Environmental education has been widely promoted in Hong Kong schools since the 1990s. Teachers have a crucial role in educating students to be well-informed, environmentally aware and responsible green citizens. The environmental literacy and tendencies of teachers are seen as having far-reaching influences on the development of environmental education in Hong Kong. This paper aims to elucidate teachers' competence in implementing environmental education in schools through their narrative dialogues regarding their engagement in classroom practice and thinking about environmental education. The teachers were selected from a pool of teacher respondents categorised according to their scores for environmental knowledge, attitude and behaviour in a territory-wide survey of Hong Kong primary school teachers. Follow-up interviews with three teachers of varying levels were conducted to explicate their personal stories, focusing on how the teachers' knowledge-attitude-behaviour associations influence their implementation of environmental education in schools. The teachers' experiences and perspectives behind their stories provide crucial, specific baseline information, informing the development of more relevant teacher education programs in environmental education, and subsequently, enhancing environmental education in schools.
[Copyright of International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10382046.2014.967111]

Interactive whiteboard (IWB) has been widely used as a learning tool in the western classrooms since 1991. Many researchers reported that the technology benefits students by increasing their engagement in classroom activities, arousing learners’ motivation and helping with their knowledge retention. Hong Kong, as a Chinese society has its unique learning culture and environment, what benefits western students may not apply there. It is therefore worthwhile to explore the usefulness of IWB in Hong Kong schools. This paper reports on the research of what benefits can bring to Hong Kong students through the teaching with IWB. Result of this study shows that in general teachers and students in Hong Kong welcome the use of IWB in their classrooms.
[Copyright © 2006 IOS Press.]

This paper discusses the development of civic education curriculum in Hong Kong and outlines the changes of its nature in different historical phases. How civic education curriculum of Hong Kong responded to differential social needs in both the colonial era and after 1997 is examined. Important curriculum documents are analyzed to facilitate the discussion. How civic education in Hong Kong evolved from teaching students to identify themselves with a city to identify themselves with a nation and a globalized world is highlighted.

Along with the increasing global emphasis on creativity, creative teaching has become an issue of concern for a large number of researchers. This study addresses this issue by exploring the belief of Hong Kong teachers on creative teaching. The research results obtained through qualitative approach show that the beliefs of Hong Kong teachers about creative teaching cover process and product dimensions. The informants can be grouped into five categories with reference to their various preferences. The evidence shows that a part of the beliefs of Hong Kong teachers is aligned with ideal theoretical framework advanced by scholars. The deficiency and problems in the belief of teachers in creative teaching are also discussed in this paper.
[Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.]

Technical and vocational education and training (TVET) is often seen to be constraining and focused on specific skill development for specific occupations. This goal is at odds with the demands of a knowledge economy that requires more general educational outcomes for an uncertain and unpredictable labour market. For this reason, Hui (2012) has adopted a broader definition of student learning outcomes and assessed the extent to which ‘cultural literacy’ might be a preferred goal for TVET to supplement the skills training element. Cultural literacy refers to an individual’s world view, ways to interact with people, character, personal ethics, values and style. Hui’s study highlighted the need for TVET to emphasise the development of these generic outcomes, students’ comprehensive attitudes and personal qualities in particular. To achieve greater control over the quality of outcomes, this study aims to investigate the influence of students’ participation in institutional activities on their growth. Through modifying the well-known National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), this study examines the relationship between the five benchmarks of effective educational practice and students’ cultural literacy and their self-reported academic performance. Results of a survey study of 238 Hong Kong TVET students indicated that some of the benchmarks could predict to a strong and moderate degree these two important outcomes. It is argued that proper planning and facilitation of educationally purposive activities could enhance both their learning and development. This article will contribute to the discussion on how to advance TVET students’ learning performance.
[Copyright © 2014 Behalf of UCU.]

Numerous studies have been carried out to investigate motivation; however, no research has been done to evaluate how length of stay has an impact on the second language learning pattern. This study, therefore, investigated how length of stay places impact on a group of Chinese immigrant students’ motivation to learn English in Hong Kong. It is hoped that an understanding of Chinese immigrant students’ motivation to learn English in relations to length of stay would have implications on current teaching and learning practices, based on the adopted motivational theory and that these would enhance learners’ motivation to learn English while adjusting to and integrating with the new learning environment.
[Copyright © 2008 Samara AltLinguo.]

The discussion of market in education is controversial and often value-laden. This paper aims at exploring the attempts made by the government of Hong Kong to develop a vibrant private sector in school education through the Direct Subsidy Scheme. The scheme allows participating schools to draw funds both from tuition fees and government subsidy on the one hand and promises greater freedom in school operation on the other. This paper will discuss how the scheme was first coined and its significant development. Attention will be paid to how the development of the scheme may have affected the landscape of school education in Hong Kong. Focus will be placed on how it may have an impact on equality of education, class, social mobility and the nature of education. It is hoped that this will become a case to help the reflections on the complexities relating to introducing market to education.
[Copyright © 2006 Biblioteca Virtuală ASE.]

The influence of school or family on students’ development is widely recognized as essential. Cultural factors which affect students’ use of information and communication technology (ICT) need to be further explored. This research on digital divide analyzed the interview data from principals, teachers, and students from two Hong Kong junior secondary schools. The main findings suggest that cultural divide at school and home can significantly affect the phenomenon of digital divide in education. The cultural factors in school most associated with high ICT usage were the school principals’ culture and values regarding ICT. Parental values, such as demanding but harmonious parent-child relationship, were the most influential home cultural factors. The results of the study suggest that the phenomenon of digital divide could be eased by previously overlooked gaps in school and family culture. Some suggestions and limitations were also provided in the conclusion.