The purpose of this study was to evaluate, the effectiveness of an in-service training program and understand teachers' receptivity to curriculum change in physical education. A total of 183 primary school teachers were recruited as participants on a voluntary basis. They were asked to respond to a questionnaire about their receptivity to changes in the current physical education curriculum as well as their views on, the effectiveness of a teacher development program that was organized by the Chinese University of Hong Kong. The results showed that the participant fell that in-service training was needed to equip them to implement a physical education program in line with the curriculum reform. The in-service training program was deemed to be practical and effective, bringing about good communication among school teachers, educational experts, and government curriculum officers. In terms of their receptivity to curriculum change, the participants generally had positive attitudes to the innovation and showed further support for the change after attending the program. The role of the principal and the need for school support for the reform are discussed in the concluding section.
[Copyright of Sport, Education and Society is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13573320412331302467]

Learning materials developed by the Open University for first-line managers in the British Health Service have been adopted and adapted in a number of other countries. This paper reports a questionnaire-based evaluation of their use in Australia, the Cayman Islands, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom. Participants?views of the helpfulness of the 18 workbooks that constitute the core of the Managing Health Services programme were very positive across all four countries, as were their views of the assessment process and, in most cases, of the tutorial arrangements. However, there were some significant differences between the views of the cohorts from different countries. Participants were also asked to assess the extent to which they had developed 40 management competencies as a result of their studies. Managers from each country reported progress in their competence development, but with considerable variation between countries. Possible explanations for these differences are explored.
[Copyright of Journal of Vocational Education and Training is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13636820100200168]

Learning materials developed by the Open University for operational managers in the British Health Service are increasingly being used in other countries, often with adaptation and translation. This paper reports an evaluation of the use of these learning materials in Australia, the Cayman Islands, Hong Kong and the UK. Participants'views of the workbooks that constitute the core of the programme, the assessment process and the tutorial arrangements were mostly positive. However, the materials were not always seen to be successful in addressing individuals in their specific health care contexts. Some participants also reported difficulty in managing the workload within the anticipated study time. Participants were also asked to assess the extent to which they had developed management competences as a result of their studies. In almost all cases, learners reported progress, but there was considerable variation between cohorts in different countries. Possible explanations for these differences are explored.
[Copyright of Innovations in Education & Teaching International is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14703290110073291]

Social work education in Hong Kong has undergone unprecedented transitions during the past decade as a result of the challenges presented by the global tides of marketization and managerialism. It has been suggested that these changes have not only negatively affected the quality of education, but have also given rise to rising consumerism as well as intense institutional competition, and, worst of all, have diluted the sense of purpose and commitment of social workers towards their social ideals. But despite the many cautions raised, the advent of marketization and managerialism has provided many positive opportunities for the development of social work education in Hong Kong. The authors will use some of their experiences encountered in Hong Kong as illustrations to show the ways in which threats and crises in social work education could be turned into positive opportunities for development. From a positive perspective, marketization and managerialism could increase opportunities and choices for motivated learners; increase efficiency and enhance performance; generate additional resources for experimentation and innovation; and revitalize social work education by making the curricula more responsive to contemporary issues and needs. We suggest that while we must be cautious about the negative impacts of marketization and managerialism, we should conceive of this situation as an opportunity to strengthen the organizational capacities of social work education, to revitalize the core values of social work, and to strive for social justice and social betterment.
[Copyright of Social Work Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02615470701456194]

The social work profession has always been involved in dealing with uncertainty and risk in the life politics of clients. However, it is not easy for young social work students to translate this philosophical disposition into their real life practice with clients. In spring 2003, when the SARS epidemic broke out in Hong Kong, a group of social work students from the Chinese University of Hong Kong were doing their fieldwork practicum. Suddenly confronted by a collective sense of risk in their role as social workers, the students went through a period of unrest, as performing their helping duties brought with it a simultaneous exposure to personal risk. This paper is based on four focus group interviews with these social work students, to understand how they processed their experience of risk during their exposure to the SARS crisis, and how they connected the experience to their social work practice with clients. It is found that the predicament arising from the exposure to personal risk brought about by the SARS crisis during the students' field placement engendered the reflective process that enabled a renewed and personalized meaning of professionalism. The results provide a basis for reflection among social work educators on the role of risk in the training of prospective social workers, and on how social work education can better prepare students for practice in a high-risk environment.
[Copyright of Social Work Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02615470601081704]