This paper argues that the concepts, beliefs and understandings of local and non-local teacher educators in a Hong Kong university are grounded in their own cultural cognition and antecedents. It presents the viewpoint that contemporary notions of good practice were compromised when applied to a context that is strongly influenced by the tenets of Confucianism. Thus the conclusion is that the contingencies of teaching and learning contexts are sufficiently different to compromise the goal of having pre-constructed notions of good teaching. The alternative is that university tutors and future researchers re-conceptualise good teaching practices within a context that gives it meaning and purpose.
[Copyright of Journal of Education for Teaching is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2010.497395]

The study examined knowledge building and scientific understanding in the context of high school students working collaboratively on Knowledge Forum in a chemistry classroom in Hong Kong. Three specific questions were explored: 1) How can knowledge building be assessed and characterized? 2) What are the roles of knowledge building in scientific understanding? and 3) How does the community develop and how do teacher and contextual factors influence its growth and evolution? Participants included 34 Secondary Four students (Grade 10) who worked on knowledge building pedagogy mediated by a computer supported platform called Knowledge Forum for eight months. Various data including Analytic Toolkit statistics (ATK), depth of inquiry, learning portfolios and examination results were examined. Students' Knowledge Forum discourse was also analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. The findings show that 1) a three-pronged approach using ATK, depth of inquiry, and discourse analysis was a suitable tool for tracing both individual and communal growths in knowledge work, 2) knowledge building learning portfolio and the ATK index "linked notes" predicted students' conceptual understanding, and significant differences in students' school examination, a measure of their scientific understanding, were obtained favoring Knowledge Forum students over comparison counterparts, and 3) three distinctive phases were identified suggesting students' growth in epistemic agency; as well as showing how the growth of the community was mediated by contextual and teacher factors. Discourse analysis suggests how knowledge building might be a useful means of promoting scientific understanding at both individual and communal levels interweaving progress in conceptual understanding with growth in views and ways of doing science, thus helping students to move towards both "science learning" and "learning about science". Theoretical and pedagogical significances of the findings and the limitations of this

Background: Information and communications technologies (ICT) are often characterized as offering new and exciting possibilities for changing and enhancing the way people work and play. Similarly, ICT-based learning environments offer opportunities for new types of learning and cognitive activity that have not been previously available in formal educational settings. Lessons from business reveal that technology can be a powerful accelerator of change, however it must be focused on productive applications.
Focus of discussion: In education, there have been calls to more closely examine some of the claims for ICT and to re-think the ways it has been used to date. This paper argues that at the school-level, the form ICT will take and the functions it will serve for teaching and learning are still yet to be determined.
Argument: It is clear from studies of highly successful organizations that that they think differently about technology and work hard to develop thoughtful and creative applications. The continuing challenge for Hong Kong schools is to demonstrate that ICT has a credible place in the development of collaborative learning environments that emphasize knowledge production over knowledge reproduction.
Conclusion: The educational leadership that is required for the new millennium is to look for smart uses of technology that are designed to foster knowledge creation and productive learning.
眾所周知，資訊與通訊技術給人們帶來新的機遇，並且改變著人們工作與休閒的方式。同樣，基於資訊通訊科技的學習系統也向人們提供了傳統教育所無法提供的新的學習與認知方式。實踐經驗表明，技術可以成為促使改善認知方式的強有力的催化劑，但是選擇技術時必須注意這種技術是否的確可以提高效率。已經有人呼籲要密切關注資訊通訊技術在教育領域的應用方式。筆者認為在中小學階段，資訊通訊技術服務於教學的方式還有待於研究。香港中小學目前所面臨的挑戰是如何證明在開發側重於知識開發的協作學習環境時，資訊通訊科技佔有重要的地位。我們對一些在這個領域內取得成功的機構作分析的結果顯示，這些機構對技術的認識與其他機構有所不同，並且這些機構致力於開發出富有創新的應用系統。教育領域領導階層需要尋求合理利用技術來服務於知識獲取及高效率學習的新方法。
[Copyright of New Horizons: The Journal of Education, Hong Kong Teachers' Associationl is the property of Hong Kong Teachers' Association at http://www.hkta1934.org.hk/]

本文透過檢視香港的教學語言政策制定及執行背後所奉行的理性依據，指出其立論的局限性。有別於語言只是傳遞訊息的工具之觀點，筆者指出學習和語言與公民參與和身份建構等教育原則的密切關係，並藉此檢視香港的教學語言政策在過去二十多年來，不論在政策的制定取向和執行方法，和其在教育及對學習的認知上，有否展示出吸收新思維的能耐。
This paper attempts to revisit the rationale underlying the formation and implementation of the language policy in Hong Kong for the past twenty years or so. It is pointed out that the policy has not been well informed manifested by its approach in policy enactment and not being aware of the close relationship between language and learning and its implications for the importance of cultivating civic participation and identity construction during the schooling process. In virtue of this, this paper argues that the language policy in Hong Kong has been weak in its capacity to learn.
[Copyright of Hong Kong Teachers' Centre Journal is the property of Hong Kong Teachers' Centre at http://www.edb.org.hk/hktc]

The rationale for this study is that students' views on their own learning play an integral part in their educational journeys. Students' voice has been gaining recognition as a vehicle for cultivating ownership of learning, restoring classroom dialogue, and developing strategies for school improvement. These benefits echo the pedagogical purposes of drama education. This study examines how a group of primary students in Hong Kong relate drama pedagogy to their learning in two curriculum subjects: Chinese Language and General Studies. Working with a group of primary students introduced to drama as a medium of learning for the first time, the researcher seeks to find out what aspects of the drama programme is seen by the students as pertinent to their learning in these subjects. The students generally found the Process Drama units more closely related to the learning in General Studies than Chinese Language. Factors influencing their views include the learning focus of the Process Drama work, students' beliefs about learning in these two school subjects, and the pedagogical approaches previously adopted in their school.
[Copyright of Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13569780902868770]

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the relationship between learning preferences of East Asian and American higher education students. A review of the literature revealed a body of qualitative studies suggesting a stereotypical perception of an Asian learning preference influenced by cultural variables and the historical roots of Confucianism. The pedagogical implications of this stereotypical perception are obvious to faculty engaged in teaching and learning with Asian international students in America or abroad. The authors surveyed 233 higher education students from Hong Kong and America using the VARK Questionnaire. The authors used a two-way contingency table analysis and chi-square statistical tests to conduct their cross-cultural comparison on their variables of interest including age, gender, and country.
[Copyright of Journal of Criminal Justice Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10511250903200485]

The aim of this study was to investigate whether, in the Hong Kong context, selfand peer-assessment promote students' self-reflection and enable students to understand their own strengths and weaknesses better. A three-stage assessment strategy was employed in three Science courses at The Chinese University of Hong Kong: (1) students developing assessment criteria, (2) self-assessment, and (3) peer-assessment. These assessment strategies are not common at the University. Education in Hong Kong is often portrayed as having less experience of, and being somewhat resistant to, educational innovation. So, in addition to studying the learning potential of these strategies, the study also focused on the practicality of implementing the new strategies. The results confirm that there are challenges in the present context but also indicate that these innovations to assessment are well perceived by students if they are appropriately framed and implemented.
[Copyright of Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09695940903319729]