Hong Kong's Liberal Studies curriculum (implemented in 2009) aims in part to teach young people about diversity in society, including cultural, ethnic, and religious diversity. This essay considers how religions and religious diversity are represented in Liberal Studies, analyzing how minority forms of religion are visible and invisible in the four most popular Liberal Studies textbook sets. The analysis will answer the questions of (1) how Hong Kong's religious diversity is expressed in the textbooks and (2) how different religions are depicted in relation to the society overall. Textbooks are the primary source material teachers use, particularly in new subjects, as reflections of prevalent attitudes, beliefs, and norms, and as formal sources of curriculum content. This essay therefore provides a glimpse of the latent knowledge about religious diversity in the educational publishing and decision-making community of Hong Kong, relating gaps in text coverage to the subject's aim of developing student understanding and appreciation of diversity.
[Copyright of Asian Anthropology is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1683478X.2015.1025595]

Outcome Based Learning (OBL) is an initiative from the University Grant Committee which emphasizes learning outcomes of university graduates. In view of such a requirement, the information and communication technology (ICT) educators reviewed relevant literature and came up with a list of desirable attributes of graduates who will teach ICT or related subjects at primary or secondary schools. A questionnaire was developed according to the attributes and the generic outcomes that represent the expectations of the Institute's graduates and also the distinctive attributes and qualities for ICT teachers in the primary and secondary education sectors. Since it is very important to know the desired expectation from the stakeholders, the questionnaires were sent randomly to teachers of schools, pre-service ICT teachers and related colleagues at the HKIEd. It was found that the respondents gave the highest scores to "graduates should be able to demonstrate responsible and positive attitudes towards the use of ICT" and the lowest to "graduates should apply pedagogies suitable for teaching the whole class and are not required to cater to individual needs". A chosen course outline has been revised to reflect the expectations of our stakeholders. Finally, the assessment methods and mind set of both educators and learners must also be changed.
[Copyright of International Journal of Learning is the property of Common Ground Publishing.]

Background: Embedding the concept of international mindedness' in teaching across a range of subject matter is seen as increasingly important in today's education. Understanding the situated challenges that teachers may encounter in doing this is critical to the development of effective professional development in different socio-cultural and instructional contexts.Purpose: This study examined the enactment of international mindedness in International Baccalaureate diploma programmes (IBDP) in the Hong Kong context, focusing on the subject of Chinese language teaching.Sample: Nine experienced Chinese language teachers in IBDP programmes from six International Baccalaureate schools participated in the study. The schools were selected on the basis that they had some variety in student demographic profiles and organisational structures and had been offering the IBDP programmes for several years. Participant teachers either had several years of teaching IBDP Chinese or were holding leadership roles in the Chinese department and were very familiar with IBDP Chinese teaching.Design and methods: Individual, semi-structured interviews of approximately an hour's duration were conducted with participant teachers. A thematic analysis technique was used to analyse the interview data both deductively and inductively.Findings: Analysis revealed a set of internal and external challenges that were described as arising from the characteristics of the individual teachers, the curriculum and the teaching contexts. Challenges internal to the teachers included their educational experience, pedagogical beliefs and interpretations of the concept of international mindedness in teaching. External challenges included the characteristics of the IBDP curriculum, the subject matter and schools' and parents' expectations concerning international mindedness. Teachers and schools were found to utilise various strategies in order to enhance the perceived compatibility and relevancy of international

This study examines the practical and conceptual dimensions of children's play in German and Hong Kong Chinese kindergartens. German (n = 24) and Chinese (n = 24) children (3-6 years) were randomly selected and videotaped during their free play for 5 min continuously on five consecutive days. Play behavior was analyzed by adopting the Parten-Smilansky play scale. Ten teachers were interviewed to elicit their views on play, learning, and play arrangements. The findings indicate that a significant difference was found between all the play categories of Hong Kong and German children. The most frequent behavior in both contexts is non-playing behavior (Non-Play), which includes completing assignments and onlooker behavior. German children show a slightly higher level in the social and cognitive dimensions of play, compared with their Chinese counterparts. Moreover, there is an association between children?s play and teachers' views on play and, to some degree, the curriculum foci. This comparative study has implications for the curricula currently under reform, based on consideration of whether play should be applied to or removed from the curriculum.
[Copyright of Early Years: An International Journal of Research and Development is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09575146.2013.818936]

The present study aimed at assessing Hong Kong young children's gains in creativity and their teachers' application of arts education after a one-year artists-teachers collaborative arts education project that involves various art forms (i.e. drama, visual arts and integrated). Participants included 790 young children, 217 parents and 65 teachers in seven kindergartens and nurseries. Measures included the Test for Creative Thinking-Drawing Production, Story-Telling Test (STT), the subscales of parent-rated creativity, communication and motivational characteristics, and the adapted Scale of Application of Arts in the Classroom. Among the three art forms, children in the visual arts group demonstrated highest gains in verbal creativity as evaluated by the STT. Based on parents' report, there were significant differences in children's communication characteristics across the three art forms. Significant differences across art forms were also found in teachers' confidence in teaching arts to 3-4 years old and their perception of arts for arts sake. Both teachers and students take advantage of the professional and artistic input and guidance of practising artists in arts appreciation and production. Implications and limitations were discussed.
[Copyright of Educational Psychology is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01443410.2013.875518]