| This study is concerned with the role of Chinese music in secondary school education in Hong Kong. The study aims to investigate the current practice of Chinese music education in Hong Kong secondary schools, identify the influencing factors, and make recommendations to facilitate the development and advancement of Chinese music education. The study was conducted by utilizing a questionnaire and a set of interview questions. The questionnaire survey was conducted among 426 secondary school music teachers with a return rate of 51.5% while the interviews were conducted among 26 professionals from the cultural sector. The results of the study include the identification of a rationale for an education in Chinese music, the limited education background of the music teachers, the importance of teacher education in Chinese music education, and the limited provision of teaching materials in Chinese music. Six models were developed from the study. They include a Chinese music curriculum model, an extra-curricular activities factor model, an individual factor model influencing classroom teaching of Chinese music, a three-level factor model influencing the teaching of Chinese, a comprehensive model influencing the role of Chinese music in classroom teaching, and a model for the advancement of Chinese music education. In these models, the study recommends four notions for the design of a Chinese music curriculum. The notions include localization, nationalization, and globalization of Chinese music; popularization, traditionalization, and contemporization of Chinese music; the embedment of aesthetics, theory, history, and philosophy in composing, appreciating, and performing Chinese music; and the integration of different Chinese music disciplines in teaching Chinese music. The study highlighted the concerted effort of government policies and education at different levels in the advancement of education in Chinese music in Hong Kong secondary schools. Furthermore, the issue of the teaching of traditional music is not only confined to Hong Kong but also to Asian countries with significant Western influences in the past. The models developed in this study could be adapted for the development of traditional music education in other Asian countries. |
