Our newest collaborative effort is with the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. In September 2001 the Bachelor of Arts (Honours) (English Language Teaching) was introduced, with students dividing their time between the two campuses. Graduates will be qualified teachers with a high proficiency in English. They will also have had the opportunity of spending two periods overseas in immersion programmes.

Extending the immersion experience
A period of immersion outside Hong Kong figures prominently in many of our programmes especially those preparing language teachers. Periods spent in the Mainland or overseas enable our students to not only improve their language skills or subject knowledge. They must also learn to cope in new, unfamiliar and challenging settings. This is a maturing, broadening experience for every student and it reflects the Institute's goal of producing students with a broad, cosmopolitan outlook.

Various Schools and departments in the Institute organise immersion programmes tied to their programme areas. The Department of Creative Arts sent its students to France in 2001 for instance, to study art. Some also went to Canada to study music. English-language immersion was offered for various programmes in Australia and Britain.

Sit Hoi-fai

Artistic inspiration - the French way

The Mainland is a particularly rich resource for teachers to learn more about their subjects, as well as study Putonghua. Physical Education students were offered summer immersion programmes in mainland universities to improve their teaching knowledge and proficiency. Social Sciences students undertook short placements in Shenzhen and Guangzhou schools to learn more about conditions there. Early childhood education students visited kindergartens in Xi'an and Shenzhen. And more than 150 students went to Beijing or Nanjing to improve their Putonghua.

Reaching out to serving teachers
While the Institute encourages its students to look outwards, our staff are also active outside the campus. Our programmes for in-service teachers give us a prime opportunity to promote lifelong learning and help raise standards in Hong Kong classrooms. They also address the growing demand for all teachers - whether they have two or 20 years' experience - to have appropriate training and qualifications.

The Institute offers in-service teachers several avenues for improving their qualifications and knowledge. Our three-year mixed mode degrees, for example, enable serving non-graduate teachers to draw on their classroom experiences and gain a recognised degree qualification.

Teachers can engage in the continuous professional development essential to keep up to date with developments in their field by taking our wide range of professional upgrading and training courses. During the year, the Education Department commissioned us to offer training courses on the newly-revised curricula for English,Chinese and General Studies.