It is a general belief that language reflects cultural preoccupations, and constrains the way people think, and that the use of language is also shaped through culture. Language education in different countries thus reflects culture of the regions. Chinese and English are two of the most popular languages in the world and reflect culture of the East and the West. The authors have carried out a research project on the views of Hong Kong educators on basic mother tongue language competency. The results showed that Hong Kong educators’ perception on language was affected by Chinese philosophy of education, namely Confucianism. They did not find many indicators of English curricula appropriate to Hong Kong school students. ‘Stress on personal moral perfection’ and ‘social implications for education’ that is the goodness for all were some of the Chinese educational beliefs affect views of Hong Kong educators on language education.
[Copyright © 2007 International Cultural Research Network Press.]

The importance of school-institute partnerships for professional development is widely acknowledged by many studies. Through partnership, tertiary institutions can gain access to schools’ teaching practices, while schools can gain new ideas and knowledge. Such collaboration not only ensures teacher development but also makes action research feasible, which in turn promotes teaching and learning effectiveness in schools. The resultant school improvement is notable in the achievement of high quality education in Hong Kong. This chapter describes the successful experience of building a professional partnership in staff development between The Hong Kong Institute of Education and the Shanghai School for the Blind. Although there are dissimilarities in terms of vision, mission and target students between the two partners, the collaborative arrangement was found to be workable as a result of the explicit aims and shared goals. The experience gained in the partnership was meaningful and productive. Sharing responsibilities between partners not only minimized misunderstandings but also maximized the sense of involvement and contribution of the partners. The conclusion highlights the essential elements of a successful partnership, that is, mutuality, trust and reciprocal benefit (Anderson & Cheung, 1999; Fullan, Erskine-Cullen, & Watson, 1995; Goodlad, 1985; Osguthorpe, Harris, Black, Cutler, & Harris, 1995).
[Copyright © 2004 The Chinese University Press, Hong Kong Institute of Educational Research.]

This chapter explores the positive contribution that ideas and constructs from both the business and management training and the adult education literature can make to the theory and practice of workplace ELT curriculum design. Specifically, the chapter looks at how workplace stakeholders can provide a business voice to the ELT curriculum processes, how business-training planning and evaluation frameworks can assist ESP workplace practitioners in reconceptualizing the curriculum process, and how a review of adult learning research can help ESP workplace practitioners better understand the English language needs of professionals in the workplace. Unfortunately, the applied linguistic literature is, for the most part, school-based, leaving workplace ELT programs poorly researched and documented in terms of curriculum theory and practice. The chapter will report on studies of workplace English carried out in Hong Kong and the Philippines. The first Hong Kong study (Lockwood, 2002) investigated the way in which frameworks from business management and training can be used in ESP workplace training to ensure workplace stakeholders and thus the organization as a whole are better represented in the process. The second Hong Kong study (Hamp-Lyons et al., 2002) provides insights into how different stages in a professional career (in this case accountants) impact the kind of written language expectations of that professional. Two studies conducted in the Philippines in the business processing outsourcing (BPO) industry, specifically within call centers in Manila, illuminates further the language demands of the increasingly globalized workplace.
[Copyright © 2007 Springer Science + Business Media, LLC.]

The establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has brought about enormous structural, social, economical, political and cultural changes to society. The government, the public, and other parties concerned find the need to cope with the multi-faceted changes by reviewing the existing systems and policies as to provide information for improvement or reform, wherever necessary. Education is undoubtedly on the reform agenda. Art education, which forms part of the core curriculum of general education and plays a role for developing an all-round being, deserves due attention. This study intends to obtain a thorough picture on the changes of the philosophy and rationale of art education in the past forty years by a descriptive study on the aims of art education in the official art syllabi of junior secondary schools. The study finds that there is a paradigm shift in art education in Hong Kong: from emotional personal experience to the cognitive and affective learning; from a single dimension of educational aims to multi-dimensional; from mere personal development to personal development, socialization, economic productivity, and further learning.
[Copyright © 2000 The Hong Kong Institute of Education.]