Education Major – Music Studies

Education Major equips students to be a competent, versatile and creative music teacher with a firm foundation in musical understanding and professional practices to meet their future professional needs in both primary and secondary schools. The curriculum covers four areas: Music History, Theory and Composition, Performance, and Music Education. The study in the Music discipline facilitates students to become professional musicians through actively and progressively engaging themselves in music study in the integration of critical listening, creating and performing. The Music Education area provides specialised training in contemporary methods and approaches to develop the skills, knowledge and attitude for teachers to work effectively and professionally in today's schools. Whilst students can further enhance their first instrument during the studies, the programme also facilitates students’ learning of a second instrument. Further, an emphasis is laid on learning through participating in various performing groups, music workshops and master classes.

Discipline Major – Creative Arts and Culture (CAC) Studies

The Discipline Major courses equip students with a broad understanding of the diversity of the arts in the cultural and creative industries. The Foundation Seminar in the Arts and Foundation Courses expose students to dance, drama, theatre and media. The Compulsory Courses are progressive in nature, with courses in Cultural Studies and Arts Management. These courses emphasise the significance of the arts and creativity, cultural literacy, arts management, and the interconnectedness between related disciplines beyond the arts. The Music Subject Focus courses are designed to sharpen students’ skills and knowledge in the subject discipline and to consolidate students’ understanding of the art form, both theoretically and practically. Students may also select from a spectrum of Major Elective Courses, which address relevant issues concerning the arts in a variety of contexts and settings. These courses adopt an integrative and interdisciplinary approach, underpinned by the belief that the arts relate closely to studies in other disciplines such as Literature, Sociology, and Cultural Theory.

In Major Interdisciplinary Course, students will engage in examining the policy discussions and practices that affect culture ecology, stimulate local cultural expression, as well as foster communication and exchange between different cultures. This course will also explain the role of arts and culture in the context of globalisation and in the current debates on culture and development. On the other hand, the Cross-Faculty Core Course (CFCC) will comprise 3 individual components with 1 credit point each and separately assessed with the aim to widen students’ horizon and look beyond Hong Kong. In Component I, lectures with topics related to Basic Law / National Security will be arranged; in Component II, students will have the opportunities to undertake visits in Greater Bay Area; in Component III, a variety of themes which are linked to the University’s development niche areas will be offered by Faculties.

Internship

The Internship is a 6-cp compulsory experiential and professional learning component of the programme. Students are expected to work as an intern in a relevant organisation or company for pre-determined period of time. Students can further cultivate skills and knowledge developed during coursework by working within the cultural and creative industries. Through this work-based experience, students can have first-hand exposure to the operations of an organisation, and reflect on the practices in the real working environment.

Education Studies gives students the chance to study teaching and learning from an interdisciplinary perspective. Students will study early childhood/school education from psychological, sociological, philosophical, pedagogical and other perspectives. Students will develop a range of skills necessary for professional practice, such as problem solving, critical thinking, creativity, communication, social interaction, ethical decision making and global perspectives. Education Studies helps students appreciate the importance of professional excellence, ethical responsibility and innovation to the role of a teacher. We aim for our graduates to become beginning teachers who are caring and competent, intellectually enthusiastic, socially committed, and globally aware.

Students will be placed in schools which are important sites for learning to teach and where they will interpret, generate, interact and experiment with theory:

Block Practice for local students will be conducted in local schools. Non-local students may be arranged to conduct their Block Practice at local schools or schools outside Hong Kong, such as mainland-based schools catering to Hong Kong pupils and offering the Hong Kong curriculum (內地設立港人子弟學校).

The medium of instruction for Block Practice may vary depending on the policy of the schools. Students should be able to demonstrate a proficient level of Cantonese / English / Putonghua (for Chinese Language teaching in some local schools or teaching in some schools outside Hong Kong) to conduct Block Practice.

Students should observe the University’s General Code of Student Conduct and the professional conduct and behavior required of teachers. Placement schools and/or invited educators from local schools will observe students’ performance during block practices and exit panel interviews, and their feedback will be considered in determining the final result of the students’ field experience.*

Important Note: The University will ask students of our full-time teacher education programmes to declare whether they have been convicted of or are being prosecuted for any sex-related offence in Hong Kong or elsewhere, and to provide relevant details prior to undertaking teaching practice. Such information may be released to their placement schools. The University reserves the right not to allow these students to attend the block teaching practice. If so, they won't be able to meet the graduation requirements of the programmes.

* subject to approval

The EdUHK’s General Education programme prepares students to be active agents of change, by broadening their intellectual horizons, helping them make connections among different areas of knowledge and between their formal studies and life outside the classroom, and strengthening their capacity for sound thinking and good judgement. It offers a varied but balanced mix of individual courses across a range of subject areas and disciplines, set within an integrated structure of (i) General Education Foundation Course, (ii) General Education Breadth Courses, (iii) Experiential Learning, and (iv) University ePortfolio with a total of 16 credit points (cps).

i. General Education Foundation Course (4 cps)

General Education Foundation Course is a 4-cp course that will run for the whole academic year, and be taken by all first-year students at EdUHK. This course will equip students with the diverse knowledge-bases and skills for their intellectual and professional development in local, national and global contexts. In Semester 1, there will be a series of lectures and/or workshops on selected themes and topics (e.g. University life planning, research and inquiry, Basic Law, national security, professionalism, ethics, etc.). In Semester 2, students will be introduced to a wide variety of themes and issues in general education (e.g. language, well-being, entrepreneurship, artificial intelligence, conservation, globalization etc.,) by taking part in the lectures delivered by Chair Professors / Professors and external Guest Lecturers. These lectures are substantiated by small class tutorials for building communities of dialogue and inquiry that foster the intellectual growth of students as reflective thinkers deliberating issues of importance to their own lives, society and the world as a whole.

In addition to the face-to-face lectures, video lectures will be arranged as appropriate to allow students to learn flexibly at their own pace. As a unique feature of the course, e-Learning assessments and a reflective entry of their learning experiences will be submitted by students after lectures and become an important part of the e-Portfolio. The online learning activities and tasks will encourage students to reflect and think critically on various themes and issues based on learning artefacts and experiences, thereby, charting the paths for their personal, intellectual and professional developments.

ii. General Education Breadth Courses (6 cps)

Under the new curriculum (from 2019/20 onwards), the General Education Breadth Courses (GEBCs) (6 cps) are composed of Positive and Values Education (PAVE) Course and General Education Interdisciplinary Course (GEIC) (Level 4). Students have to take one from each of the components in order to fulfill the GEBCs (6 cps) requirement.

These courses aim to equip students better for the study of the ontological, epistemological and/or methodological issues in a wide variety of disciplines. In addition, a new 3-cp GEIC (Level 4) will be offered on cross-faculty basis for students from Year 2 Semester 2 to Year 3 Semester 1, in order to enable them to appreciate the complexity of issues and problems that transcend disciplinary boundaries and to make sense of them through dialogues across disciplines.

Students are allowed to take PAVE Course after the completion of GEFC or concurrently with GEFC in Year 1 Semester 2 if they are interested and their curriculum schedules allow. After the completion of PAVE Course, students are allowed to take the GEIC from Year 2 Semester 2 to Year 3 Semester 1.

iii. Experiential Learning (3 cps)

The 3-cp Co-curricular Service Learning Course (CSLC) under Experiential Learning provides students with an opportunity to engage in learning in action and through co-curricular learning activities with direct service elements in real-life or work-place context while complementing, connecting with, and mirroring their learning experiences derived from formal curriculum. Students should complete the CSLC before Year 5 Semester 2. However, students are suggested to complete the CSLC before Semester 1 of final year as they will be engaged in BP II and data collection / field work of Final Year Project in this semester. Careful academic planning on personal basis is needed.

iv. University ePortfolio (3 cps)

After the completion of these courses, students will take a University ePortfolio course as a 3-cp “capstone” course before their final year of study as assigned by individual programmes. Based on their ongoing evidence-based reflections on undergraduate learning experiences, students are required to complete the construction of their University ePortfolios that are made up of the artefacts and evidence derived from a wide variety of learning experiences (e.g. Language Enhancement, GEFC, PAVE and GEIC, Majors, Field Experience/Internship, Exchange Programme, CSLCs, etc.). It provides an intellectual platform for students to synthesise their learning experiences garnered from the academic journey at the EdUHK by critically reflecting on the values and significance of what they have learned, making connections to their lives, and charting or imagining their own future.

Students are allowed to take the University ePortfolio course after completion of all GEBCs required (i.e. PAVE, GEIC). Also, they have to take the course in the semester of study assigned by individual programmes.

For detailed information and the course synopsis about General Education courses, please visit the website at www.eduhk.hk/geo.

The Final Year Project comprises of two courses:

• Honours Project I / Capstone Project I: Research Methods and Proposal
• Honours Project II / Capstone Project II: A one-year project usually to be conducted in the final year.

From September 2012/13, FT BEd non-language-major students will be required to meet Language Exit Requirements (LERs) for English and Putonghua. The exit benchmarks are IELTS 6.0 (or equivalent) for English, and PSC (Putonghua Shuiping Ceshi) 3B for Putonghua. Students are required to study a comprehensive package of English, Chinese and Putonghua enhancement courses.

English Enhancement Programme (EEP)
consists of two credit-bearing and two non-credit-bearing courses from Year 1 to Year 3. The four mandatory courses will equip students with academic literacy essential to their study at tertiary level and help them develop general English language proficiency. They will also lay the foundation for students to learn English independently in subsequent years through participation in self-access learning activities, blended learning, and optional language enhancement courses appropriate to their level and developmental needs. Optional IELTS preparation workshops will also be offered to familiarise students with the EdUHK-sponsored IELTS after they have completed the EEP.

Chinese Enhancement Programme (CEP)
consists of one mandatory credit-bearing course and two mandatory non-credit-bearing courses, which provide students with the input on Chinese language skills as well as elements of literature and culture.

Students may be exempted from selected Chinese courses in the package if they have fulfilled the exemption criteria of individual courses.

Putonghua Enhancement Programme (PEP)
Students need to take two mandatory non-credit-bearing courses if they have not fulfilled the exemption criteria via the Tertiary Putonghua Test (TPT) or PSC. They could opt for other non-credit-bearing  courses in year two.

Cantonese Enhancement Courses (For non-Cantonese-speaking Chinese students)
Non-Cantonese-speaking Chinese students will be required to study two non-credit-bearing Cantonese courses. The successful completion of the Cantonese courses will be recorded in the student's transcript.

For Cantonese, Putonghua and English, language consultation services and other self-access materials are provided at ASLLC, the self-access language learning centre (these arrangements are subject to changes).