Play is the characteristic behaviour of children aged between two to six. It is one useful way in which children can acquire developmental skills. According to theorists such as Sylva, Bruner and Genova (1976) and Gravey (1977), play had intellectual benefits. They believed that play experience was the optimal way of enhancing children's creativity and imagination. The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC, 1988) states that a high quality early childhood programme provides a safe and nurturing environment that promotes the physical, social, emotional and cognitive development of young children and 'play' is no doubt an essential component of the developmentally appropriate practice. Following the world's trend, 'Learning through play' was first introduced to the pri-primary education of Hong Kong through the Visiting panel of Llewellyn in 1982. Then the Government endorsed their view by adopting the suggested pedagogy as the recommended method of teaching and learning in the local kindergarten in ECR2 (1986). The Government believed that by including the theory of 'learning through play' in the teaching education programme, the curriculum as well as the undesirable pedagogical strategies which had been identified (ECR2 1986) would then change amongst local kindergarten teachers. Has the problem released in ECR2(1986) been diminished after a decade? Is there any instructional paradigm shift witnessed in the early childhood education? A multi-case study was designed to collect qualitative data on the lived experience of the practices of the practitioners in 1996. A group of six in-service kindergarten teachers who were having their one- year Teacher Education Course (95-96) for kindergarten teachers of the Hong Kong Institute of Education were involved in the study. The three levels of reflection proposed by Schon (1987); namely, reflection-for-action, reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action were used as means to collect holistic data of

This presentation examines the obstacles and difficulties in implementing cooperative learning in Hong Kong elementary and secondary schools, and proposes a framework for integrating cooperative learning with Hong Kong basic education so as to optimize teaching and learning. It was pledged by the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong SAR that small-class teaching will be implemented in primary schools by phases from the 2009 academic year. However, small-class teaching will not enhance the quality of teaching and learning without appropriate use of teaching approaches or strategies, and research shows that cooperative learning works well in a small-class teaching environment. This presentation starts with a summary of the 3 major schools of cooperative learning, and follows with a discussion of the expectations of principals/teachers, as well as of the difficulties observed in implementing cooperative learning in local classrooms. The analysis of the expectations and difficulties provides valuable insights in designing a framework to support teachers in systematic implementation of cooperative learning in their classrooms. The framework consists of two stages. The first stage provides a foundation to teaching and learning with cooperative learning, with 3 implementation phases of teaching strategy, lesson design and cooperative learning environment. The second stage is the enhancement of learning with cooperative learning in Inquiry in Science, Problem Solving in Mathematics and High Order Thinking in languages. Finally, this presentation provides a conceptual framework for systematic implementation of cooperative learning. Different modes of implementation are also suggested to meet the needs and cultures of individual schools. The audience will be invited to comment on the design of the framework.

While teacher education in Hong Kong is generally delivered in a knowledge transmission mode, two teacher educators employ an alternative way in teaching. We explore the use of teacher narratives to promote teaching of child development. We view “teacher education as narrative inquiry” (Clandinin, 1993). Instead of beginning to teach the grand theories of child development, we share our family stories with students. We invite them to reflect upon the stories heard and resonate with their own family stories. By stimulating reflection (Schon, 1983) and resonance (Conle, 1996), we teach child development in an experiential and practical approach. Storytelling becomes a tool for teaching and understanding the meaning of lived experiences for construction of knowledge in teacher education programs.

Hong Kong schools are concerned with students’ behaviourial problems. This article examines how teachers narrated about the strategies adopted for improving students’ behaviour. Interactionist perspective was taken to explore how teachers defined the situation in which they participated. Interviews and classroom observation were conducted. Sixty teachers were involved. Eighteen classrooms were observed. The influence of Daoism, emerging as one of themes from the data, was prominent, as its principles were incorporated into the teachers’ belief in behaviour management. The findings showed that the influence of Chinese culture in Hong Kong schools is prominent while approaches to behaviour management based upon western societies and theories are “imported”. Implications for the promotion of culturally responsive programmes for behaviour management are drawn.

Driven by the forces requiring rapid innovation in competitive world markets, today's knowledge economy is enabled by ICT's capacity to search, filter, store, transmit, encapsulate, process, and manipulate information. Workers of a knowledge economy are expected to possess ICT literacy: the ability to use technology to develop 21st century content knowledge and skills. This new kind of literacy is considered a key '21st century skill', together with global awareness, civic engagement, financial, economic and business literacy, and learning skills that encompass problem solving, critical thinking, and self-directional skills (Partnership for 21st century Skills, 2005, p.15). 21st century schools are seen to play a critical role in producing a workforce that is highly educated and skilled to support a country's economy. This recognition of education as a key contributor to the economy has led school curricula in many countries to mandate ICT as a central component, with teachers being increasingly expected to infuse ICT into the teaching and learning processes. This paper examines some of the major developments and strategies related to ICT in the education reform of three countries where the author has worked professionally. Lessons will be drawn from their experiences in enhancing music education curriculum reform for a technology-infused future.

This study is an investigation in using action research and the VMS (Valuable-MuddiestSuggestion) method to improve the teaching and learning of a new General Education course for Early Childhood Education student-teachers. According to Kemmis and McTaggart (1992), to do action research is to plan, act, observe and reflect in continuous cycles with more careful, more systematic, and more rigorous way. Based on research evidence, self-assessment is asserted by some to be an essential skill for effective learning and lifelong learning, and this skill should be developed in university courses (Black & William, 1998; Boud, 1995; Cowan, 1998). VMS method is used to engender dual self-assessment of students and teachers in the course. Participants were undergraduate students enrolling in a Bachelor programme at the Hong Kong Institute of Education. The VMS method is designed to record students’ responses in each lesson on their “valuable (V) learning experience in the lesson”, “the muddiest (M) point in the lesson” as well as “suggestions (S) for improvement”. Records of their valuable learning (V), their muddiest point (M), and their suggestions (S) can be assessed and analyzed by the students themselves and the teacher to explore the learning experience of the students as well as the content and pedagogy of the lesson. The results of the study is encouraging. The action research cycles with dual self-assessment give valuable hints and insights to the students for self-directed learning to clarify their muddiest point and to the teacher for self-assessment and reflection on content and pedagogy of teaching.

Creativity is of growing significance in educational reform worldwide. The Thinking School, Learning Nation policy of Singapore in 1997, the White Paper on Creative Education of Taiwan in 2003, the Learning to Learn educational reform of Hong Kong in 2001 and the report of National Advisory Committee on Creative and Cultural Education of England in 1999 all gave creativity a significant role in education (Craft, 2011; Hui & Lau, 2010). Nevertheless, creativity assessment in schools is always criticized as lagging behind the educational policies (Craft, 2011; Leong, et al., 2012). A tension view of creativity and assessment is common (Cunliffe, 2008). “Does assessment weaken student creativity?” (Beghetto, 2005, p. 254) is a question on the minds of many educators. Yet, Craft (2011) suggested that creativity assessment is multi-faceted. Assessment is not necessarily a negative force, but its influences depend on what kinds of assessment are conducted (Beghetto, 2005). Assessment may even have a strong leverage effect on educational reform, especially in the Chinese context (Cheng, 2010a). Started from the classic study of Black & William (1998), “assessment for learning” is of growing significance in education field. Parallel reforms are widespread around the world (Burnard, 2011; Earl, 2013) and in Hong Kong (Mok, 2010). Assessment is not merely for measuring and grading student achievements. “Assessment is an integral part of learning, guiding the process and stimulating further learning” (Earl, 2013, p. 25). Following this direction, this study explores various assessment practices which may facilitate (or hinder) creative teaching and creative learning. In the Routledge International Handbook of Creative Learning , Burnard (2011) had offered a review chapter titled “Constructing assessment for creative learning.” This article revisits this topic by using classroom improvisation as a lens to search for various forms or possibilities of creativity-conducive assessments

Enhancing the higher order thinking (HOT) ability of students is a worldwide educational goal. This has also become a significant objective in the curriculum reforms in Hong Kong, which aims at better preparation of students to meet the challenges of the new era. Cultural aspects are often regarded as salient in determining approaches to teaching. The influence of Chinese traditions on teaching in Hong Kong has been discussed by many researchers, who found the thinking of Confucius still strongly influences the conception of teaching of Chinese teachers. By the in-depth interviews with 12 Chinese teachers, their conceptions of effective HOT teaching were examined. Nine teaching tips were suggested by the teachers. The list of HOT teaching tips reflects that intermingled values of Western and traditional Chinese education are embraced. The findings also show how Chinese values influence teachers' conceptions of effective HOT teaching and the results are discussed with reference to the influence of Confucian thought. The comparatively narrow conceptions regarding HOT teaching imply that certain cultural barriers are still hampering Hong Kong teachers in the post-handover period. One major recommendation is that an awareness of the cultural values of the context is important for any application of foreign methods of teaching.
[Copyright © 2015 British Educational Research Association.]

本文藉著一項「創意教師獎勵計劃」來描述及探討香港小學教師在「創意教學」上的教學理念。作者參照Kainan (1995) 的敘事報告分析法與及Cropley (1997) 的六層創造階段，發現香港小學創意教師的表現，跟高效能教師的特質吻合。他們的創造過程符合Cropley 的理論架構，其等勇於創新的態度亦令人欽佩；可是這些被推薦的創意作品袛一面倒地偏向「兒童為本」的取向。此外，這些老師均認為整個創造過程都需要教師的自願及積極參與；本自工作環境的推動力，只可稍作幫忙而未足以成事。本文末部提出偏頗的教學取向，淺薄的教師資歷及欠理想的工作情境是妨礙香港小學創意教學的主要原因。幸好近年在香港的教育改革已開始為創意教學帶來新的希望和路向。以下是本文的行文大網：1. 引言；2. 「創意教學」之創造過程；3. 討論；4. 前景和希望；5. 結語；6. 參考文獻。

本文為許美德教授應香港教師會邀請在「全港教師教學研究周年大會」上所仍專題演講之講辭。文中她分享年青時在本港的愉快學習經驗，以及現時對提高教育質素的意見。她認為教育的核心目標是令每個兒童的潛質得以充分發展。優質教師除了要熟習本科知識和技能外，還要掌握教育學和心理學。教師不應要求學生死記硬背以應付測驗，因為兒童的思潮是活潑和主動的。除了智育外，教師還要因應學生個別的需要，幫助他們在情智、社智、審美、性靈等各方面的發展。本地教師應揉合中西教育思想的精粹，應用到實際教學上，使兒童在課室裡愉快而有效地學習。
[Copyright © 2000 朗文香港教育.]