Since the launching of outcome-based learning (OBL) in higher education in Hong Kong, institutional reforms are evident and have aroused various concerns of the stakeholders. The major elements of OBL identified as tile intended learning outcomes, teaching and learning activities and assessments are assumed to be the areas of change in the curriculum contest. This paper reports the findings of the implementation in teacher education courses. Through the implementation f OBL in the courses of curriculum and teaching, it was found that various factors have contributed to the degree of success in the actual implementation. Although the OBL implementation is at its beginning stage, its rationale and value needs to be recognized by both the teachers and students.

Perception involves the discovery, detection, impression, interpretation and comprehension of a particular event and is a kind of human mental activities. Lots of research investigate this psychological phenomenon by exploring the teachers' thinking processes and ways of construing their perception (Eibaz, 1981; Morine- Dershimer, 1009; Schon, 1983. As reflective practitioners, teachers develop schemata on how to teach or make decision effectively in their classroom teaching. They form judgments about their students' academic performance and classroom behaviors, and evaluate them to see if they are acceptable or unacceptable, typical or atypical, normal or deviant. These judgments become the basis of their decisions which lead to the subsequent responses or behavioral patterns. The ability of perceiving the nature and severity of classroom problems and making judgments is unique and crucial in the process of early identification. The schemata they use help them to identify the learning, emotional or conduct cause of a particular behavioral problem. However, teachers from different backgrounds (primary, secondary, special education, remedial teaching, pre-service or inservice teachers) will have a perceptual difference on behavioral problems. A survey investigating the teachers' perception of children with behavioral problems was conducted on 568 school teachers in Hong Kong. Teachers of different backgrounds were presented with the descriptions of some typical behavioral problems and they had to judge the learning, emotion or conduct cause of the cases. This study attempted to explore how well the teachers with distinct school backgrounds perceived the presented cases. The result revealed that most teachers perceived more learning problems but fewer conduct problems in the cases. The teachers found to be sensible to the learning and emotion causes of their children . Different groups of teachers held divergent views on perceiving the cases. More secondary and student

Regarding in-service teachers' response towards the inclusive education (IE) policy, Tsui and associates conducted a survey in 232 primary schools in Hong Kong. Among them 152 joined the IE programme while 80 did not. Teachers' acceptance of and their perceptions on the effectiveness of the policy will be discussed and compared. Also, teachers were asked to choose and rate 5 major difficulties encountered in implementing the IE by whole-school approach from a checklist. Initial analysis indicates that multiple categories of students with special needs in the same class, lack of relevant professional (special education or IE) training and high student-teacher ratio were three major difficulties that most frequently chosen by the teachers.

This study investigated the conceptual understanding of fraction division of 72 Hong Kong pre-service teachers by asking them to pose a real life story problem. Analyses of the problems posed show that many of these pre-service teachers had incorrectly interpreted the division concept in their problems as sharing rather than measurement. A short intervention shows significant improvement in posing problems in terms of mathematical correctness as related to real life situations. This study particularly shows an increase of the correct use of the measurement concept from the pre-test to the post-test. The study also shows that problem posing could be used to measure conceptual understanding. Additional studies should be conducted to show effects of different teaching interventions regarding improving the conceptual understanding of divisions of fractions.
[Copyright of The Mathematics Educator is the property of Mathematics Education Student Association, the University of Georgia.]

One of the principles adopted in the Review of Education System in Hong Kong is to give more room and flexibility for students to be masters of their own learning. (Education Commission, 1999). This is particularly important in teacher education programmes which aim to prepare student teachers who, in turn, will influence the learning approach of their students. Problem Based Learning (PBL) is generally a student centered learning approach in which students are encouraged to participate in the learning process. Two groups of students, one group studying the Technical Teacher Certificate Course and the other on Certificate of Education Course, form the subjects of this research project. A real contextual problem was posed to the students and the lecturers act as facilitators during the whole learning process. Students feedback and their attitudes were solicited after the first cycle of implementing PBL. The first week of the PBL process was most crucial and it is important that students fully understand what PBL is and what are the roles of lecturers and students in the learning process. The second phase of the project was administered with reference to the comments from staff and students made after the completion of the first cycle. Follow-up interviews were conducted to report on the needs of the students in the learning process. It is anticipated that this study can foster more student involvement in the learning process and that deep learning is encouraged and supported.

The status of English as a global language has played a significant role in contemporary language education policies across the world. In East Asia, the hegemony of English has been reflected in a number of central governments' policies of recruiting native English-speaking teachers (NESTs) to participate in English language education. This paper focuses on the NESTs recruitment policies in Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan with the aim of examining how teacher professionalism is represented in these policy discourses and how this conceived teacher professionalism impacts on English teaching and learning in these countries. Through the analysis of policy texts and documents, we argue that teacher professionalism has been assigned a different agenda by the governments who subscribe to "native speaker norms" and legitimise unqualified and inexperienced NESTs in the profession of English language teaching (ELT). These anti-professionalism policies have not achieved the intended consequence of improving students' English proficiency, but have instead resulted in the unintended consequences of damaging the quality of English instruction and jeopardising the professional identity of local non-native English-speaking teachers (NNESTs) in these countries. The results reveal an urgent need to evaluate the effectiveness of these NEST recruitment programmes.
[Copyright of English Teaching: Practice & Critique is the property of Universidad del Zulia.]