policy,has treated textbook publishing as a commercial activity. The competitionamong publishers has led to continuous improvement efforts. However, thissystem does not imply that the Government has no part to play. Textbookpublishers usually submit their products to the Government for review. This isa major part of the quality assurance system of textbook publishing. In addition,teacher professionalism in selecting textbooks is an essential condition ofthe success of the textbook marketization mechanism.