This study investigated benefits for pre-service teachers of participating in a community art education project called ‘A Street in Hong Kong’. The study was part of a collaborative project involving the Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd), schools and artists between 2007 and 2008. The data for the study was collected by means of questionnaires, individual and focus group interviews and classroom observation. Feedback was also obtained from the school principals, artists, school art teachers and primary-school pupils. The study found that the pre-service teachers benefited in several ways: they learned ceramic-making skills from the artists they could teach in primary schools and how to design art lessons through teamwork with peers and about classroom teaching from schoolteachers. They also learned how to find resources for community-based art lessons; and to help them organize a group exhibition; and were pleased to receive financial support for the project.
[Copyright © 2009 Intellect Ltd.]

The 1995 primary Art and Craft syllabus in Hong Kong states that there should be emphasis on three learning domains, i.e., understanding art, making art and living with art. In this information age, the World Wide Web has become one of the electronic media providing resources for teachers. In 1997, the Government demonstrated its serious commitment to IT in education. But at that time, there was little evidence of a strong IT culture in primary schools, and teachers in general had little experience in using IT. Four years later, in 2001, I carried out research into Hong Kong 1 primary art teachers’ experiences in computer use and their views on teaching and learning through web sites. Quantitative and qualitative research methods were used. Data for this study were collected from questionnaires, focus group discussion and individual interviews. The data reflected that the Hong Kong art teachers had a firm belief in web site being a helpful source for their own teaching and learning. However, the data also reflected that the teachers had difficulties in finding time to use web sites to support their teaching and learning in practice. The findings indicated that teachers’ workload was too heavy and art as a subject was neglected in primary schools in Hong Kong.
[Copyright © 2002 The Hong Kong Institute of Education.]

A brief narrative description of the journal article, document, or resource. First-hand experiences in learning art are very important. In Hong Kong secondary art, teachers must follow the syllabus and examination schedule suggested by the Education Department. Thus, these teachers cannot undertake art projects because they are locked into the structure of the syllabus and the limits of the timetable. This paper investigates two artist-in-residence projects implemented in Hong Kong. One project is an artist based in a secondary school and the other is an artist based in the studio. The paper finds that the students had greater exposure to various artforms and developed new ideas to make their work more creative. The art teachers participated in different activities and gained new ideas and stimulation for teaching. The paper concludes that, through their participation in teaching and exhibitions, the artists made successful contributions to schools and the community.