The purpose of this study was to analyze the current status of integrated physical education (PE) in general PE classes at elementary schools in Hong Kong. A questionnaire and cover letter were sent to 115 participants. A follow-up was made to contact non-respondents two weeks after the initial dissemination of questionnaires. Of those that were surveyed, 72.17% (N=83) responded. The results indicated that there were 12 different types of students with disabilities integrated into general settings. Most inclusive classroom integrated 1-3 students with disabilities and class sizes vary widely from school to school. Teachers received limited personnel support, faced more serious barriers for integration in the future, and possessed the need for professional development. Seven valuable implications of the results were discussed.
[Copyright © 2010 ACESS, Asian Council of Exercise & Sports Science. Authors are granted permission by ACESS to use their own material in subsequent publications, and to reproduce the material in total or in part for educational purposes or personal use.]

There have been many claims about the benefits that the use of technology can bring to music learning. In fact, examples of successful applications and high levels of motivation associated with computer-based music learning reported in the literature have evidentially substantiated both the feasibility and adaptability of technology applications to music education. This paper describes the experience of Information and Computer Technology (ICT) integration in primary school music education in countries where both pioneering and relatively advanced developments have taken place. A comprehensive study of related literature and curriculum documents has been undertaken, aspects including major software programs development for music education and its pedagogical orientation, hardware configuration and classroom organization, applications of ICT in music teaching and learning, requirements for curriculum, hardware and software, and technology competency requirements and related professional development for music teachers are studied. Findings from the literature reviewed and documents analyzed reveal that ICT can best support constructivist approach to music learning, particularly activities of creative nature such as composing, improvising and creative music making; in addition, resource and related circumstantial factor as well as music teacher‘s readiness were found to be the most influential factors of successful ICT integration. Coupled with these findings, conclusion and implications for ICT integration in primary music curriculum in Hong Kong are then drawn and discussed.
[Copyright © 2010 HKIEd APFSLT.]

This article explores the ideological complex in a Hong Kong primary school where a large number of immigrant mainland Chinese students study by examining the interview data from teachers and immigrant students. Drawing on the notions of monoglot ideology and misrecognition, this study indicates that disqualifications of some linguistic resources in the emergent repertoire of their students exist in the primary school as a political and social context dominated by particular language ideologies. This study also explores how the language ideologies of the students are constructed and how the students censor their use of the native language through internalisation of the language attitudes held by the teachers. The findings suggest that a flexible language ideology would help the students value their own language resources and construct a new identity in the new hibitus. It is also suggested that the immigrant students can employ the multilingual practices as a symbolic resource rather than as a disadvantage constructed by the institutional ideologies.
[Copyright of Research Papers in Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02671522.2014.970227]

This paper examines the statistics on the official provision of teacher and teaching training in Hong Kong primary schools. It is found that there is no clear and operational definition of the expertise of teaching in the primary workforce, nor teachers are well-prepared for their development of teaching expertise. Under such an unfavourable teacher preparation and development, the writer called for teachers' self-initiation to develop "group expertise among themselves and make improvement in primary education. Introduction: This paper intends to evaluate whether the provision of teachers and teacher training can facilitate the identification and development of teaching expertise with, and for primary school teachers in Hong Kong. Data of such provision are compiled from the official teacher surveys and will be used for analysis. It is noticed that 'provision' of teachers and teacher training is the input to the education system and is only one of the many aspects that constitutes the development of teaching expertise. Other aspects like 'teaching and learning processes', 'teacher performance' and 'pupil achievement' are related and influential. Nevertheless, attention to the input condition can never be dispensable. The Theoretical Framework: Sternberg et al. (1995) argued that there exists 'no well-defined standard that all experts meet and that no nonexperts meet.' A prototype view is proposed to consider teaching expertise as a category of resemblance that 'is structured by the similarity of expert teachers to one another rather than by a set of necessary and sufficient features'. They postulated the following categories which they called the 'expert teaching prototype': The prototype expert teacher has 'extensive, accessible knowledge of subject matter and of teaching per se as well as knowledge of the political and social context in which teaching occurs. The prototype expert teacher posseses a broad perspective of well-organized domain knowledge which is contributive

Band 1 schools have an enviable reputation in Hong Kong and one which can breed false assumptions that somehow Band 1 schools present that fabled-land where teaching somehow is "easy". How do Band 1 schools gain and (more importantly) justifiably sustain their reputations for excellence in education? This paper seeks answers to this question by investigating one case study Band 1 Primary School from the perspective of the teachers who shoulder responsibility for sustaining a track record of "educational excellence". The challenges facing these teachers, their practical solutions and the underpinning educational theories will be examined. This examination includes the perspectives of a school principal, two local and two expatriate experienced classroom teachers and a "visiting" practicing teacher. By triangulating these varied perspectives, this paper seeks to focus attention not only on "Band 1 teaching methods" but, more significantly on the features of effective teaching which may be generalisable across the spectrum of Hong Kong Primary schools.

In Hong Kong, three principal languages co-exist: Cantonese, English and Putonghua. For more than two decades, among policy-makers and educators, there has been a substantial debate on the language policies governing the three principal languages. Since the political transition in 1997, the Hong Kong government has made a series of language policy reforms trying to create a reasonable balance among the three languages, and a “biliterate and trilingual” policy has been adopted, with the aim of enabling Hong Kong residents to become biliterate in written Chinese and English, and trilingual in Cantonese, Putonghua and spoken English. The policy is now guiding the curriculum design in Hong Kong language education. However, currently, Hong Kong primary schools do not have an agreed approach or method for the implementation of trilingual education, and there is an urgent need to explore current successful or unsuccessful models. After a comprehensive historical review of the development of language education in Hong Kong schools, this study aims to find out how the ‘biliterate' and ‘trilingual' language policy is currently implemented in Hong Kong primary schools. A large scale questionnaire survey were carried out among Hong Kong primary school principals on how trilingual education was implemented in the schools. The findings suggest that, from school to school, the implementation of trilingual education varied significantly, and the effectiveness of the trilingual education models varied as well. It is hoped that this study will help us to gain a better understanding of trilingual education in Hong Kong, and the study could lead to some insightful and theoretical contributions to multilingual education in general.

School-based Management (SBM) is regarded as the centrepiece of the current educational reforms which aims to enhance quality of education since 1980s (Caldwell & Spinks, 1992; Cheng, 1996b; Gamage, 1996; Wong, 1995). To enhance quality culture, flexibility, transparency and accountability, the policy-makers introduce a new school management reform policy, entitled “The School Management Initiative (SMI)”, to Hong Kong schools in 1991. Mr. Tung Chee-hwa, the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), even announced in his policy address (Tung, 1998) that all schools should practise SBM by 2000. With reference to the latest SMI report, there are altogether 43% secondary schools and 23.3% primary schools practising SBM in 1997-98 academic year. The implication shows that many schools need to join the new initiative within two years time. Why is there a huge gap in between the policy and the front line? In order to have a closer look at how people interact and how these effects affect the promotion of school improvement in the change process, a small scale research with a stratified sample of nine aided primary schools was conducted in May, 1998. The result of the findings demonstrated some important implications that effective leadership, collegiality, healthy interpersonal relations are essential to accelerate the effectiveness of the school management scheme which can enhance the quality of school education of Hong Kong as a whole.
[Copyright © 2000 The Hong Kong Institute of Education]