In Hong Kong, various changes in education policy have taken place since the 1980s in response to the different impacts generated by globalization, the application of information technology and changes in political, economic and educational en vironments. During the transitional period, various education policies on curriculum reform were implemented for the preparation for the return of sovereignty to China. In 1996 General Studies, a new integrated subject, was introduced as one of the core s ubjects in the primary curriculum. It aims at preparing children for a comprehensive education in the course of the primary education. Children are guided to acquire basic knowledge related to the individual, family, society, science and technology and th e natural world. General Studies also aims to equip children "with skills and attitudes and enable them to solve problems which they encounter now and in the future so that they can gain understanding of their world, develop positive attitudes and be read y to be good citizens". As Hong Kong was going to reintegrate with the People's Republic of China, in order to help pupils to have increased knowledge about China, the syllabus contents of Primary five and six were extended beyond Hong Kong to China and t he world as a whole. This paper analyses the aims, objectives, contents and the implementation of the General Studies syllabus. The aim is to study whether the subject helps develop the national identity in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the P eople's Republic of China. The significance of this study is to provide suggestions to strengthen pupils' awareness of their Chinese national identity.
自80年代以來，因應全球化、資訊科技的應用、政治、經濟和教育環境 的轉變，香港推行不少教育改革。過渡期間，香港的課程亦作出不少改革。一九九六年 開始常識科已成為香港的小學的共同核心課程中的一科。常識科不單培養兒童獲取 知識，亦著重技能和正確的態度。 目的是讓兒童學會如何解決問題、培養積極的態度、和做個良好的公民。因中國對 香港恢復行使主權，常識科的課程選材亦由香港擴闊至中國和世界。本文分析常識科 課程的目標、宗旨、內容和推行的情況，旨在研究常識科能否培養學生認同中國人的 身份，並提出建議以增強學生對中國人的身份的醒覺。
[Copyright of New Horizons: The Journal of Education

This paper explores two current issues in the educational policies and practices of Hong Kong that have been shaped by the emergence of the nation-state and the return of Hong Kong's sovereignty from the UK to the People's Republic of China on 1 July 1997. Since this time there have been two great challenges facing music education. The first concerns how to incorporate diverse cultures, including Chinese music, into a Western-orientated music curriculum; and the second is to find a way to cultivate national identity and democracy through music education. The data presented here were collected via in-depth, semi-structured individual interviews with music teachers, school heads and assistant school heads across 40 primary and secondary schools between 2006 and 2007. The findings can be explained by referring to the shortcomings of multicultural education and the underdevelopment of democracy in Hong Kong's education system.
[Copyright of Discourse is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01596300902809203]