Overview

Programme Aims

The programme aims at upgrading teachers’ knowledge and skills in the teaching of English at primary level. It will focus on areas of English language knowledge and skills relevant to the current needs of teachers in the local school sector with particular emphasis on the implementation of recent updates in the English language curriculum.

The aim of the programme is to enhance teachers’ knowledge and skills in the teaching of English at primary level.

Upon completion of the programmes, participants should be able to:

Content Objectives

• demonstrate an enhanced understanding of aspects of the English language system;
• demonstrate an enhanced understanding of aspects of the English language learning and teaching;
• demonstrate an understanding of how this enhanced knowledge is applicable within the Hong Kong primary curriculum.

Pedagogical Objective 

• demonstrate enhanced skills in teaching English to Hong Kong primary students.

Programme Structure

For the 2023/2024 academic year, the course options offered will be as follows:

Course options (3 credit points) (Choose any one theme)
i.Cohort 1
Developing e-resources for reading across curriculum in primary schools

This course introduces a wide range of principles and practical skills in promoting reading across the curriculum in Hong Kong primary schools. Focus will be on ways to (a) incorporate reading as a whole school approach, (b) create a diversified range of texts as reading materials, (c) create e-resources that can help students understand the interplay between words, images and sounds, (d) help students to locate, evaluate, extract, organise and present information from cross-curricular texts, and (e) promote reading engagement and motivation. Reports from External School Reviews have pointed out that there is room for improvement in school holistic planning for the promotion of reading and strategies and increasing students’ motivation in reading. The course will showcase effective reading approaches that have been implemented in local primary schools. A particular emphasis is on the development of self-designed eBooks to construct a school-based reading across the curriculum programme suited to the needs of diverse schools and learners. The effective evaluation of current school resources and situation will be included.

ii.Cohort 2
Developing a Reading across the Curriculum (RaC) module in the primary English classroom

To enrich the school-based English curriculum, Curriculum Development Council has updated and reiterated the importance of Four Key Tasks to develop students’ strengths and knowledge base in “Reading to Learn”. Reading across the Curriculum (RaC) is an approach which helps students connect their learning experiences and provide them with opportunities to integrate and apply knowledge and skills developed in different KLAs (CDC, 2017). It also arouses students’ interest in reading through relating their personal experience to their learning. This course aims at empowering in-service primary school teachers and middle managers in RaC theories, curriculum mapping to plan and implement RaC in the primary English Language curriculum. Teacher participants will be introduced to effective strategies to help students develop the reading skills and strategies necessary for processing and responding to RaC texts; explore practical strategies for connecting students’ RaC experience with writing across the curriculum; design cross-curricular activities to enhance students’ ability to integrate the knowledge, skills and learning experiences gained in different KLAs so as to deepen and broaden their learning; and assess project-based learning activities/cross-curricular activities when implementing RaC. Practical ideas on curriculum mapping, learning resource development and assessment design will be shared by course instructor and experienced in-service teachers. With reference to Kotter’s 8-Step Change Model, suggestions on how to implement organizational changes, enhance collaboration between different subject coordinators in promoting RaC will be provided.

iii.Cohort 3
Towards a smooth transition from kindergarten to primary

A smooth interface between kindergarten and primary is vital in facilitating very young learners’ emotional and habitual preparation for their promotion to primary school. This course aims at empowering in-service primary schools teachers in Key Stage 1 and middle managers in curriculum tailoring to help support children of KG age in adapting to their new learning environment. Teacher participants will conduct kindergarten visits, devise age-appropriate learning content, expectation, assessments as well as teaching strategies according to the very young learners’ cognitive and developmental readiness.

More detailed course outlines can be found in
https://www.eduhk.hk/ele/programmes/professional-development-programmes

Medium of Instruction

The medium of instruction is English.

Entrance Requirements

To be eligible for admission, applicants should be:

1. in-service primary school English language teachers in Hong Kong; and
2. recommended by their respective school principals.

Award

To be awarded a Certificate of Completion, participants must obtain a pass in course assessment tasks required and successfully fulfill the attendance requirements as stipulated by the programme.