This pilot study is to examine whether it is valuable to implement jazz choral practice in Hong Kong primary school setting. The findings can serve as a reference to explore the possibilities of promoting jazz education in Asian countries or in China. The participants were 70 public primary school students from grade 2 to 5 in Hong Kong. All participants were asked to sing jazz warm up exercises written by Kirby Shaw in their choral rehearsals. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected. Findings were presented from two perspectives - student perspective and observer perspective - in this study. After rehearsals, students were asked to complete a questionnaire related to the response in singing jazz music. Video recording and field notes were captured to observe the behaviour and expression of the participants. Six dimensions of contents were observed during the rehearsal including physical actions, verbal behaviour, expressive behaviour, spatial relations, temporal patterns and verbal records. The results have indicated that it is beneficial to use Jazz warm up exercises in the traditional choral practice in Hong Kong primary school setting.
[Copyright of Music Education Research is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14613808.2013.788142]

The purpose of the study is to analyse and discuss the influences of globalisation and localisation on music education in Hong Kong and Taiwan. It argues that the reform of music education concerns changes to the contents of the curriculum that envisage the cultural and political developments that arise from processes of globalisation and localisation in these two Chinese societies. 'Glocalisation' throughout this essay refers to the interface of the global and the local. I conclude by discussing three issues relating to the processes of glocalisation that have shaped music education and cultural identity in these two changing societies: (1) the multiculturalism of music education; (2) the promotion of local music cultures in the curriculum; and (3) the inclusion of Confucian ethics in song lyrics. This study argues that education that promotes family values and social harmony can satisfy concerns that glocalisation involves the adoption of both Chinese and foreign songs in the school curriculum.
[Copyright of Comparative Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03050068.2012.686678]

Since the end of the 1980s in the NIE4 - Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and Singapore - in Asia, progressive cultural and educational policies have developed along with tremendous economic growth, and a belief in the value of cultivating excellent human resources has provided the fertile ground to plant the seeds for Drama Education and Applied Theatre in schools and community settings. Drama Education and Applied Theatre projects have therefore been implemented in different ways and manners in different policy contexts and funding systems in the NIE4 either through government programmes or Non-governmental Organization (NGO) and civil organisations. They have developed in different directions as well as encountering different problems over 20 years. This essay aims to give a brief survey and investigation into these innovative imaginings and actions in the NIE4 and it ventures to present the issues and concerns that practitioners are seeking to ponder and solve. It also aims to explore the relationship between these praxes and the respective social, cultural and political changes in these areas and investigate the various responses and efficacy these praxes in Drama Education and Applied Theatre have done to their respective societies as well as investigate the challenges they posed to the existing social and educational orthodox ideologies.
[Copyright of Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13569783.2012.756182]