Within the early childhood context, kindergarten teachers encounter day-to-day ethical dilemmas. These relate to the multiple obligations and responsibilities that kindergarten teachers have when working with different stakeholders, such as children, families, colleagues, organizations, and policy makers (Dahlberg & Moss, 2005; Feeney & Freeman, 2007). Although codes of ethics for teaching profession have been developed and applied in the worldwide, understanding professional ethics of early childhood teachers has been an underdeveloped area of study in Hong Kong. Using the ethical codes from three counties as the base, this study attempts to explore and develop the principles of professional ethics for Hong Kong early childhood sector. Those principles are conceived as an essential part of the professional repertoire which helps teachers make judgment and choices of action in the real-life workplace (Campbell, 2000; Mahoney, 2008). However, those principles are not exhaustive nor applicable to every situation. This study reports the suggested principles of professional ethics which are built on reviewing the extant ethical codes from international and regional contexts and collecting qualitative data from the semi-structured interviews with a total of 13 pre-service and in-service teachers. Findings reveals that professional ethics among early childhood education can be conceptualized into five domains. The interview data also reflect that the dimensions and meanings of professional ethics are varied among pre-service and in-service teachers. This study contributes to articulate dialogues about the notions of professional value, moral reasoning, professional autonomy, and teacher identity. Findings of this study reaffirm the responsibilities and obligations of kindergarten teachers, and this could be seen as a source of insights into the ethical base of teacher professionalism in Hong Kong early childhood context. Copyright © 2023 ISA, International Sociological Association

The Hong Kong Education Bureau (EDB)’s “Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)” has prompted primary and secondary schools to invest in iPads and Chromebooks in an effort to provide every student with a web-connected computing device. This scheme allows students to use their own mobile computing devices for personalized learning activities, with aim of developing knowledge understanding and generic skills required in the curriculum syllabus. However, the effective integration of pedagogy, e-learning tools, and the required learning objectives from syllabus has been the main issue in schools because of different factors from schools, teachers, students and parents. To address the issue, this study designed and implemented an inquiry-based virtual learning environment enabled by PhET platform supported by mobile technologies at a senior secondary school in Hong Kong. The HKDSE Physics topic "Gas Laws" was taught in this study in which 21 pupils conducted simulated experiments and engage in inquiry-based learning by summarizing their findings in graphs. Their understanding was measured by their ability to solve numerical problems based on Gas Laws with little or no guidance. The Simulated platforms, besides promoting students deeper conceptual understanding, also helps in the implementation of student-centered learning with hassle-free activities to explore the abstract topics of Physics understandably and enjoyably. As in real physics experiments, the students revel in determining cause-and-effect links and guide their learning through research. The goal is to improve their abilities rather than replace them so they can confidently and competently undertake physics experiments with real equipment. Copyright © 2023 The Education University of Hong Kong.

Globalization has influenced preschool education in Hong Kong, where the official curriculum framework has integrated the Western notion of creativity with the arts. However, little is known about how local stakeholders perceive this notion and its viability in practice. We interviewed 50 stakeholders to understand their perspectives on the Arts and Creativity learning area. Descriptive statistics and thematic analysis were conducted. Findings showed that stakeholders: (1) perceived most Western pedagogical characteristics as important but not viable; (2) expressed that preschools fostered children’s arts creativity to a moderate and low/null extent; (3) suggested strategies to maximize children’s arts creativity focusing on parental education and curricular amendments. This study reveals the need to better define the notion of creativity in Hong Kong. Copyright © 2023 AERA.

The purpose of this pilot study was to test the reliability of a game-based assessment tool to assess the four dimensions of career adaptability (i.e., Curiosity, Control, Confidence, Concern, hereafter called “4C”) among students with special educational needs (SEN). The 4C tool is a board game developed in relation to the short form of the career adaptability scale (CAAS) for SEN adolescents. Unlike self-reported CAAS without specifying career-related scenarios, the board game provides researchers and practitioners with an assessment platform to evaluate SEN students’ 4Cs in multiple employment-related scenarios. Participants in this pilot study were 44 secondary school leavers with SEN. They were studying in a training course organized by Youth Academy for SEN. They were assessed through the board game assessment tool before and after the training in the year. Statistical analyses included spearman’s rho coefficient and intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC). It was noted that the 4Cs assessed by the board-game are 1) positively correlated with each other (correlation coefficients ranged from .42 to .63, p<.05), 2) with good inter-rater reliability, rs= .688(92), p<.01, 95% CI [.565, .797], and 3) with moderate test-retest reliability, ICC = 0.66, p<.001, 95% CI [.433, .805]. These findings supported the reliability of this game-based assessment tool for assessing the 4Cs of SEN youths. Aside from self-reported data, this game-based assessment tool can provide supplementary information on the 4Cs of school leavers with SEN from other assessors (e.g., teachers and practitioners) across career-related scenarios. The presentation will further discuss limitations and further direction of research. Copyright © 2023 The Education University of Hong Kong.

The potential impact of creative thinking and its contribution to successful arts practice has been argued over the last decade. Meanwhile, creative thinking has also been identified as making valuable contributions to arts and management. Cetinkaya (2014) and Kuo, Chen, and Hwang (2014) indicated that the application of creative thinking to management education is highly recommended, which needs to be developed through the learning process and still is a teaching challenge to date. This study implemented the project-based learning (PBL) approach as a treatment for tertiary arts education students over one academic year to examine its effect on their creative thinking disposition. Given this context, this study aimed to determine the improvement of creative thinking skills of art students through PBL in the arts management discipline. Consequently, the research question addressing the three dimensions is proposed and analyzed as to how they interact: creative thinking, project-based learning, and arts management education. Two theoretical frameworks were applied in this study: 1) the Creative Thinking Skills Development Framework from the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER, 2020) and 2) the Essential Project Design Elements of PBLWorks (2015). The subjects were 52 art students from the Cultural and Creative Arts department at the Education University of Hong Kong. A qualitative approach was employed, while the data on students’ creative thinking skills were obtained from observations, interviews, and reflective journals. The results indicated that the integration of creative thinking and project-based learning could significantly uplift students’ learning outcomes in arts management education as they are in a complementary relationship. It provided opportunities for students in art management learning engagement and several areas of thinking skills development in relation to the current curricula objectives. Copyright © 2023 Association of Arts Administration

Facing the immense pressure to catch up with the international trend, our city, Hong Kong’s education authority has pronounced creativity, play and ICT as the key aims in the kindergarten curriculum (Curriculum Development Council, 2017). However, it is not easy to promote changes in schools which usually ends with ostensible technology integration (Law et al., 2011). Identifying the quality of lessons and barriers to teachers’ profession on this topic is the initial step to developing strategies for improvement. This paper aims to explore the potential for combining these three aspects and ground uses for teaching Creativity with ICT-Play, as well as reforming a better Early Childhood Education (ECE) curriculum of the concept. This article defines creativity and ICT-Play in ECE and studies an integration model applicable to local kindergarten curricula with feasible pedagogies, followed by an evaluation of the current practices and problems in this issue based on interview data with the support from the i-CREATE model and Bourdieu’s Theory of Practice. The study shows how are the quality of teaching creativity with ICT-Play and the impacts of different capitals mentioned in Bourdieu’s Theory of Practice on teachers affect their implementation of ICT-Play pedagogies in local kindergartens. Copyright © 2023 EARLI.

Music education is often regarded as an elite discipline in Chinese society, and pre-service teachers in early childhood education may lack musical knowledge and confidence in teaching music due to interdisciplinary teacher training. This study aims to explore the essential components of a quality responsive teacher education course in music for pre-service teachers in Hong Kong and evaluate the impact of six-hour training workshops on their self-perceived musical competence and music teaching confidence. The study employs a quasi-experimental research design and consists of six-hour training workshops in music to enhance pre-service teachers' musicianship and competence in conducting music appreciation, performance, and creative activities. This study answers two research questions based on the quantitative and qualitative data: (1) How will the training workshops impact pre-service teachers' self-perceived musical competence and music teaching confidence? (2) How will the musical competence enhance their music teaching confidence? The study employs a quasi-experimental research design and finds that the workshops significantly improve pre-service teachers' confidence in leading music activities and their perceived importance of children's music education. The study underscores the need for music training in early childhood teacher education and may offer insights into designing responsive music professional development courses for early childhood teachers globally. Copyright © 2023 ACE.

Music education is often considered an elite discipline in Chinese society, resulting in a lack of low confidence in teaching music among pre-service teachers in early childhood education. Additionally, teacher education programs in music often provide separate training in musicianship and pedagogical skills, leading to a gap between teachers’ beliefs and their teaching practices. This study aims to explore the components of a quality responsive teacher education course in music for pre-service teachers in Hong Kong. The study includes six-hour training workshops in music using a play-based approach to enhance pre-service teachers’ musicianship and competence in conducting music appreciation, performance, and creative activities. The study answers two research questions based on qualitative data: (1) How will the training workshops impact pre-service teachers’ self-perceived musical competence and music teaching confidence? (2) What are pre-service teachers’ perceptions of responsive teacher training courses in music? The study highlights the need for music training in early childhood teacher education and provides insights into designing a responsive music professional development course for early childhood teachers in the Chinese context. Copyright © 2023 AQIA.

This empirical study aims to enhance group cohesion, a critical factor for collaborative learning success and immersion in inquiry-based coding activities in a metaverse platform – Learningverse. The study involved two classes of Grade 5 students engaging in a two-hour coding activity, which required them to assemble robotics using VEXcode GO and a Code Base in groups. An inquiry-based learning consisting of ‘engage, explore, create, explain, evaluate’ was adopted in the instructional design. Class A (23 students) as the control group conducted the activity in a traditional classroom setting; while, Class B (28 students) conducted the activity across the metaverse platform and physical classroom settings in an immersive, seamless learning environment. Data collection involved log data in the metaverse, questionnaire on immersion, pre-and post-domain and interviews. The findings show that students in the experimental group showed a higher degree of group cohesion and immersion than those in the control group; and students in the experimental group outperformed those in the control group in conceptual understanding. The study sheds light on the potential of the metaverse in enhancing group cohesion and immersion which, in turn, helps improve group learning performance in an immersive seamless learning environment. Copyright © 2024 The Education University of Hong Kong.