In Hong Kong, quality assessors from the Education Bureau (EDB) visit kindergartens to conduct Quality Review (QR) assessments. Their written reports, therefore, reflect the official local perspective of quality kindergarten education. We conducted a content analysis of 323 QR reports focusing on the positive and negative feedback and recommendations for improvement regarding music education. Two coding schemes were developed using an inductive approach. High inter-reliability was obtained. The most frequently mentioned positive feedback codes were related to sufficient exposure to music and enjoyable musical learning experiences. In contrast, there were negative feedback codes pointing out that children’s musical exposure was insufficient at Kindergarten 3 (children aged 5–6 years), and some musical activities were poorly prepared and/or designed. Children’s music learning outcomes were rarely mentioned in the reports. The analyses indicate that the local understanding of kindergarten music education strongly emphasizes exposing children to enjoyable musical activities, with a lower focus on the nature and quality of musical learning. We conclude that the QR reports reflect a teacher-centric view of music education. Findings may inform curriculum designers and teacher educators about EDB’s expectations in the area of music education. Future research should explore the perspectives of other kindergarten stakeholders such as teachers, principals, and teacher educators. Copyright © 2024 by the authors.

In Hong Kong, the Education Bureau (EDB) is responsible for the quality assurance of kindergarten education services. EDB inspectors regularly conduct school visits to monitor kindergartens’ performance and publish a Quality Review (QR) report for each kindergarten. Given the limited research on pedagogical practices pertaining to physical activities in Hong Kong kindergartens, the current study analyzes the content concerning this learning area in the QR reports. We analyzed 164 QR reports (published between 2017 and 2020) according to four analytic dimensions: (1) Overall presence of content pertaining to physical activities; (2) References to specific forms of physical activities; (3) Positive feedback; and (4) Negative feedback and recommendations. The presence of physical activities in the QR reports was found to be low (5% on average). EDB inspectors alluded to physical activities generically, not specifying the motor skill(s) at hand. Both positive and negative feedback focused primarily on matters pertaining to the time of exposure to physical activities and teachers’ pedagogical quality. Our evidence suggests the existence of potential gaps between Hong Kong’s kindergarten policies and actual physical activity practices. Further professional development seems necessary to strengthen both teachers’ pedagogies and inspectors’ understandings of physical activities. Copyright © 2023 The Author(s).

背景：近年教育改革成為世界各地廣泛關注的公共政策議題，而各地教育改革的經驗更是值得詳加比較與研究，以作為相互參照之用。
目的或討論焦點：本文把分析及討論之重心聚焦在教育改革過去20 年在香港的發展經過、主要改革措施，以及教改的矛盾和影響之上。
論點/評論/建議：全文共分四部分。第一部分概括地回顧香港教育改革自20 世紀80 年代的發展背景與演變狀況；第二部分則集中探討教育改革的主要內容，特別關注學制、學校管理、質素評鑑、教師專業及辦學模式等方面的轉變；第三部分分析及討論該等改革措施的影響及啟示；最後為總結部分。
總結：本文著重指出，近年香港教育改革明顯受到其他地區所進行之改革所影響，與海外地區相似的是教育質素指標化、權力下放與集權同時出現，以及商業化或市場化等。這些因素都深刻地影響著教育工作者的工作。
Background: Recently, education reform has been a focus of public policy discussion. It is valuable to compare the education reforms in different places in order to reach a deeper understanding of the reform in a particular place.
Aims or focus of discussion: The purpose of this paper is to review and analyze the process, major measures and changes over time in relation to education reform in Hong Kong. It also examines the problems and impacts involved.
Arguments / comments / suggestions: The paper is divided into 4 parts: (1) a review of education reforms since the 1980s; (2) the major measures adopted, particularly those related to the education system, school management, quality assessment, teacher professionalism and the school system; (3) a discussion on the impacts of these reform measures; and (4) conclusion.
Conclusion: This paper points out that the Hong Kong education reforms, being affected by experience elsewhere, are dominated with several features, such as the stress on quantifying education quality, the simultaneity of evolution and centralization, and the education marketization, which are all important factors that affect the teaching life of ordinary Hong Kong teachers.
[Copyright of New Horizons: The Journal of Education, Hong Kong Teachers' Associationl is the property of Hong Kong Teachers' Association at http://www.hkta1934.org.hk/]

The switch of the teaching medium of junior secondary classes in Hong Kong from English (EMI) to Chinese (CMI) in 1998 has met strong opposition from parents for fear of possible decline in the learners' level of English proficiency due to reduction in exposure. To make up for this and to smoothen the transition from CMI to EMI in senior secondary level, a 3-year English Enrichment Programme (EEP) was piloted in selected schools starting 2001. An evaluation project assessing the effectiveness of the EEP was also launched in the same year. This paper reports the preliminary findings from the evaluation project on how well the students learnt in the EEP.
In the evaluation, emphasis has been given to analysing the extent to which three conditions necessary for optimal L2 learning were present in the students' learning process in the EEP. These conditions include comprehensible exposure and input, opportunities for L2 use with feedback, and motivation. The paper reports the process and findings of this evaluation. It was found that the three conditions did exist in the learning process, yet the quality of the provision of these conditions was doubtful. Recommendations will be offered on how the design and implementation of the EEP could be improved to ensure quality provision of the conditions so as to improve the effect of learning.
[Copyright of Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) at http://www.aare.edu.au]