Educational reforms and curriculum changes are no strangers to the educational sector of Hong Kong. Every time, changes are accompanied by new aspirations. The abandonment of the old and taking up the new ideals are not always smooth and effective. There is usually a shift of emphasis on the aims of education as in the case of the primary music curriculum in Hong Kong in the last few decades. The two earliest official music syllabi issued by the Education Department in 1968 and 1976 reveal both the changes and continuity in the concept of the music curriculum. In this chapter, the author critically analyze these two syllabi to find out the principles of music education expressed explicitly and implicitly in them in the light of influential factors, such as the historical development and contemporary thoughts about music education. Basing the findings, recommendations are drawn for the music educators and researchers for their future practice. All future educational reforms should take care to fill the gap between the intended and implemented curriculum, so that the avenue leading us to our intended ideals can be clear and through.
[Copyright © 2000 The Hong Kong Institute of Education.]

As a major reflection on the content of the curriculum, textbooks are the main resource of teachers. The aim of this study was to analyze the content of selected series of primary music textbooks in Hong Kong. An analysis framework was designed. Data obtained from the analysis were subjected to basic descriptive statistics. Demographics including frequency and percentage distributions of the listed features were studied. The analysis was done on the micro level as well as the macro level. The intra- and inter-relationships of the content of the textbooks series were revealed. The study analyzes the proportion of music elements, music knowledge, and the types of activities presented in the textbook series. Main findings reveal that the performing of music in various forms is a dominant classroom activity while the proportion of creating music is minimal and that on the listening to music is comparatively low. Other significant results include that the number of songs of foreign origins outnumbers that of Chinese and local origins, though the language used is mostly Cantonese. Regarding music content and music activities, a comprehensive intended primary music curriculum is recommended. It is hoped that this study would furnish a basis for better refining the music curriculum and would provide insight for its future development.
[Copyright © 2000 The Hong Kong Institute of Education.]

Research reinforces the importance of experiential activities in exerting a positive influence on pre-service teachers' attitudes toward musical genres and cultures. This paper presents a case study that demonstrates the effects of active musical participation in one indigenous Chinese music genre, the Xianshi music, on pre-service teacher's understanding and attitude toward Chinese music. In this study, the pre-service teacher, whom the researcher will call Helen, was one of the pre-service teachers from a three-year longitudinal study of 14 pre-service teachers and the researcher studied at the Hong Kong Institute of Education (1998-2001). In year 1 of the study, Helen's initial exposure to Xianshi music was through formal lectures. Pre and post reflective comments were used to investigate her understanding and acceptance of Xianshi music and Chinese music. During year 2 and 3, Helen had first hand experience on music making in Xianshi music by participating in the HKIEd's Xianshi music ensemble. Three structured interviews were conducted to determine the effects of her participation in the Xianshi music ensemble on her views about Xianshi music and Chinese music. Results show that through continuing exposure of a first hand experience in Xianshi music, Helen was able to think critically and developed a more sophisticated understanding and appreciation of Xianshi music and Chinese music. Implications for Chinese music education will be discussed in the paper.
[Copyright © 2003 The Hong Kong Institute of Education.]

Since the last two decades, there have been increasing interests and researches on epistemological beliefs, including the theoretical framework, dimensional structure, and the relations with metacognitive variables in learning. Many of the researches on epistemological beliefs were conducted in Western countries, mainly North America, with few studies in non-Western countries such as the Chinese culture (Chan & Elliott, 2004a). The varied number and nature of epistemological belief dimensions reported in literature suggest the cultural specificity of epistemological beliefs, and the need to conduct more epistemological beliefs research in different cultures to enable us a better understanding of the beliefs structure (Hofer & Pintrich, 1997). The identified relation between epistemological beliefs and reading comprehension (Schommer, 1994) highlight the relative importance of epistemological beliefs in students’ learning. As well, the relations between epistemological beliefs and other metacognitive variables, such as learning strategies, motivation, conceptions about learning and teaching, etc., definitely are significant in helping us understand student learning and these studies would shape the future direction of epistemological beliefs research. Studies of this nature in different cultural contexts would also provide valuable information for researchers and educators. In light with this, the present paper reports the author’s research in epistemological beliefs, and the relations with metacognitive variables in learning and teaching in the Hong Kong Chinese cultural context. The research includes the development of a validated epistemological beliefs scale with satisfactory psychometric properties, relational analyses of epistemological beliefs and learning approaches/strategies, and conceptions of teaching and learning. The information is expected to add new knowledge in this area and be of value to those interested in epistemological beliefs research.
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