This paper reports and discusses on the initial stage of a study aiming to explore the relationship between students’ learning styles and their acceptance of using Second Life (SL) for learning. Par- ticipants in this study involved a small group of undergraduate students (N = 17) taking a Visual Arts course called ‘Digital Imaging’ at a university in Hong Kong. They were asked to create and showcase their own digital artwork in SL. Furthermore, they were also required to present their work and critique peers’ work in SL. Their learning styles were measured by the Index of Learning Styles (ILS), whereas their acceptance of Second Life for learning was evaluated by a questionnaire designed by the author. Preliminary findings of this study reveal that most participants were identified as visual learners (i.e. the ones who prefer to see in graphical/video representation). However, active learners (i.e. the ones who prefer to try something out to see how it works) were found more likely to accept the educational use of SL.
[Copyright © 2012 SciRes.]

一向以來，教師是「課程的被動者」，重視「教」學的內容，雖則在課後作出檢討，但卻未能全面地探討「為甚麼結果是這樣的？」及「我如何作有效的改善！」藉著香港教育學院在2003年推出一個嶄新的在職教師進修課程「小學教師專業發展課程──教育革新」，教師們在五星期內學習有關視覺藝術科的教學理論外，更需要在任教的學校以行動研究模式進行一個專題校本設計。本文是針對四個曾於2003-04年實施的研究個案：(一) 公共藝術在校內的實施──洗手間重塑計劃；(二) 黃大仙、立體聲：探討以聲音提昇學生的創造力；(三) 「參觀藝術館活動」如何提升藝術評賞的教與學；(四) 透過視覺藝術課程促進親子關係。教師們會以真實經驗講述整個實施過程，而討論者亦會藉著這四個個案在藝術與生活及教學反思兩方砷，探討教師在整個研究中對專業發展的成效與啟示。

面對不斷改變的知識型社會，培養創意在新世代已成為重要的教育方向，而學校課程亦同樣面對培養創意的挑戰。創意音樂活動在歐美等先進國家已發展了超過三十年，但是亞洲地區尚在萌芽階段。一般亞洲地區的音樂教學(如香港)普遍重視音樂知識傳授和訓練技巧而忽略創意音樂活動及創造力的培養。本文旨在回顧先進國家的音樂課程發展及相關文獻，並提出一個施行創意音樂教學模式，期望改善音樂教學的素質。

香港的美術教育，一向備受忽視。要推行成功的美術教育，校長、教師、學生與社會人士們認同美術教育是全人教育重要部份的理念最為重要。一九九九年，本研究小組訪問了香港三間中學與三間小學，他們在香港推動美術教育不遺餘力，多年來建立了學生學習的優良表現，不論是在態度上、信念上、創作成果上，都有不錯的成績。研究小組嘗試從訪問校長、教師與學生中、從課堂的觀課中、從學校的環境與氣氛中，了解他們在推動美術教育上的困難，從而尋找出一些可行的方法，努力地嘗試走出一條成功的道路。相信這次的研究結果，可以給與其他學校一些啟示，並作為借鏡。

In Hong Kong, inclusive education is concerned with educating all students, including those who are categorised as having special educational needs (SEN). This qualitative study reports three challenges faced by primary schools music teachers required to implement inclusive education. The first two challenges echo those reported internationally ? the lack of subject-specific pre- and in-service SEN training and insufficient school-based SEN support for music teachers. The third challenge is the key role of a societal mindset that, by valuing SEN interventions against other educational values, justifies discriminatory training and resourcing. It is against this mindset that these teachers argue and that explains why inclusive education in Hong Kong's primary music classrooms becomes a pathway for both SEN students and their teachers to learned helplessness.; In Hong Kong, inclusive education is concerned with educating all students, including those who are categorised as having special educational needs (SEN). This qualitative study reports three challenges faced by primary schools music teachers required to implement inclusive education. The first two challenges echo those reported internationally ? the lack of subject-specific pre- and in-service SEN training and insufficient school-based SEN support for music teachers. The third challenge is the key role of a societal mindset that, by valuing SEN interventions against other educational values, justifies discriminatory training and resourcing. It is against this mindset that these teachers argue and that explains why inclusive education in Hong Kong's primary music classrooms becomes a pathway for both SEN students and their teachers to learned helplessness.
[Copyright of International Journal of Inclusive Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2015.1019374]

Choral singing is a key feature of musical activity in Hong Kong schools. It has grown from modest beginnings into an important part of extra-curricular work. Even in independent societies and associations, many choral directors possess backgrounds in music education and classroom teaching. The teacher education institutions are responsible for training the majority of music teachers in Hong Kong. Thus it would seem necessary for music teacher courses to feature choral training to properly equip teachers before entering the classroom and taking the role of choral director in class, school and perhaps community. In the past there has been no choral director training programme. It seems important to develop ideas for what might be included for the professional development of the student choral teacher, and this is one objective of the current study. This article reports the implementation of a mentoring scheme carried out in a primary school setting. One of the current authors and an identified school choral teacher worked as mentors to provide professional support for a student choral teacher who was selected as the main participant in the case study. The aim was to investigate the potential of mentoring as a way of training a student choral director in a real school setting. Findings from this study reveal that through the mentoring scheme the student choral teacher was provided with an opportunity to interpret, generate, interact and experiment with the choral teaching theory in a real school choral rehearsal setting. This could be seen as a process of knowing-in-action and reflection-in-action.
[Copyright © 2006 The Hong Kong Institute of Education, International Society for Music Education.]

The Arts-in-Education (AiE) Programme was an initiative that involved artists and arts organizations working closely with school teachers in the formal curriculum to enhance student learning by using an interdisciplinary approach. This three-year programme (2000–2003) was organized by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council and co-organized by the Curriculum Development Institute of the Education and Manpower Bureau and the Creative Arts Department of the Hong Kong Institute of Education. It received a total of HK$4 million sponsorship donated by the Hong Kong Bank Foundation. The programme had three main aims: To facilitate partnerships between professional practicing artists and schools to create programmes that enhance the study of the arts and other curriculum areas through the arts; To provide students, through working with the artists, with greater experience with the arts, encouraging them to explore different ways of thinking and work more creatively in the arts and other subjects; To facilitate the sharing and exchanging of ideas between arts and non-arts teachers and professional artists, so they could learn new ways of approaching their topic (Hong Kong Arts Development Council, 2000).
[Copyright © 2008 Springer Science + Business Media B.V.]