Many Hong Kong Chinese parents believe that music training enhances the academic achievement of their children. The current study investigates the relationship between the extent and outcome of students' music training, their perceptions of the value of the subjects they study and their academic achievement. A total of 286 students in Primary 4, 5 and 6 from one school in Hong Kong reported the extent and outcome of their music training, including the number of instruments they studied, the number of years spent training, highest grade and highest level achieved. For value, students completed a subscale of the Achievement Task Value Questionnaire to measure their "liking and interest," perceived "importance" and "usefulness" of their school subjects. A nested structural equation model showed that, for both boys and girls, the extent and outcome of music training positively predicts academic achievement in Chinese, English and mathematics. Furthermore, the model shows that for both boys and girls, students' perceived value of their school subjects negatively predicts academic achievement in Chinese, and age has a direct and negative effect on mathematics achievement. For girls, age positively moderates the extent and outcome of music training on academic achievement whereas the moderator effect of age on students' perceived value of academic subjects is non-significant. For boys, in contrast, the moderator effect of age on extent and outcome of music training is non-significant, whereas its effect on students' perceived value of academic subjects is negative. In broad terms, the results show that parents are justified in believing that music training is positively related to academic achievement. However, the results differ for boys and girls in connection to the role of age in this relationship.
[Copyright of Research Studies in Music Education is the property of Sage Publications Ltd.]

戲劇教育自1980到1990年代輸入臺灣和香港的幼兒教育，作為一個課程改革的方法，過去多數研究集中在教學的實踐，很少以社會文化對照的角度分析這個來自西方的教育模式在地化過程。本文以「全球在地化」的理論，運用視像人種誌的研究方法，透過臺港兩地教學案例，探索與描述兩地幼兒機構進行戲劇教育全球在地化的實踐。研究結果發現，在戲劇教育模式、課程定位及教學方法等面向，臺灣具有調和、主軸及兒童本位的特點，而香港則是單一、邊陲與劇藝的特性。究其因多半和社會文化背景、教育體制、教師培訓和戲劇教育推動方式等方面的差異有關。另外，兩地戲劇教育研究員也從對話中找到可互相參考的全球在地化策略，做為未來亞洲國家發展戲劇教育在地化的借鏡。As a pedagogy for curriculum innovation, drama education was introduced to Taiwan and Hong Kong early childhood education in the period between 1980 and 1990. Previous studies have mostly focused on the use of drama education, but rarely looked into the localization of this western teaching mode from a socio-cultural perspective. Based on the theories of glocalization, this paper examined lesson samples from Taiwan and Hong Kong by visual ethnography to explore and describe the processes and modes of glocalization of drama education in the two regions. The results showed that with respect to the drama education approaches, curriculum positions and teaching methods, Taiwan implements drama education with a mixture of various approaches and views it as a child-centered, core practice, while Hong Kong uses it in a relatively homogeneous, peripheral and theatrical manner. This discrepancy mostly resulted from different colonization backgrounds, education policies, teacher trainings and ways of promoting drama education. In addition, through dialogues the researchers of drama education from these two regions have made reference to each other's strategies of glocalizing drama education, with which they may provide suggestions for the attempt to localize drama education in other Asian countries. Copyright © 2018 中華民國課程與教學學會.

The implementation of a school-based integrated curriculum enables schools to plan a balanced, flexible and coherent curriculum in order to reduce subject specification, especially in kindergartens. Despite kindergarten teachers in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) being encouraged to integrate music content across subject areas, these boundaries still exist and prove challenging. This instrumental case study shows how one kindergarten teacher attempted to integrate other subjects into the music curriculum through movement and games, and encourage children's creativity. Eight detailed observations of music lessons and an interview with the kindergarten teacher depict her efforts at integration. Findings show that some progress was made and that the support of the principal was pivotal. They also suggest ways in which kindergarten teachers might begin to incorporate more creative integrated approaches to music education and have some applicability to other kindergarten settings where transmission approaches tend to dominate and teachers want to encourage music integration and children's musical creativity. Copyright © 2018 Cambridge University Press.

綜合課程是香港幼稚園的主流模式，但音樂及其他藝術科目的學習卻未被有效的綜合與融入現有課程之中。本文以藝術範疇中的「音樂」科目作為核心，以綜合藝術中的音樂活動為例，詳細介紹在幼稚園運用「視覺組織圖表」(graphic organizers) 進行綜合藝術課程的理論與方法。透過「視覺組織圖表」及相關教學範例的展示，與教師分享如何以趣味的音樂活動來推動幼兒的綜合藝術學習，從而促進本港幼稚園實施有效的綜合藝術課程，確保兒童全面和充分的發展。
[Copyright © 2013 The Hong Kong Institute of Education.]

This study attempts to explore the implementation of the New Senior Secondary (NSS) music curriculum and senior secondary school music teachers’ perceptions towards the NSS music curriculum in developing students’ creativity. In Hong Kong education reform, the necessity of developing students’ creativity was emphasized and “developing students’ creativity” was addressed as one of the four learning targets of music education. As the last step of Hong Kong education reform, senior secondary curriculum reform has been implemented in 2009. Compared with the previous senior secondary music curriculum, the NSS music curriculum contains more diversified teaching contents and assessment methods. Besides, since senior secondary students who select music as one of their elective subjects have to participate in a public examination, and the results directly related to whether they can be accepted by universities, senior secondary music teachers who are undertaking to teach the NSS music lessons are under a pressure of assisting students to get a positive result in the public examination. Under this circumstance, to what extent the learning target “developing students’ creativity” can be achieved through undertaking the NSS music should be further studied. In this study, seven in-service senior secondary music teachers were invited to share their arrangements of offering the NSS music and their perceptions towards the NSS music curriculum in developing students’ creativity. Since “Creating” was stated as the most effective module in developing students’ creativity in the NSS music curriculum guide, music teachers’ teaching practice for teaching the “Creating” part was asked particularly. Findings indicate that 1) the NSS music was only offered by a few of senior secondary schools; 2) most of the interviewees displayed a positive attitude towards the importance of creativity; and 3) most of the interviewees considered that students’ creativity cannot be significantly developed through

Music listening occupies a central part of music studies at all levels of education. However, according to the relevant research, teachers have been emphasizing students’ cognitive responses with limited connection to the affective domain during. Undergraduate music majors have little interest in those teaching materials chosen by their teachers. This study is based on motivation theory, which emphasizes cognitive and affective responses during the learning process as well as requiring teachers to understand students’ behaviors, thoughts and feelings. The aim of this study is to investigate and explore teachers’ beliefs and pedagogies toward students’ affective responses during music listening in higher education under the context of mainland China and Hong Kong. The following two research questions guide the whole study: a) what are university music teachers’ beliefs and pedagogies toward affective response during music listening and learning in higher education? (b) How do their teaching pedagogy represent their belief? This study uses a mixed-method approach and includes two phases. Phase I aims to investigate the current situation regarding teachers’ belief and pedagogy towards affective responses while listening and learning to music. A questionnaire surveyed the views of 185 university music teachers recruited from 17 universities in mainland China, together with ten university music teachers from two universities in Hong Kong. From the questionnaire survey findings, three major issues were identified by teachers and considered critical to informing their beliefs and pedagogies when teaching music: (1) the correlation between teachers’ beliefs and pedagogy, (2) perspectives and pedagogic strategies toward affective response in music listening and learning, and (3) the factors influence teachers’ beliefs and pedagogies. Phase II aims to explore what the teachers’ actually teaching and the influences upon teachers’ belief and pedagogy towards affective responses

Critical thinking is regarded as a higher-order thinking skill, which is important in developing a comprehensive competency in modern times. Nurturing children’s critical thinking at an early stage thus becomes an essential target that should be pursued by all school teachers. Facing such a trend, the Education Bureau of Hong Kong started to reform the school curriculum in 2000 in order to develop students’ generic skills through eight Key Learning Areas (KLA), one of which is Arts Education that includes Music. Nine generic skills, including critical thinking, have been identified that should be nurtured through all KLAs. Published in 2003, the Music Curriculum Guide (Curriculum and Development Council, 2003) proposed four learning targets for music. Among all, cultivating critical responses in music is the target achieved by the integrated learning activities of creating, performing and listening. Nevertheless, there are very limited studies investigating the extent to which current primary music teachers can nurture students’ critical thinking in Hong Kong. Furthermore, Hong Kong music teachers may not be capable of developing students’ critical thinking through these integrated activities. This study aims to examine the current situation of cultivating critical thinking in music in Hong Kong’s primary schools and explore how critical thinking skills can be effectively developed. A questionnaire, interviews and class observation were used to collect data for current situation of nurturing critical thinking skills in primary music lessons. The results of the study demonstrate a positive indication of the acceptance of and beliefs in the implementation of critical thinking skills in Hong Kong primary teachers. Difficulties are found that impeded the effectiveness of the implementation, namely, teachers’ professional commitments by using critical thinking skills, teachers’ understanding of and abilities for the implementation, students’ involvement and differentiation

The purpose of the chapter is to review the past and present situation of teaching musicianship in Hong Kong schools as a background, identify a number of current issues, and propose a number of paradigm shifts that seem to be taking place in Hong Kong at the turn of this new century. In doing so, the chapter not only provides a general historical overview of how Hong Kong school music has traditionally been taught with implications for present practice, but, more importantly, attempts to draw implications on the development of musicianship skills that need to be considered by present day teachers and educational planners alike.
[Copyright © 2003 the author.]

Innovation in pedagogy by technology integration in kindergarten classroom has always been a challenge for most teachers. This design-based research aimed to explore the feasibility of using Augmented Reality (AR) technology in early art education with a focus on the gains and pains of this innovation. A case study was conducted in a typical kindergarten in Hong Kong, with a class of four- to five-year-old children (N=30) and their class teacher, ICT teacher as well as two parent volunteers. A series of art education activities using AR was designed and implemented in the class. Effectiveness of the activities was evaluated through a triangulation of semi-structured interviews with teachers, principal and parents, and surveys administered to children. The results indicated that (1) all the children could design, control and interact with the animated objects generated by the AR application; (2) all the stakeholders interviewed were supportive of this pedagogical innovation and (3) the principal, teachers and parents were concerned about the side effects of using AR in early childhood education. Possible improvements and implications to AR-based art education were also addressed.
[Copyright of Early Child Development & Care is the property of Routledge]

Approaches to teaching art were studied through interviews with 18 art teachers at secondary schools in Hong Kong. Grounded analysis revealed that the approaches to teaching fitted into a four category model with category labels: instructional, discipline inquiry, social interactive, and personal. The categories were defined and described by six dimensional features: aim; content; role of teacher; role of student; teaching methods; and assessment orientation. The four categories of approaches to teaching could be placed under a higher-order spectrum between subject- and student-centred pole This article reports the findings of a study of art teachers’ approaches to teaching art. Before the findings are illustrated, it is necessary to deal with how the term approach to teaching is operationalised and how it relates to other constructs, such as conceptions and beliefs about teaching.