Bulletin Autumn‧Winter 2001

Training Programmes for More Senior Students The Programme for the Gifted and Talented also offers a Creative Leadership Training Programme and a Mentorship Programme for senior secondary students. The former arranges school-based training activitie s for students w i t h leadership potential , wh i l e the latter provides opportunity for talented students to learn from suitable mentors. A student leader from Tin Ka Ping Secondary School designs a series of games for his schoolmates, which help bring out themes such as effective communication, team spirit, and creativity. launched in th e Mentorship Programme invites teaching staff at The Chinese University and other educational institutions to serve as mentors and give individual and tailor-made instruction to student participants with special talents. One of the mentors. Prof. Leung Ho-fung of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, was responsible for coaching a computer-loving Secondary 4 student. His method of instruction was to encourage his mentee to let go of passive learning to explore and think on his own. Having discovered that his mentee's greatest interest was artificial intelligence, Prof. Leung recommended a reading list for him and gave him regular homework. The prescribed reading and homework were of Year 3 level in University. His mentee was able to write two computer programs after three months. Encouraging H o m e S c h o o l C o o p e r a t i on Home school cooperation has been a major item on the education reform agenda of many countries. Ho ng Kong parents are very concerned about their children's education. Yet, h ow involved hav e they been i n their children's schooling? Wh i ch mod e of home school collaboration suits Ho ng Kon g best? I n 1999, Prof. Esther Ho of the Department of Educational Administration and Policy launched a research project entitled 'Parental Involvement i n Children's Education'. The project aims at teaching teachers and parents the theories and practices of home school cooperation. Its focus is the mobilization o f h uma n , social, and economic capital necessitated b y parental i n v o l v emen t i neducation and h ow they w o u l d w o r k for the children's benefit. Home school cooperation has the potential fo r i mp r o v i n g parent-child relations and a 'parental network' w o u l d f o r m the basis for greater involvement of parents i n their children's education. Prof. Esther Ho (left 1) at a symposium on home school cooperatio CHINES E UNIVERSIT Y BULLETI Autumn •Winter 2001 22