Parents in dysfunctional family situations and those in intact well-functioning families have distinct requirements for parental learning and parent education. For intact well-functioning families, a developmental-educational paradigm for parent education is more appropriate. Although school-based parent education is ideal for well-functioning families, most policy makers and school leaders have overlooked the utility of this approach. Recent studies, however, have provided further support for in-school parent education. This paper presents some of the results from new research on parental learning and offers findings in support of in-school parent education.
[Copyright of Learning: Research and Practice is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23735082.2015.1028714]

This paper aims at discussing the effectiveness of the College_Asia project, which involved EFL students from Indonesia, Japan, Thailand and Hong Kong. Participants were asked to upload their photos on Flickr.com with the purpose of drawing attention and arousing curiosity. They then made acquaintance with students from the partner universities, commenting on each other's photos and postings. This practice generated topics for class discussions and provided a platform for students to use English in authentic situations. The paper concludes that the project has a lot of potential in improving learner motivation and possibilities of international collaboration in English language classrooms.

It was explained that education was not important in the earliest colonial period where the colony only contained small Hong Kong Island from 1841 to 1860. The disagreement of this conclusion was found and actually education was one of the major governmental concerns. Britain was starting that education should be funded by public money and the public education system was not yet well established at that time. The Hong Kong government laid special stress on educating Hong Kong pupils in order to facilitate governance, business and building community and citizenship of Hong Kong during this early colonial period. We can criticize the government which did not spend enough money for education, but it is observable that the education policy was initiated and adjusted to suit for the development of the community. The fact must be re-constructed historically.
[Copyright © 2014 Maryland Institute of Research (MIR)]

In accordance with the Education Commission's consultation paper "Learning for Life", life-long learning is the hinge of HKSAR's educational development in the new millenium. In the ever-changing world life-long learning is essential to keeping oneself competitive and employable. Teachers need to exemplify and cultivate the ethos of life-long learning among the students. Continuous teacher education is important as it helps reorientate Hong Kong's teachers to embrace a life-long learning attitude. In schools, adjustments and arrangements need to be worked out for continuous teacher education to be fruitful.

This chapter explores the positive contribution that ideas and constructs from both the business and management training and the adult education literature can make to the theory and practice of workplace ELT curriculum design. Specifically, the chapter looks at how workplace stakeholders can provide a business voice to the ELT curriculum processes, how business-training planning and evaluation frameworks can assist ESP workplace practitioners in reconceptualizing the curriculum process, and how a review of adult learning research can help ESP workplace practitioners better understand the English language needs of professionals in the workplace. Unfortunately, the applied linguistic literature is, for the most part, school-based, leaving workplace ELT programs poorly researched and documented in terms of curriculum theory and practice. The chapter will report on studies of workplace English carried out in Hong Kong and the Philippines. The first Hong Kong study (Lockwood, 2002) investigated the way in which frameworks from business management and training can be used in ESP workplace training to ensure workplace stakeholders and thus the organization as a whole are better represented in the process. The second Hong Kong study (Hamp-Lyons et al., 2002) provides insights into how different stages in a professional career (in this case accountants) impact the kind of written language expectations of that professional. Two studies conducted in the Philippines in the business processing outsourcing (BPO) industry, specifically within call centers in Manila, illuminates further the language demands of the increasingly globalized workplace.
[Copyright © 2007 Springer Science + Business Media, LLC.]

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.]

In response to reform of the senior secondary school curriculum, parents, professionals and schools voiced out the significance of the learning equity and opportunities of school graduates in special schools. Different parties urged the government to clarify the academic structure, curriculum arrangement and resources for these SEN students in senior academic structure reform. This was a territory-wide study on parental views and preferences of the senior secondary curriculum among special schools for students with mental handicap, physical handicap and visual impairment in Hong Kong. In the study, it was found that at the initial stage of policy planning, the further education opportunities of children with intellectual disabilities and multiple disabilities after the 9-year basic education were not fully considered. The opportunities remained unchanged and were of limited variety. Other than the extension program in the special schools, there was no innovative policy and practice in offering further education for these students. Parents were dissatisfied the limited choice of the further education and career placement for their children after the graduation at the age of 18. They expressed their strong view on the equal opportunity in the reform of senior secondary academic structure. With regard to the scenario of development, the study further reported the views and expectations and preferences of parents. Parents expected a clear division of secondary education into junior and senior, two stages, as opposed to a six-year education without such distinction. The curriculum, arrangements and assessment of senior secondary education should be further enriched and strengthened. Education and vocational training for schools leavers were expected. The results were significant and the empirical data provided teachers, school administrators, curriculum planners, teacher educators and the authority with the insights for further actions. The teacher education in empowering