The Active Healthy Kids 2019 Hong Kong Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth with Special Educational Needs (SEN) provides evidence-based assessments for nine indicators of physical activity behaviors and related sources of influence for 6- to 17-year-olds with SEN in Hong Kong. This is the first Report Card for this population group in Hong Kong. The best available data between 2008 and 2019 were reviewed by a panel of experts. Following the Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance (AHKGA) development process, letter grades were assigned to nine indicators (Overall Physical Activity, Organized Sport Participation, Active Play, Active Transportation, Sedentary Behaviors, Family & Peers, School, Community & Environment, and Government Strategies & Investments). Two behavior indicators (Overall Physical Activity: F; Sedentary Behaviors: D+) and two contextual indicators (School: B; Government Strategies & Investments: C-) were assigned a letter grade. The remaining indicators including Organized Sport Participation, Active Play, Active Transportation, Family & Peers, and Community & Environment were not graded due to insufficient data. A majority of children and youth with SEN in Hong Kong are physically inactive and have a high level of sedentary behaviors. Schools are ideal settings to promote physical activity for this population. There is a need to develop a comprehensive surveillance system to monitor this population, assess efforts to improve the grades, and promote physical activity opportunities for children and youth with SEN. Copyright ©Elsevier (Singapore) Pte Ltd.

This study examined the optimal learning schedule for second language vocabulary within an authentic classroom setting in Hong Kong. Following a pretest, treatment, delayed posttest design, fifty-two primary school students (Cantonese first language) studied 20 English adjectives over two learning episodes under spaced-short (1-day interval) or spaced-long (8-day interval) learning conditions. The spacing of the vocabulary items was manipulated within-participants, and learning was assessed on a multiple-choice posttest, administered following a four-week delay. In contrast to previous laboratory-based findings, the results here indicated superior learning of the items presented under the spaced-short format, suggesting that lag effects might be attenuated by age, learning context and teaching procedure. Copyright ©Sage Publications Ltd.

Organized extracurricular activities (EAs) are an important component of the microsystem that impacts children's lives. Previous literature has primarily focused on school-aged children and youth in Western societies. This study utilized a longitudinal design and examined the antecedents and consequences of extracurricular participation in a sample of 194 Hong Kong Chinese preschoolers. The results showed that higher family socioeconomic status (SES) predicted higher levels of participation in EAs (e.g., attendance intensity and the breadth of participation). Children from higher-SES families were more likely to involve in non-academic-oriented EAs. Participation in EAs was generally associated with the growth trajectories of reading and math skills in children from less advantaged SES backgrounds, but not higher-SES children. In contrast, EA participation was not associated with children's social skills. Findings highlight the importance of examining the relationship between EA participation and children's early development in non-Western societies. Copyright ©Elsevier Ltd.

Higher education vocational institutions train professional applied talents and accounting study is one of those vocational studies. A survey was conducted in Hong Kong and views collected from the responding practitioners on whether they agreed with the inclusion of an accountant's involvement in ethics education could benefit accounting students, meanwhile, their views on additional ethics elements required for our current ethics education. We found that a majority (82.3%) of total respondents (N = 164) answered positively that the inclusion of an accountant's involvement in ethics education could benefit students. In addition, age and gender do make a difference in their answers while their working location do not affect much of their answers. Practitioners voiced out that practical work experience, for example, internship is more important than knowledge learnt. The views from the responding vocational practitioners reveal that boarder ethics elements of accounting education are expected to be included in our current curriculum. Copyright ©KKG Publications.

This paper begins with a question: can concepts generated in the Chinese context in the sociocultural relations of the periphery contribute to the development of the social sciences in the field of Health and Physical Education (HPE) that have their roots in the metropole? Setting the scene in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), a postcolonial city reverted to the rule of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1997, this paper aims to develop a critical sociology of HPE by having a dialogue among Continental philosophies (e.g., Bourdieu) and Chinese philosophies around embodiment concepts. Although HKSAR is a complex meeting point of Eastern and Western ideologies, the current HPE field tends to focus on Western and 'scientific' ways of knowing, such as the measurement of health and physical fitness, and often at the expense of sociocultural perspectives, social justice and diversity and inclusion in HPE. In other words, the (post) positivistic research paradigm underpins the HPE field. This paper argues that in order to reap the benefits of a more holistic health education for academics and students in HPE, it is vital to de-imperialise the positivistic ways of teaching and being in HPE. In doing so, this paper creates a space for Bourdieu's habitus to meet Chinese perspectives on embodiment to engage in a dialogue for knowledge production that extends the current knowledge base in HPE. Copyright ©Routledge.

English medium instruction (EMI) is a growing phenomenon in many countries. Some researchers have investigated the difficulties and strategies students use to cope with EMI. However, the pedagogical challenges faced and strategies used by other key participants, teachers, have been surprisingly under-researched. This study utilizes questionnaire and interview data to identify the challenges and coping strategies used by secondary school EMI science teachers in Hong Kong. A number of challenges and strategies were reported. The authors argue that many of these challenges can be overcome with principles and strategies from ELT, as the 'English' in EMI is often the main issue. The most prevalent strategy reported is the use of L1. Two perspectives on L1 usage in EMI contexts are discussed. Two emergent realities are presented as possible solutions: the idealized reality and the immediate reality. Implications for teachers and suggestions for future research are provided. Copyright ©Oxford University Press.

Early Childhood Education is important in developing ethical, intellectual, physical, social, and aesthetic aspects of children together with cognitive skills. Parents play an important role in their children's early life and provide a role model. Additionally, holistic education seeks to incorporate principles of wholeness, interconnectedness and spirituality. This study examined how well parental perceptions of kindergartens (KG) aligned with goals of Holistic Early Childhood Education (HECE) in Hong Kong. Written survey responses were received from 1383 parents and 165 teachers, including principals from 22 kindergartens across three Districts in Hong Kong. The findings of the study indicated that parents' and teachers' perceptions of kindergartens aligned with HECE policy in HK for young children's development and practice in the kindergarten programs. These findings clearly indicate a cohesion between parents' and teachers' concern and official Hong Kong education documents regarding holistic development of young children in kindergartens in Hong Kong. Copyright ©International Society for Educational Planning.

In Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) programmes, students learn content knowledge and a second/foreign language (L2) simultaneously. It follows that both content and language are assessed, although research on how to do so remains scarce. This study explores the interplay between cognitive and linguistic demands of CLIL assessments. Having analysed over 4900 questions in Science/Biology textbooks, workbooks and examination papers in Hong Kong, we observed that junior secondary assessments were dominated by low-level cognitive (i.e. recall of knowledge) and linguistic (i.e. no production or word-level production) demands, whereas senior secondary assessments required higher-order thinking skills (i.e. application and analysis of knowledge) expressed in sentences or even texts. Also, based on the analysis of 70 junior secondary students' performance in school examination papers, we noticed a potential hindrance of linguistic demands to students' performance in CLIL assessments. These findings together underscore the integral role of language in CLIL assessments and raise questions about the adequacy of existing pedagogical practices in preparing students to tackle both cognitive and linguistic demands in CLIL assessments, particularly when they proceed to higher grade levels where the demands in both dimensions leap. These have significant implications for CLIL assessment design, pedagogy and teacher education. Copyright ©Routledge.

Involving parents in their children's school-based English language learning is beneficial to learners' academic achievement as well as their language and literacy development. However, involving parents can be challenging. This study reports on one teacher's use of a digital learning platform, Seesaw, with his third-grade (7 to 8 year-olds) English language writing class in Hong Kong to address the lack of parental involvement. The platform became a space for parents to be involved in their child's school-based writing. It enabled them to view, like and comment in response to their child and other children's English work. Although parents were seen to be involved on the platform, it was observed they mainly viewed and liked rather than commented. Future pedagogical directions will be discussed with suggestions provided on how parents can be encouraged to take a more active role on such platforms. Copyright ©Sage Publications Ltd.

Background: Dot enumeration is the basic mathematics competency in young children and a significant indicator of later mathematics achievement. Aim: The present study focused on (1) how children's dot enumeration ability changed as they progressed from late kindergarten years (K3) to the second year of primary school in Hong Kong (P2), and (2) the extent to which such changes are associated with students' mathematics outcomes assessed at the fourth grade, including standardized mathematics achievement, whole number magnitude understanding, and rational number concept. Sample(s): Two hundred and eleven Hong Kong kindergarteners were recruited. Methods: The participants' dot enumeration was assessed from K3 to P2. Their mathematics outcomes were assessed at P4, including standardized mathematics achievement, whole number magnitude understanding, and rational number concept. Results: The changes in their dot enumeration speed reflected a linear growth pattern. Further, both the initial level and growth rate of dot enumeration predicted standardized mathematics achievement and whole number magnitude understanding 2 years later while only the latter predicted rational number concept. Conclusions: The results indicate the importance of focusing on children's growth in a specific mathematics skill, in addition to their status at one single time point. Practical implications are discussed in this article. Copyright ©John Wiley & Sons Ltd.