Formative Years
Established in 1965, the School of Education was the University's first professional school for training graduate teachers.
During its early years, the School's mission was simply to provide a one-year Diploma-in-Education course to train university graduates to become professional teachers at the senior secondary level. It was run on a very small scale in rented premises in downtown Kowloon, with only a handful of lecturers and some 20 students. Only a dozen courses were offered.
Steady growth
In the mid-1970s, secondary education in Hong Kong underwent rapid expansion. Local educational authorities began to place more emphasis on the professionalization of teachers. University graduates teaching in secondary schools were required to obtain a Diploma-in-Education before they could be considered fully-qualified and eligible for promotion. Hence, the social demand for postgraduate teacher training increased tremendously. There was also an emerging need for more educational researchers.
The School of Education responded to such needs by expanding, diversifying and upgrading its curriculum and facilities. It moved into Shatin in 1973 and operated in classrooms and offices on the Chung Chi campus. In the same year, a new programme leading to the Master of Arts in Education was offered.
In 1978 when the Hong Kong Government formulated its development plans for senior secondary and tertiary education, the School already had some 15 full-time lecturers, and about 500 students, who were enrolled respectively in the one-year full-time diploma, two-year part-time in-service diploma, and the Master of Arts (Education) programmes. In the years that followed, the School continued to develop in accordance with plans outlined by the government to meet societal needs.
All through the first 20 years of its existence, the School of Education functioned rather independently, first as a unit directly placed under the University Senate, and following a major reorganization of the University in 1976-77, as a separate division within the Graduate School. However, while the staff and students of the School were inevitably full members of the University, the School itself was different from other academic units in that it did not have a faculty board or departmental board of studies. Nor was there any elected representation from the School in the academic and administrative structure of the University.
A Period of Change
In 1987-88, therefore, the teaching staff of the School unanimously adopted a resolution requesting the University to reorganize the School into a faculty with three departments, viz., Educational Psychology, Curriculum and Instruction, and Educational Administration and Policy. The University Senate accepted the proposal in principle, and further resolved to transfer to the School the Physical Education Unit, which had been in charge of undergraduate physical education, to facilitate the development of research and professional training in that discipline.
In 1988-89, teaching staff of the School elected from among themselves the director of the School for the first time. Other aspects of the reorganization were also realized step by step. As of 1991-92, the School has formally been reconstituted as the Faculty of Education. It has finally attained equal status with the faculties of arts, science, social science, business administration, and medicine. Within the faculty, there are four departments: Educational Psychology, Curriculum and Instruction, Educational Administration and Policy, Sports Science & Physical Education and Physical Education Unit. During this period of reorganization, there were also major changes and improvements in the offering of study programmes. The part-time bachelor degree in primary education was first introduced in 1988. The Ph.D in Education started in 1991 and the M.Ed replaced the M.A. (Ed) in 1992. The Doctor of Education Degree Programme was introduced in 1997, and in 1998, the Bachelor of Education (Language Education) Programme and Postgraduate Diploma-in-Education (Primary) Programme.
Reorganization Complete
Presently, the Faculty of Education (FED) has a teaching staff force of more than 80, and a student enrolment of over 2,700 (as at Nov 2010), who are pursuing different programmes of studies -- the Doctoral Degree Programmes, the Masters Degree Programmes, the Postgraduate Diploma-in-Education (Secondary and Primary) Programmes, and the Bachelor Degree (Full-time and Part-time) Programmes. These programmes report to three boards of studies respectively: Board of Undergraduate Studies in Education, Board of Professional Programmes in Education and Board of Postgraduate Studies in Education. All together over 580 courses are offered through these programmes. The faculty also offers Physical Education as well as General Education Courses in Education for Undergraduate Students of the University.
Over the years, the Faculty of Education (FED) has continuously trained for Hong Kong senior Secondary and Primary school teachers, educational researchers and specialists. The academic staff and research students of the Faculty have also made significant academic contributions through their scholarly studies, the findings of which have been published in the Faculty's bilingual Education Journal and Journal of Basic Education, as well as other major international journals. The Faculty strives for greater achievements in teaching and research and greater contributions to the Hong Kong community, to other major Chinese societies, and towards the blending of Chinese and Western cultures.
40th anniversary of the Faculty of Education
50th anniversary of the Faculty of Education