EDUCATION
Teaching Centres
87
The Advisory Inspectorate runs six centres concerned with the teaching of Chinese, English, field studies, mathematics, science and social subjects.
During the year, the Chinese Language Teaching Centre conducted some 32 refresher courses and workshops, which were attended by over 1000 teachers. The teaching resources unit of its Kowloon centre was open to teachers of primary and secondary schools on Wednesday afternoons and Saturday mornings. It also accommodated pre- arranged group visits from schools on specified dates, by request. In June, about 750 primary school teachers visited a three-day display of primary pupils' work and materials used in the Chinese supplementary reading scheme held in the centre. Both primary and secondary schools benefit from the dubbing of teaching tapes which is a free service provided by the centre. During the year, a total of 950 such recordings were made.
The English Language Teaching Centre organised 48 intensive courses, workshops, seminars and guest talks for 2 100 teachers during 1981. Nearly 400 follow-up visits were made to teacher participants. The centre also provided schools with a free dubbing service for teaching tapes. Over 3 000 language-teaching tapes were issued to about 150 schools. The centre has a specialist library of about 5 500 books on English language teaching and linguistics, and a display room for exhibiting modern English teaching aids.
The Field Studies Centre, located at the Sai Kung Outdoor Recreation Centre, was established in 1979 to enable sixth form students to undertake practical experiments and studies in the field. During the year, 28 residential geography or ecology courses of four days' duration were arranged for 1 127 sixth formers from 55 different secondary schools. The course programme was predominantly academic but recreational activities such as swimming, rope-work, archery and roller-skating were included. A special residential ecology course was organised for 45 science teachers under training from the Grantham College of Education. The Field Studies Centre was also used to conduct a student conservation leaders' training camp which was organised in conjunction with the Agricul- ture and Fisheries Department. Films and talks on the countryside were organised at weekends for campers at the Sai Kung Outdoor Recreation Centre. The purpose of these talks was to arouse a general concern for countryside conservation. Two orientation courses for teachers of geography and biology were also held to promote field studies as an integral part of the school curriculum and familiarise teachers with techniques in field studies and the Sai Kung environment. About 130 teachers from different schools attended these courses.
More than 1400 primary and secondary school teachers and laboratory technicians visited the Science Teaching Centre to attend seminars, refresher courses, workshops and committee meetings. They also went there to view displays of resource materials and new science equipment and to try out new experiments and new types of apparatus.
During the year, the Mathematics Section, in co-operation with the Computer Services Centre of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, organised a computer studies course for 60 secondary school teachers whose schools are planning to introduce computer studies into the curriculum.
The Social Subjects Teaching Centre provides in-service training for teachers of history, economics, economic and public affairs, geography, health education and social studies. In 1981, more than 500 secondary school teachers attended courses provided by the centre, which has a variety of reference and teaching materials on display. Plans are being made to further develop these resources and to install new reading facilities including audio-visual equipment, for the use of teachers of social studies.