This study examines the development of education and the curriculum for children with mental handicap in Hong Kong, the influence of the Target Oriented Curriculum (TOC) reform on the development of the curriculum for these children and its implementation in a special school over a period of two years. Three research strategies were used: historiography, naturalistic evaluation and a case study. Data was gathered by means of document collection, interviewing and observation, and analysed by the method of constant comparison. The findings are considered in the light of political, technological and cultural factors in the developments of education and curriculum for children with mental handicap, in the introduction of the TOC to these children, and in the school personnel's interpretation and views towards its implementation. The extent of implementation of the TOC in the case study school was examined with regards to changing practices in materials, teaching approaches and teachers' beliefs. Five key themes emerged from the study: the extent of TOC implementation at school and classroom levels, the Education Department's commitment towards the education of children with mental handicap, whether curriculum reform was truly considered necessary, the ethos of teaching and the culture of special education/schools. It was concluded that the implementation of the TOC for children with mental handicap was a poor example of effective change, given the problematic nature of the reform, in particular the inadequate management of the change process. It was also evident that this reform repeated many past failures, making long term success of the TOC in special schools somewhat doubtful.

Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus (SCUBA) diving is always regarded as a risky activity to be conducted as an extra-curricular activity in the schools of Hong Kong. However, it provides a golden opportunity for students to experience the marine nature and serves as an excellent pedagogical tool of field based learning on the environmental education. The presentation will report a case study of an international school in Hong Kong on how they utilize SCUBA diving as a tool to enhance their students' knowledge about ocean and to foster the pro-environmental attitude. The teachers of the school have developed a tailor-made curriculum using problem-based approach, articulating with the discussion of current local environmental issues on marine conservation. The students have been forming a team to join the annual global citizen-scientist programme, Reef Check, to contribute their effort in revealing the health of coral community system in Hong Kong. A mixed research method, which includes semi-structured interviews of teachers, current students and alumni, and the self-administered questionnaire for them, was adopted in the study to evaluate the ocean literacy and pro-environmental attitude of the students and the effectiveness of the programme. The difficulties faced by both the teachers and the students throughout the implementation period of the programme will be reported. The opportunity and the challenge to run such a programme in the local school will be discussed, which would provide significant insights to other local schools conducting similar field-based learning and teaching activities.

Recent educational research reveals that case studies can be applied in STEM education as a pedagogically powerful method for teaching scientific concepts and contents as well as science process skills. However, there exists very little research or literature on the instructional use of case study in STEM education in Hong Kong. Hence, a team of science educators and scientists initiated a collaborative project to investigate how feasible case study can be incorporated in STEM education. Over a period of seven months, we developed case teaching materials (including case story line with authentic data, worksheets for field trip and laboratory experiments, online/remote-controlled experiments, aerial movies filmed by drones and virtual reality videos etc.) for topics purposefully selected from (i) Hong Kong Wetland Park, (ii) two large sewage treatment plants/projects of the Drainage Services Department, and (iii) landfill gas used by the Town Gas company. This teaching approach was implemented in three different courses in our education university. A set of instrument for mixed research method was specifically developed or modified for collecting data on the learning effectiveness and feedback from a total of 115 students enrolled in the aforementioned three courses. Essential features of the case teaching materials and preliminary findings of the evaluation will be presented. The discussion on the difficulties encountered in the development and implementation stages as well as the direction for the future research and development work will be highlighted.

This study examined the relationship between teachers’ beliefs regarding self-regulated learning (SRL), together with key demographic variables, including gender, school sector and teaching experience, and their SRL instruction. A survey investigating teachers’ beliefs and instructional practices regarding SRL was administered to 873 Hong Kong teachers teaching in primary (N = 429) and secondary schools (N = 444). The instruments were examined from a Rasch measurement perspective and the results demonstrated satisfactory psychometric properties of the instruments for use with the current sample. The Rasch-calibrated person measures were subsequently subject to hierarchical multiple regression analyses. The results showed that teachers’ beliefs about the benefits of SRL and student capacity in implementing SRL were positive and significant predictors of SRL instructional practices. Gender was also a significant predictor of SRL instructional practices, with female teachers demonstrating higher levels of SRL instructional practices. The implications of the findings for teaching practice and teacher education are discussed.
[Copyright © 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.]

In this paper, drawing on Bakhtin's carnival theory, I argue that teachers can play a transgressive role - similar to that of the carnival fool - by taking on a story role and by interacting with the children in the drama convention of Teacher-in-Role. The carnival notion of 'decrowning-crowning' allows me to understand how the teachers disguise and share their power in the drama classroom. Based on a lesson conducted in a Hong Kong kindergarten, I investigate how the teachers and the children's acting bodies, exaggerated emotions and transgressive props can materialise 'decrowning-crowning' actions. In the process, the teachers decrown themselves of their own authority, parody the given story and at the same time, crown the children to laugh, feel, respond and act freely. However, the mainstream ideology and educational culture prevailing in Hong Kong can regress in the process and serve to restrict, if not counterfeit, the decrowning-crowning process.
[Copyright © 2017 Pedagogy, Culture & Society.]

綜合課程是香港幼稚園的主流模式，但音樂及其他藝術科目的學習卻未被有效的綜合與融入現有課程之中。本文以藝術範疇中的「音樂」科目作為核心，以綜合藝術中的音樂活動為例，詳細介紹在幼稚園運用「視覺組織圖表」(graphic organizers) 進行綜合藝術課程的理論與方法。透過「視覺組織圖表」及相關教學範例的展示，與教師分享如何以趣味的音樂活動來推動幼兒的綜合藝術學習，從而促進本港幼稚園實施有效的綜合藝術課程，確保兒童全面和充分的發展。
[Copyright © 2013 The Hong Kong Institute of Education.]

本研究旨在延續之前學校課改支援的行動研究路向，嘗試在幼稚園恆常教學活動中推行「幼兒故事劇場」。首先通過文獻分析以探討幼兒戲劇活動以及「幼兒故事劇場」的發展適切性及教學價值，再選取一間普通本地幼稚園展開先導性個案研究。我們通過問卷調查以瞭解試驗學校的課程發展現況與教師教學信念，然後組織及建立「幼兒故事劇場外展隊」（簡稱「外展隊」）進校推行「幼兒故事劇場」。研究發現，「外展隊」進入幼稚園內作教學的實踐與演繹，既可增強隊伍成員自身的信念與技巧，更可刺激原任老師於恆常教學活動中積極實踐「幼兒故事劇場」。
[Copyright © 2013 The Hong Kong Institute of Education.]

The research reported here investigated the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) by 15 Hong Kong preservice early childhood teachers (PSTs) who had completed a course regarding the use of ICT in early childhood settings as they participated in their first-year teaching practicum. The study examined the preservice teachers use of ICT and their ability to integrate ICT into their teaching practices. The research took place in 7 preschool settings across the Hong Kong Special Administration Region (SAR). The results indicated that preservice teachers used ICT mostly in the context of a teacher-directed approach to learning. The contexts allowed for few child-directed activities and very few child-initiated activities. Similarly, when the preservice teachers incorporated learning activities that used ICT, they initiated and directed most of the activities. The findings from this study indicate that school factors, such as school-level curriculum, ICT infrastructure, and the mentor-teacher’s teaching philosophy exerted a powerful influence on the way that preservice teachers were able to use ICT in their teaching practicum.
[Copyright © 2017 National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators.]