The aim of the survey was to examine the attitudes of general primary PE teachers toward integrated PE and the relationships of gender, teaching experience, and class size. Eighty three teachers participated in the survey. The results indicated a neutral attitude towards integrated PE by teachers. There was a significant difference between male and female teachers in their perception of whether "students with disabilities like my teaching" (p = 0.018), but no significant differences with other attitudes by gender. There was a significant difference between teachers' teaching experiences and their perceptions of whether "Little support offered to integrated PE" (p = 0.006), however, no significant differences with other items by experience. There was also a relationship between perceived teaching competency and class size (p < 0.001, r = 0.454). The results were mainly discussed in relation to teaching competency, support, teaching experience and class size.
[Copyright © 2012 Hong Kong Baptist University.]

The purpose of this study was to analyze the related information of special education and physical education programs for students with disabilities in China. The analysis was conducted based on the survey and review of literature published in Hong Kong and Mainland of China. The review of literature primarily focused on two types of analyses, the analysis of existing modes of educational systems and the analysis of factors associated with the direction and trends of special education. The first type of analysis revealed that both Hong Kong and Mainland are closely following the international trend to integrate students with disabilities into regular school settings through whole school approach and inclusion. Meanwhile, the development of separate special educational setting also continues to gain its momentum to cater students' special need at the separate settings, and the rate of development is even faster than integration mode in both Hong Kong and Mainland. The second type of analysis indicated that government policies, positive attitudes, training from current teachers, and students at teacher preparation program are the important factors that influence educating students with disabilities in regular settings. Although China is moving toward including students with disabilities into regular school settings, special education program in Hong Kong and Mainland are different. Currently three modes of special education being operated in Hong Kong are appropriate to meet parents' right to have choices to determine their children's education. However, adapted physical education preparation mode in both Hong Kong and Mainland might need to take serious consideration on its direction and approaches in relation to equalization and nondiscrimination. School and community physical activity should be addressed for all people with disabilities, not only for a few athletes who can get gold medals. It was also found from the results of survey and published studies that some

The purpose of this study was to compare attitudes of final year students in teacher preparation programs in Hong Kong and Taiwan toward including students with disabilities into regular settings, and to further examine the influences of attitudes on the development of adapted physical education programs. A 15-item questionnaire was used to investigate students' attitudes and concerns toward inclusion. Seventy-seven students from Hong Kong and Taiwan participated in this study. The results of the survey indicated that students in Hong Kong and Taiwan philosophically support inclusion, although there were many concerns and different opinions regarding inclusion. The survey indicated that students from both locations thought special schools and teachers with special training will provide better education for students with disabilities than general teachers, and indicated the needs for more academic preparation for inclusion. The findings also suggest that without well prepared support services and other accommodations, students with disabilities will not benefit from these educational environments.
[Copyright © 2005 The Hong Kong Institute of Education.]

Classroom research suggests teachers can use instructional (cognitive, organizational, and procedural) choices to support student autonomy and promote their engagement in schools. Guided by self-determination theory, this study examined the relationships among these three instructional choices and students' engagement in secondary physical education. Participants were 92 middle school (64 boys, 28 girls; M age = 13.94 years, SD = 0.87) and 83 high school students (29 boys, 54 girls; M age = 17.76 years, SD = 0.94) enrolled in physical education classes at six schools in Hong Kong. They responded to previously established questionnaires on 5-point scales. Results of the study revealed cognitive, organizational, and procedural choices emerged as differential predictors of student engagement in physical education for middle and high school students. Teachers should be aware of this finding while providing students instructional choices in physical education.
[Copyright © ACESS, Asian Council of Exercise & Sports Science].

The purpose of this study was to examine how regular primary school PE teachers planning their inclusive physical education in Hong Kong. The questionnaires (IPESDQ) and cover letters with instructions for completing the questionnaire were delivered to 115 physical educators. A follow-up was made to contact nonrespondents two weeks and the final return rate of the survey was at 72.2% (n=83). Results showed most teachers (49.4%) used the curriculum guidance draft by themselves; only 10.4 % of teachers used individualized education plan (IEP), the most common teaching object (74.0%) was for understanding and enjoying exercise and sports; basketball, track and field, football, game, rope skipping, volleyball, badminton, and gymnastics were popularly used for teaching; Direct instruction strategy was popularly used by 72.7% of teachers and only 7.8% of teachers used inquiry teaching for inclusive physical education; Most teachers used sport skills (94.8%), attitude (92.2%) as evaluation contents. Perspectives for developing inclusive physical education service delivery were provided at last.
[Copyright © Hong Kong Baptist University].

Today, Information Technology (IT) continues to bring tremendous changes in society. One of the challenges facing educational institutions worldwide is that the student body has dramatically changed, thus enlarging the range of individual differences in the classroom. The purpose of this study was to design an effective teaching and learning environment to accommodate individual differences in order to produce high-quality learning outcomes. The present study, undertaken in Hong Kong, analyzed student population diversity to identify its characteristics in terms of background, experiences, and subject knowledge, and designed instructional activities using IT (Blackboard) as a platform to cohere these diversities into a source of knowledge. Tow steps were taken in this study. First, specific instructional activities to guide students’ collaborative experiences were designed. Second, the Blackboard platform was employed to conduct collaborative interactions between instructor and students, and between students to accommodate diversity. A Blackboard-based course design was utilized as an example to demonstrate the executing procedures. The present study illustrates an innovative instructional structure that uses IT to establish a multiple-way communication network which transforms teacher-centered educational activities into student-centered collaborative learning activities. Through this innovative approach, students’ diverse experiences, physical and mental characteristics, attitudes, and perspectives are converted into a collaborative learning environment that transforms diversity into a positive source of knowledge.
[Copyright © 2008 The Chinese University Press, Hong Kong Institute of Educational Research.]

The purpose of this study was to analyze the current status of integrated physical education (PE) in general PE classes at elementary schools in Hong Kong. A questionnaire and cover letter were sent to 115 participants. A follow-up was made to contact non-respondents two weeks after the initial dissemination of questionnaires. Of those that were surveyed, 72.17% (N=83) responded. The results indicated that there were 12 different types of students with disabilities integrated into general settings. Most inclusive classroom integrated 1-3 students with disabilities and class sizes vary widely from school to school. Teachers received limited personnel support, faced more serious barriers for integration in the future, and possessed the need for professional development. Seven valuable implications of the results were discussed.
[Copyright © 2010 ACESS, Asian Council of Exercise & Sports Science. Authors are granted permission by ACESS to use their own material in subsequent publications, and to reproduce the material in total or in part for educational purposes or personal use.]

This paper presents a teaching/learning model that utilizes information technology to facilitate critical thinking and collaboration skills in two physical education modules, Adapted Physical Education (28 students), and Motor Learning (27 students), taught at the Hong Kong Institute of Education. The aim of the project was to examine whether three types of asynchronous online activities embedded within the Blackboard Learning Management System enhanced student learning. The effectiveness of these activities was assessed through the number of online interactions, a survey, and selected interviews. Results showed greater online interactions than face-to-face interactions (ranging from 37 to 132 interactions per topic), improved ability to integrate theory with practical settings, and high level of student satisfaction with the online mode of delivery. The study indicated that the creation of alternative learning spaces in the Blackboard Learning Management System is an effective platform to enhance learning through interactive student-centered learning activities beyond the physical education classroom.
[Copyright © 2008 ACESS, Asian Council of Exercise & Sports Science.]

In many parts of the world, dance and arts education are now recognized as school subjects. In fact, primary and secondary physical education curricula in Hong Kong include dance education. Furthermore, education reform urges teacher education programs to promote innovative teaching approaches which will enhance lifelong learning skills. Despite the wishes of Education Reform, traditional teacher-centered pedagogy continues to dominate dance education teacher preparation. A radical change must be initiated in order to redress this philosophical dilemma. The purpose of this research was to investigate a teacher education model that would implement the shift from teacher-centered to student-centered pedagogy, thus from replication learning to learning by critical thinking. This presentation highlights critical thinking theory (Ennis, 1991) as an alternative teacher education perspective and how it can be utilized to promote higher-order thinking skills in dance education. The model includes three components: content (what is taught), method (how it is taught), and outcome (what is learned). The proposed dance education content emphasizes the three essential arts appreciation elements of performance, choreography, and assessment. The method stresses a dynamic learning environment which capitalizes on critical thinking via creative and collaborative problem-solving learning tasks. It is argued that the model's content and method result in the learning of not only motor skills, but also higher-order thinking strategies that will be used across the life span. In addition to revalidating dance education, this dynamic model offers future teachers a tool to provide all learners with meaningful lifelong holistic experiences. Finally, three recommendations are made for teacher training institutions to successfully apply the dynamic teacher education model to foster higher-order thinking skills in dance education.

The purpose of this study was to compare the development of integration and inclusion between the United States and Hong Kong, and to examine the status of Adapted Physical Education in Hong Kong. The approaches and policies related special education (after 1970s) were reviewed and analyzed. A survey was conducted regarding students’ attitude about inclusion. The results suggest that Hong Kong may be closely following the international trend of moving from integration to a whole-school inclusion approach (117 integrated schools). Meanwhile, the development of separate special educational setting continues to gain momentum to cater to students’ special needs, with a rate of development stronger than that of the inclusion model (74 schools for six different type disabilities). The second focus of this study was on teacher preparation and factors influencing the development of special education. The findings indicated that, in addition to government policies, attitudes and lack of special education training for current teachers and students in teacher preparation programs were two important factors that influenced in education of students with disabilities in the regular setting. The study argues that the learning environment (includes peers and parent’s attitude; teachers’ knowledge; support services) must be well prepared before including students with disabilities into the regular school setting. Without well prepared support services such as TA or other accommodations, students with disabilities will not benefit from these educational environments.
[Copyright © 2004 The Hong Kong Institute of Education.]