The implementation of curriculum change in moral education in secondary schools in Hong Kong.

In Hong Kong the body responsible for administration of schools and curriculum affairs is the\ud Education Department. In 1981, this body issued the 'General Guidelines on Moral Education in\ud Schools'. At a time when most schools did not have any form of planned or systematic approach\ud to moral education, this was a milestone in the history ofcurriculum development in the Territory.\ud In another respect these Guidelines revolutionalised curriculum change in the Territory in that\ud school-centred strategy was adopted as opposed to the central control traditionally maintained by\ud the central agency, i.e. the Education Department.\ud This study aims at finding out how administrators and teachers in secondary schools responded to\ud the curriculum change, how they implemented it and the results of the change. Three secondary\ud schools with different backgrounds were studied in great depth using ethnographic research\ud methods. Curriculum leaders and teachers of another eight schools were interviewed with a view\ud to refining the propositions developed from these in-depth multi-site case studies.\ud Moral education had, indeed been institutionalised in all the schools studied but most of them did\ud not follow the recommendations ofthe central agency. The implemented curriculum was characterised\ud by content directed towards students' disciplinary problems, a tendency to pass on a set of\ud values to the students, ineffective use ofpupil-centred teaching methods and audio-visual aids, and\ud neglect of evaluation.\ud The schools and teachers did not receive adequate support and resources from the central agency\ud to implement this curriculum change. The curriculum users therefore had to scale down the\ud recommended change to manageable proportions according to their own interpretation and the\ud demands of their environment. For example, there was conscious avoidance of the integrated\ud approach recommended in the Guidelines.\ud In making curriculum decisions, school personnel tend to make a 'practical' stance. They are\ud strongly influenced by the 'culture of teaching'. The over-riding importance of public examination\ud in the Hong Kong system, inevitably lowers the status of moral education in the eyes of the school\ud personnel. A strong subject identity, another characteristic of the teaching culture, clouds teachers'\ud perception oftheir professional responsibility. The emphasis on privacy and teachers' autonomy in\ud the classroom, over-concern for disciplinary problems all affect the implementation of curriculum\ud change in moral education.\ud This study reveals the implementation problems that are present when a school-centred strategy is\ud adopted without adequate support and resources to back it up. It is a lesson which curriculum\ud developers in Hong Kong should take seriously in future developments

Cancer patients' attitudes towards Chinese medicine: a Hong Kong survey

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>This article reports a survey conducted in Hong Kong on the cancer patients' attitudes towards Chinese medicine treatment.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Cancer patients from three Chinese medicine clinics and one oncology clinic were interviewed with a structured questionnaire.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of a total of 786 participants included in the study, 42.9% used Western medicine only; 57.1% used at least one form of Chinese medicine; 5 participants used Chinese medicine only; and 56.5% used Chinese medicine before/during/after Western medicine treatment. Commonly used Western medicine and Chinese medicine treatments included chemotherapy (63.7%), radiotherapy (62.0%), surgery (57.6%), Chinese herbal medicine (53.9%) and Chinese dietary therapy (9.5%). Participants receiving chemotherapy used Chinese medicine (63.3%) more than those receiving any other Western medicine treatments. Spearman correlation coefficients showed that the selection of Chinese medicine was associated with the cancer type (r_s= -1.36; <it>P </it>< 0.001), stage (r_s= 0.178; <it>P </it>< 0.001), duration (r_s= -0.074; <it>P </it>= 0.037), whether receiving chemotherapy (r_s= 0.165; <it>P </it>< 0.001) and palliative therapy (r_s= 0.087; <it>P </it>= 0.015). Nearly two-thirds of the participants (N = 274) did not tell their physicians about using Chinese medicine. Over two-thirds of all participants (68.2%) believed that integrated Chinese and Western medicine was effective.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Chinese medicine is commonly used among Hong Kong cancer patients. The interviewed cancer patients in Hong Kong considered integrative Chinese and Western medicine is an effective cancer treatment.</p

Challenges of regulatory theory and practice : a study of hawker control in Hong Kong

published_or_final_versionPolitics and Public AdministrationMasterMaster of Public Administratio

The regulation of the residential property market in Hong Kong : a study of government strategies and tools

published_or_final_versionPolitics and Public AdministrationMasterMaster of Public Administratio

A Comparative Study of Routine Laparoscopic Versus Open Appendectomy

Scientific PapersOBJECTIVE: We evaluated the outcomes of routine laparoscopy and laparoscopic appendectomy (LA) in patients with suspected appendicitis. This is a retrospective study of the outcomes of patients undergoing laparoscopic appendectomy compared with outcomes for patients undergoing open appendectomy (OA) during the time that LA came into use. METHOD: Results of patients managed with routine laparoscopy and LA for suspected acute appendicitis were reviewed and analyzed. The preoperative and intraoperative findings were recorded. The clinical outcomes were compared with those of patients undergoing OA in the preceding 10 months. RESULTS: During the LA study period, 97 patients (47 men) with the median age of 34 years (range, 18 to 79) presented with clinical features of acute appendicitis. With the exclusion of 5 patients with open operations and 10 patients with other pathologies, 82 patients underwent laparoscopic appendectomy (Group A) for appendicitis. Thirty-one (37.8%) patients had complicated appendicitis (perforated or gangrenous appendicitis). Conversions were required in 6 patients (7.3%). During the OA period, 125 patients (57 men) with the median age of 42 (range, 19 to 79) years were operated on. With the exclusion of 6 patients with other pathologies, 119 underwent OA for acute appendicitis (Group B). Fifty-one (42.9%) had either perforated or gangrenous appendicitis. The median durations of surgery in Group A and Group B were 80 minutes (range, 40 to 195) and 60 minutes (range, 25 to 260), respectively (P < 0.005). Postoperative complication rates were comparable between the 2 groups (13.4% in Group A versus 15.8% in Group B). The median hospital stay for patients in Group A and Group B were 3.0 days (range, 1 to 47) and 4.0 days (range, 1 to 47), respectively (P = 0.037). CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that routine laparoscopy and LA for suspected acute appendicitis is safe and is associated with a significantly shorter hospital stay. Other intra-abdominal pathologies can also be diagnosed more accurately with the laparoscopic approach.link_to_OA_fulltex

Farmer\u27s Life: an age-friendly toy 「農夫歲月」: 以長者為主題的全齡玩具

...The board game involves four kinds of cards that indicate matters of fate, opportunities, scenarios and challenges, all of which are related to elderly people’s daily lives. The ‘Farmer’s Life’ has been revised to a third edition, and has been published and tested on various public or industry-related platforms for the elderly. 這項桌上遊戲設有四款遊戲卡牌，分別代表命運、機會、情景和挑戰，全都與長者的日常生活息息相關。「農夫歲月」已修訂至第三版，推出後已在為長者而設的不同公眾及產業相關平台接受測試。 Award: Silver奬項: 銀