Newsletter No. 132

CUHK Newsletter No. 132 4th October 1998 3 Working Up and Working Out New chair of sports science and physical education speaks on exercise and health and his department. The CUHK Newsletter spoke to three department chairs who assumed chairship for the first time in the 1998-99 academic year. Two of them have been teaching here for some years while one is completely new to the University. They are Prof. David Paul Johns (sports science and physical education), Prof. Tan Chee Beng (anthropology), and Prof. Tom Frank Peters (architecture). The interviews of other new department chairs conducted in Chinese have been carried on the Chinese pages of this publication. The following is Prof. Johns's interview: For some of us, the endearing initials RE. invoke memories of a weekly double period, the crowded changing room smelling of sweat and rubber, our half-hearted simulations of running and ball-playing, excuse letters we wrote ourselves. RE. lessons, as was Sports Day, were only for those who won medals at interschool competitions. For those of us whose interest in shot put is confined to its pronunciation, these occasions meant little more than a break from studies, extra time for studies, and a chance to watch the others strut their stuff while listening to the latest tunes on our Walkmans. Pathetic as far as education goes but such is a not an atypical scenario in the physical education scene in Hong Kong schools. Here at the University, Prof. David Paul Johns, former Olympic coach for the Canadian team and new chair of the Department of Sports Science and Physical Education, has his mind set on bringing healthy changes to Hong Kong secondary school sports culture, amongst other things. 'One of Hong Kong's urban problems is children do not get enough exercise,' said Prof. Johns who joined the University three years ago. He continued, 'Children's heart rate monitoring in Hong Kong shows some of the lowest readings in the world. The reasons are both spatial and cultural: there is not enough green space, the housing situation is not conducive to activity, and people are geared to more materialistic pursuits. Parents encourage children to focus on academic work rather than physical activity; in the school system there is a misconception that if children participate more actively in physical activities, their academic performance w i l l deteriorate. But in fact research has shown that the most active children are also the most academically successful.' Prof. Johns believes that though there is substantial concern for health among the Hong Kong public, active living has not been associated with healthy living. One of the ways to change social attitudes is to show the benefits of being active. A worldwide trend in the field of sports science and physical education is research on human movement as it relates to health, and the department is no exception. One of its ongoing research projects in pedagogy investigates the effects of changes in the P.E. curriculum on health. Prof. Johns pointed out, 'We hope to make children more active and hence healthier. And not only that — we also hope to change young people's habits so that they pursue activities throughout their lifetime. The schools are not very successful at doing that right now. It's only later on in life that people become more active. You notice senior citizens doing physical activities because their work days are over and they have more time.' An important agent for change is of course the teachers. And one of the keys to upgrading physical education in Hong Kong is by way of the teachers. The department currently runs the only full-time BEd programme in physical education in Hong Kong, and a part-time programme for students who are full-time secondary school teachers during the day. Prof. Johns says that to make sure that the teachers produced by the programme are 'in fact the very best the department can turn out', the duration of the degree programme w i ll be increased from three to four years in 1999. The other component of the department's academic programme, sports science, is generally accepted as the basis of professional preparation for students intending to pursue professional careers other than physical education teaching, namely sport coaches, fitness leaders, health and wellness consultants, sports therapists, biomechanic specialists, sport psychologists, and sports managers. 'Sports science involves health, fitness, and improvement of the human condition, and is very much engaged in the business of improving the quality of life for people,' explained Prof. Johns. The department's research in sports science covers areas such as back problems associated with children carrying schoolbags; ergonomics—the study of work patterns or the injuries that occur as a result of muscle overuse and poor posture; the effects of nutrition and hydration on performance; and obesity in children. It also runs an MEd and an MPhil programme in sports science, both of which involve a number of sub-disciplines including biomechanics, sports psychology, sports sociology, and sports management. Despite the department's goal to promote better and more active living through research and teaching, does it in fact suffer from the same societal misconceptions as do its secondary school counterparts? The answer is probably yes. One of the things on Prof. Johns's agenda is to promote a more positive image of the department. 'In the minds of many people, RE. is a matter of bouncing balls and having fun. But our programmes are actually very rigorous, as our students may realize. Actually they are one of the strangest combinations of study at the University because not only do our students have to be academically sound but we 'd also like them to be physically fit and to develop their personal skills. We are after both practical and theoretical excellence,' he said. How is the government's announced budget cut for the tertiary education sector going to affect the department? Prof. Johns's main worry is the department's facilities, both the quantity and quality of which he thinks lag behind those of many universities even in Hong Kong. However he is not completely pessimistic: ‘I think we run a fairly efficient programme. Our staff are very well equipped and deliver very good quality learning experiences for our students. I think we can withstand budget cuts in this respect in that we probably don't have to reduce staff size. With regard to research, I think we have to be more aggressive in going after research grants. And since we're associated with health, we have a pretty good chance of getting some fairly substantial funding. But obviously it's going to be a more self-funding enterprise than it has been before.' The department is small, consisting of eight 'young and enthusiastic' teaching staff. Prof. Johns believes his role is to lead by example, to support them in achieving research goals and gaining research grants for proposals in the face of budgetary restraints. And perhaps their spirit and enthusiasm can serve as a guiding principle for the current lull in Hong Kong, RE. lessons, and otherwise. Piera Chen Service t o t he Commun i ty and I n t e r na t i onal Organ i za t i ons • Prof. Chung Yue-ping, dean of education, has been appointed by the Chief Executive of the HKSAR as a member of the Advisory Committee on Teacher Education and Qualifications from 8th August 1998 to 30th April 2000. • Prof. Ma Lai-chong, associate professor in the Department of Social Work, has been re-appointed by the Chief Executive of the HKSAR as a social work member of the Mental Health Review Tribunal for two years from 1st October 1998. • Prof. Joseph C.K. Lee, dean of medicine, has been appointed by the Health and Welfare Bureau as chairman of the Health Services Research Committee for two years. • Prof. Helen F.K. Chiu, professor in the Department of Psychiatry, has been appointed by the Health and Welfare Bureau as a member of the Working Group on Elderly Suicide and Dementia, and as the convener of the sub-group on dementia. • Prof. Michael Bond, professor of psychology, has been elected as president of the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology for two years from July 1998. • Prof. Wong Yuk, associate professor in the Department of Philosophy, has been appointed by the Research Institute of History of Guizhou Normal University as honorary professor from 28th August 1998. • Prof. Leung Kwok, professor in the Department of Psychology, has been appointed by the Department of Psychology of Peking University and the School of Management of Hanzhou University as guest professor. • Prof. Sing Lee, associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry, has been admitted by the Academy for Eating Disorders, USA, as a full member from 7th July 1998. • Prof. Louise S.W. Ho, associate professor in the Department of English, was invited to give a reading of her poetry at the University of New South Wales in 1997, at the University of Hong Kong, at the 'Hong Kong Writing in English Festival' at Hong Kong Baptist University, and at the 'Festival of Writing from the Commonwealth Islands' in Mauritius in 1998. She has also been invited by Asia 2000 Limited in 1998 to be the consultant editor for a book of poems by Barbara Baker and Madeleine Slavick.