In Hong Kong, once a British colony, 'sex' has traditionally been viewed as taboo, and as such, seldom talked about or openly discussed in public. Schools have therefore not implemented sex education. Mass media further challenges the moral standards and values of teenagers by distributing sexual material which is distorted in nature. All these factors contribute to an increase in sexual promiscuity, sex related crime and incest, of which some victims are young children. Since the first few years of a person's life are the most important in the formation of their value and behaviours (Opper, 1996), the foundation of sex education should begin early.
The aim of this pilot study was to investigate the Hong Kong teachers' perceptions of teaching sex education in pre-schools. One kindergarten and one childcare center were selected for this study. Two pre-school heads and six teachers were interviewed. The findings indicated that almost all of the teachers did not have confidence in teaching sex education in their pre-schools, because they had inadequate knowledge and skills. Interestingly, the findings also showed that some unmarried teachers felt embarrassed to implement sex education. Nevertheless, they were willing to take up the responsibilities of teaching sex education if they had sufficient training.
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Survey data from 15 lecturers in a tertiary education institution and 39 teachers in a secondary school in Hong Kong were analyzed to investigate their work motivation and its relationship with job-related stress and satisfaction. The relationship between job-related stress and job satisfaction was negative. However, both levels of stress and job satisfaction were high. In terms of work motivation, for both groups, achievement and affiliation orientations were high but power orientation was not. These results indicate that the job nature of teaching itself may have a driving force that makes teachers strive for professional development that is stressful yet satisfying and fulfilling. Analysis of variance found that the two groups (lecturers vs. teachers) did not differ in work-related psychological outcomes (job stress and satisfaction), nor did they differ in their power orientation. For both groups, the achievement and affiliation orientations were higher than power orientation whereas between-group comparisons found that achievement and affiliation orientations were significantly higher for lecturers in the tertiary institution. The relatively high stress level of both the lecturers and teachers warrants attention. Further work should focus on effort to reduce teacher stress and increase job satisfaction.
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To facilitate lifelong learning, recent education reforms have emphasized the development of generic capabilities. However, despite various lists found in previous studies, generic skills and capabilities have neither been well defined nor statistically validated. The present study attempted to (a) conceptualize generic capabilities in terms of 3 dimensions--cognitive, academic, and self, and (b) test the construct validity of generic capabilities using confirmatory factor analysis. Students who attended a continuing education program that was designed to provide an alternative pathway for students who failed in the Hong Kong secondary school system to pursue continuing education (N=2,806) responded to 13 survey items about their generic capabilities before the program (Time 1) and 13 parallel items after it (Time 2). Results supported a multidimensional structure of generic capabilities with the three dimensions at each time point. The conceptualization of a multidimensional structure provides a useful framework for the study of generic capabilities. It also calls for attention to the importance of generic capabilities in curriculum design.
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Preservice teachers' focus of concern and confidence to teach are often considered to be important elements of teachers' growth and development. Fuller's (1969) model of three concerns, viz. "self", "task" and "impact" have been widely referred to by researchers in the study of teacher professional development and covered in teacher education programmes. The author of this paper attempted to conduct a survey study of a course of preservice secondary teachers in the Hong Kong Institute of Education to examine their focus of concerns and confidence to teach as part of the investigated areas of teacher development. The purpose was to see whether there was any difference from that proposed by Fuller due to different cultural context. The obtained results supported Fuller's model of concerns in that the "self" concerns were prominent and dominating within the sample under study. In this respect, there is little difference between the western and Hong Kong sample of preservice teachers' focus of concern. Of the "self" concerns, class discipline, acceptance by students and teachers' mastery of subject knowledge and teaching skill were classified the most important ones by the Hong Kong preservice teachers. These concerns were also closely related to the important factors which they considered for successful teaching. The high level of confidence and optimism exhibited before teaching practice also supported Weinstein's (1989, 1990) findigns that preservice teachers, whether elementary or high school teachers were unrealistically optimistic about teaching. The similarity in findings between the Hong Kong and the western samples studied by Fuller and Weinstein suggest the plausibility of utilizing western principles and concepts in local context. Above this, the author would like to draw the attention of teacher educators and program planners to the underlying reasons given by preservice teachers about their changes in confidence, optimism and concerns before and after teaching

This paper reports on the findings from research that uses a tool to help educators assess their e-learning environment. The Online Learning Environment Survey (OLES) instrument was developed using online technologies, including a web-based survey format and an SQL database where the data is instantly captured, analysed and viewed via the data screen or the charting screen. This makes the instrument very easy to use and the results can be viewed immediately providing educators using e-learning with a mechanism to adjust their teaching and enhance the learning environment. The OLES survey was administered during 2004 and the data from three case study classes using e-learning in Hong Kong are presented. Qualitative data from the interviews was used to verify the data gathered and are discussed with regard to the support needed by educators who are developing and teaching in e-learning environments as a method to improve the quality of the e-learning environment through constructive solutions.
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