Physical Education (PE) has been implemented in Hong Kong as a primary as well as a secondary school subject in the past few decades. It is, thus, very natural to see student teachers of PE bearing attributes that are shaped by the existing PE system. At present, quality of PE programmes varies largely across schools. Secondary school graduates are very different in their physical fitness, sport competence, and life style. In spite of this, it makes sense to expect student teachers of PE to be active, confident, and capable in exercise and sport performance. However, this can hardly be the case, given the constraints put forth by the academic-oriented admission procedures of teacher education programmes. In this study, 213 student teachers of primary PE from the Hong Kong Institute of Education were investigated. The study assessed physical self-concepts of year 1 and year 2/3 student teachers of primary physical education. Implications of the findings were discussed and recommendations for improving existing PE teacher education programme were made.
[Copyright © 2000 The Hong Kong Institute of Education.]

幼兒在學前階段無論在何處皆表現出持續的活力與動感。肢體活動是幼兒自然和天生的身體性需要和任務，具有生存、學習、溝通和遊戲之目的。從幼兒教育來看，幼兒透過肢體活動去學習，利用身體動作去探索發現、經驗和接觸周邊的環境和世界。但是香港近年幼兒體育課程之研究顯示，幼體課程缺乏教育性、經驗性、創意性和歡趣性的元素，因此，學前兒童的身心發展受到重大的阻礙。本文旨在介紹一個創新幼兒體育課程模式，揉結了創意、運動技能和運動教育概念的基礎元素，運用跨科綜合法來表達。本研究包括5所香港幼稚園/幼兒園。教師首先接受了4次共12小時綜合培訓，然後教師採用此模式的原則在園內為兒童設計的幼體課堂，而且學會如何正確運用身體去表達自己的感受，創造動感的肢體技能和進行有意義的探索和學習。此外，校長和教師十分贊同此模式的理念和推行原則，並且認為此種課程確能提升兒童的肢體智能、身心健康和創意表達。

This article reports a workshop presentation suggesting a conceptual framework of teaching soccer by adopting the TGfU approach for secondary school students in Hong Kong. It was intended to help teachers to tackle three basic questions of instruction namely, "Why to teach?", "What to teach?" and "How to teach?". Firstly, the emphasis of teaching soccer should focus on adopting experiental learning concept for cultivating the learning-to-learn skills highlighted in the current education reform. Secondly, the attacking and defending principles of soccer were assumed to develop themes as teaching content, which were the basics for all tactical concepts of soccer performance. Thirdly, teachers could make use of the teaching progression of a variety of games forms and cognitive deliberation techniques for sequencing learning experiences for students. The framework of using experiential learning as theoretical basis, developing learning-to-learn skills as possible objectives, selecting themes from attacking and defending principles as teaching content and sequencing teaching activities from the games forms and cognitive deliberation techniques served as practical guides for teachers to teach soccer by using the TGfU approach in the context of Hong Kong.
[Copyright © 2006 The Hong Kong Institute of Education.]

This paper reports a qualitative study of how 4 skilled pre-service physical education teachers, who were attending the final year of a four-year full-time Bachelor of Educaion Degree programme, perceived their learning-to-learn experiences of TGFU. Attached to Lawson's occupational socialisation and interpretive inquiry perspective, data were collected through interviewing and writing of critical incidents. Although all participants perceived TGfU positively as a viable approach of PE instruction contributing to pupils' cognitive development and providing fun, they only regarded their socialization of TGfU experience as pedagogical knowledge in the form of teaching procedures which could map well with the current education reform in Hong Kong. Thus, half of them showed hesitation of adopting the model in their future teaching. They were troubled by the anticipated practicality problems and the impacts of their anticipatory socialization. The inadequacy of "tactical knowledge" of individual games threw them into confusion. They could not be sure whether the games education should be oriented towards "cognitive" or "skill" and whether it should focus on "technical" of "thinking" dimensions. They felt doubtful about whether the learning sequence of games should be from "tactic-to-technique" or from "technique-to-tactic". To such an extent, pre-service PE teachers should be acquainted with in-depth theoretical understanding of TGfU and equipped with tactical skills concerning the games they teach.
[Copyright © 2006 The Hong Kong Institute of Education.]

In Hong Kong, the Education Commission has presented in 2000 a series of recommendations for reforming the education system. The focus of this paper is on the curriculum reform from which Physical Education (PE) is being affected in the education reform exercise. Highlighted in the analysis is the relationship between the education reform and a critical component of PE, games activities, which play a heavy weighting in the PE curriculum. More importantly, in the last decade, an innovative games teaching approach, Teaching Games for understanding (TGFU), was introduced in Hong Kong and has created a strong impact on Hong Kong PE teachers. The purpose of this paper is to review to what extend this new approach can echo the education reform towards the 21st century. The analysis reveals that the philosophy of TGFU is in line with the new curriculum reform and does contribute greatly to the development of studentsí cognitive experience, particularly problem-solving and decision-making skills as well as enjoyment from which they are highlighted by the Education Commission as generic skills, and value and attitudes components.
[Copyright © 2004 Xunta de Galicia.]

One of the roles of music teacher education is to produce music teachers with proficiencies in delivering music education at different educational levels. The impact of the development of IT in education in Hong Kong has been tremendous. The Hong Kong Education Department and the teacher education institutions are urging teachers in every discipline (including music) to apply the technology to a certain proportion of teaching and learning. Teacher proficiency requirements in IT have been developed quickly. As such, the philosophy that has prompted the inclusion of technology in music teacher education must be evident. The paper aims to investigate some aspects of the philosophy behind promoting IT to a level of such importance. A paradigm shift has come about in the approaches of teaching and learning from teacher-centered to student-centered for a range of reasons including the advent of IT. The teacher has to take on more of a facilitator role in stimulating students to learn how to learn rather than teaching what to learn. This aligns with the advocacy of flexible and life-long learning which are prevailing thoughts in the education world nowadays. These generic values are to be considered with the more unique values of IT in music teacher education. A new philosophy could imply more drastic changes in education in the near future. This could affect music teacher education as well as music education. The issues of how far a philosophy will induce quality learning and whether this application of IT could equate to quality teaching are to be considered. In a world which calls for reflective thinking as well as quality assurance and excellence, it is hoped that this paper will contribute to the discussion on the philosophy of the application of IT in music teacher education.
[Copyright © 2001 Aichi University of Education.]