This paper is concerned with a qualitative study of how 15 pre-service PE teachers, who are taking the two-year full-time teacher training course, develop professionally in their second field experience. With the interpretive research paradigm as conceptual framework, data were collected through interviewing and writing of reflective journals. Groups of pre-service PE teachers were found possessing different professional learning experiences concerning their conceptions and socializing strategies. Their professional conceptions included "educating pupils to learn", "seeing PE as catharsis, discipline and having fun". Their socializing strategies composed of finding means to improve teaching, and adopt social tactics for managing pupils and defensive attitude for handling crisis. The study provides an understanding of pre-service PE teachers in the Hong Kong Institute of Education and their learning-to-teach processes. The findings serve as the backdrop for recommending possible pedagogical changes for facilitating desirable professional development of pre-service PE teachers.
[Copyright © 2007 Department of Physical Education, Hong Kong Baptist University.]

This study aimed at examining the instructional practice of Hong Kong primary physical education student teachers. Twenty student teachers were videotaped teaching two lessons during their practicum. They were coded using the Physical Education Teacher Assessment instrument. Data generated were comprehensively described. Three randomly selected student teachers participated in the second phase of the study. They were observed teaching two lessons and attended two pre-lesson and post-lesson interviews. Results indicated that the student teachers spent 73.18% of their time in instructional behaviours and 26.82% of their time in managerial behaviours. They held common features in instructional practice during teaching.
[Copyright © 2008 The International Council for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, Sport and Dance.]

Physical Education (PE) in primary schools in Hong Kong has not been satisfactorily run as it claims. Most PE lessons are found to be ineffective in meeting the desirable needs of the pupils nowadays. It seems that PE lessons have been conducted as 'organized recess' which are mostly 'recreational' rather than 'educational' oriented. Their goals are to keep the pupils 'busy', 'happy' and 'good' rather than 'skilled', 'fit' and 'satisfied' (Placek 1983). No wonder PE is the only cultural subject that has been excluded from the 'Secondary School Places Allocation System'. Has the PE curriculum been effectively implemented? Is it the responsibility of the PE teachers to make the lessons more meaningful to the pupils? How does the teachers' behavior during lessons affect the quality of PE in primary schools? The present study employed the descriptive-analytic methodology to comment or what primary school PE teachers did and how they spent their time during PE lessons. Thirteen PE teachers with an average teaching experience of seven years were involved in the study. One of the lessons from each teacher was studied, which was done through direct observation while video-taping was adopted fro cross referencing. Information concerning 'time' spent on management and instruction of the teachers, and left for pupils to practice their skill was collected by means of duration recording, whereas the actual teaching behaviors of the teachers were done through event recording. Pupils' activity level was monitored by means of the heart rate meters (Polar PE 3000). Correlation analysis was employed to examine the relationship between various context variables and the time spent on each areas of the teachers. Results showed that pupils were generally allotted relatively low percentage of time for skill practice. Teachers' managerial and instructional behaviors occupied nearly two thirds of the lesson time. Relatively high percentage of time was spent on travelling at the beginning and

"What knowledge, skills and attitude concerning physical education (PE) are of most worth to students in Hong Kong?" This paper tries to review and discuss the values of PE in schools with reference to the development of PE curriculum in Hong Kong. It is assumed that such values are 'subjective' in the sense that they are perceived by PE teachers as means to an end expressed in their curriculum. They are dynamic and changing from time to time. It is also characterised by personal values of PE teachers or the intentions of the government and other organizations. According to Jewett, Bain and Ennis (1995) and Crum (1993), values of PE can be categorised into different frameworks with three major sources of influence, namely PE teachers' value perspectives towards personal or individual development, social-cultural goals and the subject matter content of PE. Some PE teachers believe that personal or individual development is the major concern of their PE curriculum. Cultivating all-rounded development of the students and developing them to become elite athletes or life long participants in leisure and recreational activities are some of the examples. Others concern more on the social-cultural goals of the PE curriculum. These PE teachers concern more on building students' social efficiency and adaptability through fostering desirable traits of cooperation, loyalty and citizenship. Conversely, some want to develop students' independent and critical thinking through PE so that they can become the change agents for a better society. For some practitioners, the subject matter of PE deserves the special attention in formulating the values of PE in schools. 'The education "of", "through" and "about" physical' conceptions explain appropriately different viewpoints of teachers on the subject nature of PE. However, all the orientations mentioned above are not mutually exclusive. Some are sometimes conflicting and confusing in nature. The situation is sometimes complicated by the

The process of occupational socialization of Physical Education (PE) Teachers is complex. It starts with the pretraining phase, followed by a preservice intervention including field experience and continues with teaching in schools until retirement. The present study focuses mostly on the pretraining phase with twenty preservice PE teachers as sample for investigation. They are presently attending a two-year full-time course of teacher training (1996-98) in the Hong Kong Institute of Education. Issues such as 'why' and 'how' they join the teacher education programme; their PE experience; and their conceptions about PE teacher as well as teaching are discussed thoroughly. The inquiry adopts an 'interpretive' approach. It tries to understand the preservice PE teachers and their inner meanings that they give to their social worlds. Data were collected through interviews and reflective journals of the student PE teachers within the first month after they had been admitted to the programme. The results reveal that these twenty preservice PE teachers join the teacher education programme (TE) for a variety of reasons, such as 'sports continuation' ; 'serving the community'; 'have a better career', 'influenced by others'; and 'the social, cultural and economic milieu of Hong Kong' etc. They possess distinct 'subjective warrants' that comprise the image of a 'PE teacher'; 'requisites for teaching PE' ; 'functions of PE' ; and 'PE teaching'. They are largely formed as the result of societal and sport socialization during thousand hours of 'apprenticeship of observation' period in schools. This study provides information that fosters a better understanding of the underlying perspectives of preservice PE teachers. Their characteristics and orientations can be typecast into five different groups as the 'Athletes' , 'Pragmatists', 'Followers', 'Insure' and 'Idealists' along an ostensible continuum. Different developmental processes concerning their occupational socialization are expected