Despite the growing advocacy for implementing leisure education in schools, its application lags behind its global expectations. Unlike the US trend of 'back to basics' educational philosophy which prioritizes the learning of core subjects over leisure related subjects, countries in Asia have been changing their curricula to nurture the whole person development and thus paving the way for infusing leisure education into school systems. One example is Hong Kong which has undergone a major education reform in the last two decades. Even though scholars have suggested numerous channels and strategies for leisure education in schools, a lucid framework which takes into account the views of those for which leisure education in planned was not developed. This study is to explore the underlying dimensions of leisure education as it is manifested by teachers' and students' views. A Seventeen-item questionnaire has been submitted to 105 teachers and 1187 students from seven schools geographically distributed around Hong Kong. Responses were analyzed through Smallest Space Analysis (SSA). The SSA solutions among both students and teachers have yield three-dimensional solution with coefficient of alienation .14. The solutions indicated a division to five dimensions: values and attitudes, self-development, motivation, ends and means and education among teachers and three combined dimensions among students: motivation and ends and means, self-motivation and education which includes active engagement, and values and attitudes. The identified dimensions resonate well with the suggested channels and strategies for leisure education in schools which incorporate various offerings, freedom of choice, trial and error and experiential learning. Whereas this similarity could facilitate the utilization of leisure education in schools, there is a need to consider the nature, strategy and context of such implementation. The paper addresses these challenges and draws implications for teacher training

Outdoor adventure education (OAE) is philosophically rooted in Western values, yet it has been implemented in non-Western cultures, such as East Asia. This paper examines how OAE functions in East Asia, through data from Hong Kong. Although some cultural differences are clear, there is no compelling evidence that OAE cannot provide benefits in Eastern contexts. The data in our example support the premise that OAE can be a viable and valuable medium for the development of social and intrapersonal skills and may serve as a complementary approach to traditional schooling in East Asia. Implications from this paper include better aligning OAE with schools and teachers, understanding the merits of relationships developed through OAE, and appreciating that some traditional OAE practices should be questioned when exported to different cultures.
[Copyright of Journal of Outdoor Recreation, Education & Leadership is the property of Sagamore Publishing.]

Co-curricular activities in general are believed to be useful for students' development, such as improvement in academic performance, higher retention rate, enhancement of social and competency skills, and assistance of youth development and employment. With the expansion of the education sector and the implementation of a new 3-3-4 education system in Hong Kong, the background and training of students is different from the past, so it is worthwhile investigating students' interest, understanding and perceptions about co-curricular activities nowadays in an Asian context. Comparison between the perceptions of sub-degree and degree students is discussed. Similarities and differences are found in both groups of students. Based on the findings, suggestions are made to education institutions in planning their resources on co-curricular activities.
[Copyright of International Education Studies is the property of Canadian Center of Science and Education]

This thesis presents three research studies on fundamental movement skills (FMS). The thesis aims to provide insight into FMS teaching and learning in primary school physical education (PE) and to examine the effectiveness of a school-based intervention that can improve FMS proficiency among primary school children in Hong Kong. The first study (Chapter 2) examined the relationships between FMS, perceived physical competence, perceived movement skill competence, enjoyment, and physical activity (PA) among primary school children in Hong Kong. The differences among these variables in terms of gender and grade level were addressed, as well as FMS acquisition and mastery levels among primary school children from grades one to six were reported. Their results revealed that locomotor skill competence had an indirect effect on self-reported PA through perceived physical competence and enjoyment after adjustment for age, gender, and body mass index. Overall, children exhibited low levels of FMS proficiency and moderate-to-vigorous PA. Students from higher grade levels, particularly girls, had lower levels of perceived physical competence, movement skill competence, and enjoyment as compared with younger students. The second study (Chapter 3) examined the current FMS teaching practice in primary school PE. The study adopted a mixed-methods approach to explore the views of teachers and students on their experiences of PE for FMS development and on the motivational climate in PE. The quantitative data demonstrated that students' active time during FMS class was low. Teachers spent a large amount of time on instructions and management but spent a small amount of time to engage the students in movement skill activities and games. Thus, students were prevented from remaining physically active during FMS practice throughout the lessons. The interviews with the students also indicate that the PE lessons offered are not effective enough to provide a broad range of game-related movement

All students, including those with disabilities, are entitled to participate in outdoor learning. However, previous research has found students with visual impairment in mainstream Hong Kong schools often encounter difficulties (and even exclusion) in learning activities conducted outdoors. The research reported here aimed to explore the reactions of students with visual impairment who participate in outdoor learning, and then to recommend solutions for overcoming any obstacles that they identify. A phenomenological inquiry approach was applied to examine data through the live experiences of the students. Their perceptions of the experiences offered by their schools were also collected. The key findings on the positive side were: First, most of the mainstream schools do provide outdoor learning opportunities to all students, including those with visual impairment. Second, some students with visual impairment love to participate in outdoor learning because they can acquire more real-life knowledge; and they can also socialize with different people. Third, students with visual impairment perceive that they can play a more active role (e.g. as a leader) in outdoor activities to help them learn effectively. Findings on the less positive side were: First, public's noninviting attitudes were perceived to be a difficulty the students encountered. Second, students with visual impairment tend to need more time to deal with other school work, and often reluctantly choose to withdraw from optional outdoor learning opportunities. Third, there are insufficient provisions made for their outdoor learning and community service. Implications of the findings for school policies and practices are discussed.

The New Senior Secondary (NSS) curriculum was launched among Hong Kong schools in 2009-10 school year. Under the NSS Curriculum framework, Other Learning Experiences (OLE), which requires students to participate in five areas of OLE, namely Moral and Civic Education, Community Service, Career-related Experiences, Aesthetic Development and Physical Development, is one of the three major components that complement the study of the four core subjects and 2-3 elective subjects for the whole person development of students. The study, mainly employing surveys together with mixed methods, aims to explore the impact of OLE, as a key curriculum component in the NSS curriculum, on students' approaches to learning. In 2010-11, two case study schools, with different features of OLE and with differing background characteristics were selected for a survey on students' approaches to learning over two school years. The survey, namely ‘Studying at School Inventory' (SASI) of 352 S4 students provides evidence of the impact of OLE with regard to learning approaches such as enhancing deep learning and effort. Although the results could not of themselves provide a warrant for a generalizable positive impact of OLE on students' approaches to learning and learning habits, it is reasonable to conclude that OLE has had a positive influence as indicated in policy documents, at the two case schools and in certain school contexts (e.g. year group, school culture, OLE leadership) and with regard to specific OLE component contexts (e.g. activity type, student motivation, pedagogy). The study illuminates the further study of OLE.

香港在小學推行啟導班達十八年之久，旨在幫助在中文、英文、數學三個主要科目學習有困難的學生。對於啟導班的實際價值，社會上有不同的爭議，本文旨在闡釋教育學院、學生和家長對啟導班的觀點，探討其發展和面對的困難，從而作出建議。
[Copyright © 2000 中央教育科學研究所.]

Use of Textbooks: Textbooks, which reflects the curriculum, are an important informant to portray the intended curriculum (Johansson, 2003). They are absolutely a valuable source for teachers (Stodolsky, 1999; Remillard, 2005; Tarr et al., 2006). The research on textbooks benefits substantively to the understanding of a curriculum in a particular region (Thaqi & Gimenez, 2016). Outstanding Performance in Some Regions: Mathematics learning in some Asian regions interests many educators, as the students from these regions have outperformed others in several worldwide mathematical assessments. The PISA report highlights that more than a quarter of students from each of the top-performing regions: Beijing-Shanghai-Jiangsu-Guangdong (China), Hong Kong (China) and Chinese Taipei could mathematically verbalize complicated problems (Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development, 2016). Another renowned international assessment TIMSS also shows that almost half (i.e. 47-49%) of students at Secondary 2 in South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong reach the advanced international benchmark (Mullis et al., 2012). The textbooks adopted by these Asian countries or regions are definitely worth referencing. Textbook Content Analysis: This study selected one textbook from each of these Asian regions and their content was decoded according to a proposed framework called Assessment-Background-Content textbook analysis, which was developed from the textbook context analysis of Incikabi & Tjoe (2013), Huntley (2008), Alajmi (2012) and National Research Council (2004). Textbooks were coded according to their lesson components. Pickle (2012) adapted from Jones’s (2004) coding suggested ten lesson components in identifying units in the textbooks. The ten components include description, definition, question, activity, worked example, oral exercise, follow-up practice, highlight, project, and reflection (Pickle, 2012, p.51). Textbooks in Asian Regions: The proposed presentation will compare the

The paper focuses on the evaluation of the present curriculum in Hong Kong. It discusses the analysis of questionnaires collected from 130 primary schools in Hong Kong. Findings regarding the views of mathematics teachers on the goals of curriculum, teaching content and assessment methods are also presented. Besides the paper discusses the learning and teaching strategies in the mathematics classroom, small class teaching (SCT) has been adopted by most of the schools in the first three years of primary education for about ten years. A lot of research has been conducted to study the efficacy of SCT. Most of the studies confirmed the benefits of SCT. The author made a study of this in 4 primary schools. There were classroom observations for 10 lessons. Whether their teaching can enhance children^ higher order thinking skills will also be investigated. In Hong Kong, the Territory-wide System Assessment (TSA) is an assessment administered at the territory level. It facilitates assessment for learning by providing schools with objective data on students' performances at the end of Key Stages 1-3. This paper examines its efficacy and discusses the public view on it. Teachers are interviewed regarding their views on the mathematics curriculum and their experiences. Children are also interviewed to investigate their interest in mathematics learning. The paper continues to discuss the mathematics curriculum in 3 different countries namely, the United States, the United Kingdom and Mainland China. A brief comparison is made regarding the content of their primary mathematics curricula, the learning and teaching strategies, children^ interest in mathematics learning and the cultural impact on their learning. Moreover, analysis of the cultural differences and contextual factors such as high expectation of parents, keen competition in education may shed light on the design of the mathematics curriculum. Research into comparative studies of the mathematics curricula of major Asian