Although the importance of practicum for preservice teachers goes almost unchallenged, specific empirical evidence of growth in language teachers’ practical knowledge in the under-researched context of preservice language teacher education is limited. Informed by both the reflective approach to teaching and an activity theory perspective, this qualitative case study examines what types of classroom practices a group of ESL student teachers learned in practicum experiences, and what pedagogical strategies they appropriated to achieve their learning of those goal-oriented classroom practices. The study is different from the previous teacher reflective thinking studies in that the study participants reflected on their practice teaching experiences, and such reflections were further tested in real-classroom situations and resulted in transformational learning. The results show that the student teachers’ learning of effective classroom practices was essentially prompted by reflection of the challenges and dilemmas encountered in the learning-to-teach process. The study points to the importance of foreign and second language teacher preparation programs promoting and sustaining a culture of reflection to empower preservice language teachers to anticipate or cope with the uncertainties and challenges they will encounter in the practicum experience, which is essential to meaningful learning and knowledge construction.
[Copyright © 2015 De La Salle University.]

This study investigates the relationship between subject matter knowledge (SMK) for mathematics teaching and self-reported non-cognitive factors among 201 prospective mathematics teachers (PMTs) in Hong Kong. Participants completed a survey adopted from Fennema and Sherman [19] were assessed their confidence in learning mathematics (CLM), attitude towards success in mathematics (ASM), mathematics anxiety (MA), effectance motivation in learning mathematics (EMM), while 73 of them were assessed in a written test on their knowledge. The regression analysis suggests that CLM is the main predictor of the performance in SMK compared to MA and EMM. Findings also show that there were statistically significant effects of both gender and program of studies on their performance on MA, EMM and CLM. The results suggest a further investigation of the relationship between beliefs and SMK among PMTs in other contexts. Implications for the current teacher education system in Hong Kong are also discussed.
[Copyright © 2015 Pushpa Publishing House.]

Business education has been offered in Hong Kong secondary schools for more than 50 years, and has gone through a number of key stages in response to economic growth. The key developmental stages are: (a) 1950s and 1960s, (b) 1970 to mid-1980s, (c) mid-1980s to 1999, and (d) 2000 to 2008. Another new stage of development will be implemented in 2009. This paper provides a historical review of the four key developmental stages, introduces the forthcoming new stage, and analyses and discusses the curriculum development of all these stages in line with the economic changes. It is recommended that pupils in different forms and at different academic levels be taught both generic business knowledge and vocational aspects of business to sustain Hong Kong’s economic success.
[Copyright © 2008 International Vocational Education and Training Association.]

Participating in Schools Around the World Project (SAW) provides local participating primary and secondary teachers a good opportunity to look into their current teaching practices. Science has been taken as the first investigation subject, which is an area that demands more attention in Hong Kong. Joining the SAW project, it may improve and enhance the quality of Hong Kong science education by promoting and encouraging professional development of the participating teachers through local and international sharing and discussion on the collected samples of student work in science with the aid of technology advancement. This paper focuses on how student work and technology can act as a means to achieve this aim.
[Copyright © 2000 HKIEd APFSLT.]

Sport education has attracted attention and interest from physical educators recently. However, the implementation of sport education has not been without difficulties. The purposes of this study were to understand the views of teachers and students on this model as well as examining the difficulties the teachers may face when implementing the model. Two secondary physical education teachers and 110 secondary students participated in the study. The teachers taught a unit of football lessons in sport education to two classes of students. They were requested to keep a reflective journal that focused on the process of implementation of the approach as well as the student reaction to this model. An interview focused on their views of using the approach was conducted with each teacher. Views of students toward the instructional approach were also obtained through the use of structured questionnaire. Results revealed that the major difficulty faced by the teachers was the planning before the implementation. Most students expressed that they favoured the model and understood more about the organizing of football games. They also valued the learning of collaboration skills and team spirits in the lessons. The findings hold implications for the physical educators and teacher educators in Hong Kong.
[Copyright © 2008 Department of Physical Education, Hong Kong Baptist University.]

球類課在體育課程中佔了一個十分重辰的位置。目前，香港體育教師大部份都採用技巧教學法 (Skill-based approach) 教導學生學習球類活動，1005年筆者曾對本港中學體育教師採用技巧教學法的現況作出調查，在155位的中學體育教育中，有92.9%的教師都採用技巧教學法，但30%的教師卻指出採用技巧教學法授課時出現困難；其實技巧教學法於80年代初期備受英國體育學者 (Bunker and Thorpe，1986) 的批評，指出其弱點是過份重視技巧學習，而忽略了學生對該球類活動的認識及本身智能的發展，因此他們提倡另一種新教學法：領會教學法 (Teaching Games for Understanding)，重點是以認識該活動為主，並透過戰術的學習，讓學生能依自己能力作思考及作出適當的表現。 為了要解決體育教師面對技巧教學法的困難，本文主要的目的是探討體育講師採用哪一種教學法訓練準體育教師教授球類活動，希望找出問題所在，並嘗試介紹一個新教學方法作為日後培訓一班更能幹的準體育教師教授球類活動。
[Copyright © 1996 Department of Physical Education, Hong Kong Baptist University.]