Abstract

With the growing interest in the concept of emotional intelligence, an overview was provided through exploring the emergence of the concept in Western thought, the precursors to emotional intelligence in the context of nontraditional views of intelligence, and the recent theorizing by Mayer and Salovey and by Goleman. Educational implications for the development of social and emotional learning programs are discussed to provide insights into the realization of whole-person development in recent education reform in Hong Kong.

Keywords: emotional intelligence; social and emotional learning; whole-person development

Abstract

This paper investigates the musical behavior of young Hong Kong students in terms of their musical influences, their habits of singing and listening, and their musical preferences. Data from a sample of 647 Hong Kong Chinese junior secondary school students supports the hypothesis that the most important determinants on young people’s musical tastes and behavior are they themselves, their peers and the mass media. 557 students chose CDs as their favorite media for listening, followed by 478 for television and 425 for radio. Although students loved listening to music at home, they did not like to sing there. Outside the school environment, 293 and 160 said that home karaoke and public karaoke were their preferred musical activities. Cantonese pop was the most well-liked style and Chinese classical vocal music was the least welcomed. These findings demonstrate a challenge to music educators to broaden young people’s musical tastes to include more different styles of music that might not be typically favored by youth culture. The development of such an openness must be a goal of school music education.

Keywords: musical behavior; musical taste; musical preference; musical habit; musical learning; Hong Kong

Abstract

Employing the same researching instrument used in Leung & Ho’s (2001) study, 187 secondary school teachers from 14 secondary schools reported their perceptions of disruptive classroom behaviors. These 14 schools were located at different areas of Hong Kong. By combining the data found in Leung & Ho’s (2001) study, the present study attempts to take a preliminary step on investigating whether secondary school disruptive behaviors are a continuation of primary school disruptive behaviors. Based on current research findings, the results initially show that secondary school disruptive behaviors are a continuation of those found in primary school. “Talking out of turn”, “Non-attentiveness”, “Idleness/slowness” and “Forgetfulness” were most often voted by teachers as disruptive and frequently occurring. Moreover, many more boys than girls were identified by school teachers as the most disruptive children, however, the percentages of voting drop from 93% (by primary teachers) to 71% (by secondary teachers). Moreover, more boys than girls were regarded as disruptive but the boy:girl ratio gap was narrower between primary (2.1:1.0) and secondary school (1.4:1.0) teachers’ rating. The rising trend of more secondary schoolgirls displaying disruptive behaviors is an increasing concern. Interestingly, secondary school teachers reported that they spent less time maintaining classroom discipline than primary teachers. Suggestions on improving classroom discipline have been provided to educational administrators and policy makers.

Keywords: classroom disruptive behavior; classroom management; secondary school

Abstract

Recent research has advanced our understanding of the vocational orientation model applicable to Hong Kong. This study continues this line of research in validating a locally developed measure of vocational orientations in a university (n = 325) and an employee (n = 150) sample. The consequences of matching employees’ vocational orientations and job nature on job satisfaction and turnover intention are also examined. Results provided strong support for the reliability and validity of the locally developed measure and the applicability of the model suggested by recent research. Implications of vocational education, career guidance and future research in Hong Kong are discussed.

Keywords: vocational orientation; career interest; WCIAQ

摘要

近年來，世界各地的學者對研究欺凌問題的興趣不斷增加，有些研究欺凌問題出現的情況和性質、被欺凌者的性格特徵、面對欺凌的態度、欺凌的影響及從老師的角度看欺凌等。在香港，欺凌的研究並不多見，這篇文章描述外國及本土一些有關欺凌的研究文獻，透過回顧欺凌研究的發展，及引述筆者最近進行的一項中學教職員問卷調查結果來探索香港學童欺凌問題。基於是項研究結果及外地的文獻，筆者建議學校宜投入資源改善校園環境及採取多方合作的策略以減少欺凌。學校宜及早推行一些反欺凌的課程、舉辦更多的活動教導學生情緒控制及向高危受害人提供自保訓練計劃，並應考慮推動朋輩調解計劃，讓學生參與共創和諧校園。

關鍵字：校園暴力；欺凌；學生訓導

Abstract

There have been growing interests in studying students’ bullying problems among international scholars in recent years. Interest in, and concern with, the problem has seen researchers focusing on various aspects of this social phenomenon such as its incidence and nature, characteristics of bullies, attitudes towards bullying, the effects of bullying and the views of teachers. Nevertheless, there is rather little systematic investigation of bullying in Hong Kong. This paper provides a literature review of bullying studies in other countries and presents a community-wide study, which explores teachers’ perceptions towards bullying in secondary schools. Based on results and literature review, the authors suggest that a multi-disciplinary cooperative strategy should be adopted. Besides, anti-bullying curricula, aggression reduction programs, and early-intervention self-protection programs for potential victims of bullying should be developed. A peer mediation scheme should also be considered so that students could help to create a harmonious environment in school.

摘要

本研究比較了澳洲和香港小學生的記敘文及產生這些文章的文化背景。研究結果顯示澳洲的英語教育比較強調文章的社會意義和目的，及受眾與處境對文章的影響；香港的中國語文教育則着重學生的語文和道德行為的正確，教師身為教育制度的一分子，在其教學過程中傳送這些理念，因而直接影響學生的寫作。本文的重點，在於分析香港中文教育模式與方法如何影響學生的記敘文及可能產生的問題，並提議一些解決方法。

關鍵字：語文教育；文化；記敘文

Abstract

This study compares the narratives written by Australian and Chinese Grade 5 and Grade 6 students and the cultural contexts in which these writings were produced. A total of 198 English narratives collected from four schools of similar socio-economic backgrounds in Sydney and 256 Chinese narratives collected from four classes in one primary school in Hong Kong were analyzed. Besides, an examination of Australian and Hong Kong curriculum documents, a teacher survey, interviews with teachers and classroom observations formed the basis of investigation of contextual factors which might affect the production and interpretation of text. Results show that Australians seem to be more focused on the social purpose and function of text and the effects of audience and context on text, whereas the Chinese language education in Hong Kong places great emphasis on the correctness of both linguistic and moral behaviours. Teachers, being members of the educational system, transmit these ideologies to their students through their teaching practices and affect students’ writings. The paper analyses how students’ narratives are affected by the modes and methods of instruction in Chinese language education, discusses potential problems and makes recommendations to improve the teaching of writing.

摘要

本文主要是從運用閱讀策略的角度探討香港初中學生的中文閱讀理解能力，本研究分別以閱讀測驗和問卷調查的形式，比較了兩組不同成績組別的中一學生的閱讀理解能力、運用閱讀策略的能力和自我報告運用策略的經常性。研究結果顯示，學生運用閱讀策略的能力普遍不太理想，特別是學業成績稍遜的學生，他們在運用策略和理解篇章方面的能力很弱，不但完全不能夠掌握一些需要高層認知能力的策略，而且在閱讀時會較經常出現一些負面的閱讀行為，缺乏自我調整和閱讀監控的意識。針對學生在運用閱讀策略方面的問題，本文建議香港的教育工作者可以參考西方的閱讀策略教學研究，改變傳統只是透過範文和練習間接進行閱讀教學的模式，直接教授成績稍遜學生掌握閱讀策略，以提高他們的閱讀理解能力。

關鍵字：中文閱讀理解；閱讀策略；成績稍遜學生

Abstract

This study aims to explore the Chinese reading comprehension problems among Hong Kong junior secondary students through investigating their ability of using reading strategy. Two groups of Grade 7 students with different achievement levels were compared on their reading comprehension performance, ability of using different reading strategies and self-reported frequency use of strategy. Findings in this study showed that students’ general ability of using reading strategy was only moderate. The reading comprehension ability of academically low achievers was especially poor. They were not able to use higher-order cognitive strategies as well as lacking self-regulation and monitoring ability during reading process. This paper suggests that, in order to improve low achievers’ reading comprehension ability, Hong Kong educators should alter the traditional reading instruction to direct strategy instruction.