The School of Education and Languages
The School of Education and Languages aims to contribute to the professional development of teachers and meet society’s language needs. In addition to offering in-service and initial teacher education degree programmes for school teachers, the School also presents language enhancement courses, a full Bachelor’s degree in English language studies and preparatory courses for the Putonghua National Test through its Centre for Putonghua Education and Testing.
The School presented a new distance learning Bachelor of Education in Early Childhood Education programme and two new e-learning programmes on PR English writing and basic Chinese. It organized a seminar on outcome-based learning and teaching, and a talk series on quality teachers.
New programmes and courses in early childhood education,
PR English writing and basic Chinese
Following the launch of a Diploma in Early Childhood Education in 2007, the School introduced a new Bachelor of Education programme in October 2009 for pre-primary education practitioners with diplomas or certificates to further upgrade their professional qualifications. This was to echo the Government’s commitment to strengthen further the quality of pre-primary education in Hong Kong. In the e-learning sphere, a course on PR English writing and a fully online certificate programme in basic Chinese for non-Chinese speakers were started in April and October 2009, respectively.
Seminar on outcome-based learning and teaching
At the seminar on ‘Outcome-based Approaches to Learning and Teaching’ organized by the School on 14 May 2009, world-renowned outcome-based learning scholar Prof. John Biggs explained through video conference from Australia the concept of ‘constructive alignment’. Dr Angela Ho, Director of Educational Development of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Prof. Sunny Kwong of the Chinese University of Hong Kong also shared their experiences in implementing outcome-based learning.
Quality teachers talk series
Three talks on the quality of good teachers were organized. Ying Wa Primary School headmistress Ms Lam Woon-sum, who is the author of books on how to understand children’s thought processes, shared her 30 years of experience at a presentation on quality primary school teachers on 10 July 2009. Victoria Educational Organization Chief Principal Dr Maggie Koong hosted the talk on quality early childhood practitioners on 9 October 2009, and explained the far-reaching impact of early childhood learning on the development of children. Renowned author and teacher Prof. Lo Wai-luen, who was the speaker at the talk on quality Chinese language teachers on December 2009, gave advice on how to build rapport with students and promote Chinese culture, in addition to enhancing students’ language competency.
