A contextural analysis of the professional development needs of primary art teachers in Hong Kong

The new (1995) Hong Kong primary art curriculum requires teachers to be knowledge about three domains: art knowledge, art making and living with art. However, the majority of teachers have had no professional development related to the new emphasis of the 1995 curriculum. Perhaps, more importantly, the Teacher Survey (1997) conducted by the Hong Kong Education Department shows that 73.4% of teachers in primary schools are currently teaching art with no training in the subject. There seem to be two sets of needs: the need for trained teachers to upgrade their knowledge to teach the new curriculum, and the need for untrained teachers to get basic training in teaching art. The present study aims to explore the views of the two groups of teachers in order to provide a sound basis for designing inservice teacher development courses. It focus on three areas: i) the teachers’ views on the qualities of a good art teacher; ii) their views on the subject knowledge and pedagogical knowledge necessary for effective art teaching; iii) their willingness to undertake professional development courses, and the factors affecting their willingness. The study used both quantitative and qualitative methods. In the first part of the study a questionnaire was sent to primary schools in order to determine the teachers’ views. In the second part interviews were conducted with 4 groups: art educators, officials form the Education Department, primary school principals and panel chairs of art. The data revealed significant gaps in teachers’ current understanding and knowledge and the knowledge needed to teach the new curriculum. The data also revealed teachers were willing to take in-service courses up to nine months in duration. Chief factors affecting the willingness were their difficulty to find time to attend courses and their current involvement in other courses. The findings of this study have important implications for the design of inservice courses in art education in Hong Kong. Copyright © 2000 The Hong Kong Institute of Education.