The Proposed Community Creative Arts Complex Project Planning Committee ("Planning Committee") was set up by the President of the Hong Kong Institute of Education ("HKIEd") in 2011 to plan and formulate the overall directions and strategies for the on-campus Community Creative Arts Complex Project. The Planning Committee was chaired by Mr. Chris Mong Chan, then Vice-President (Administration) of HKIEd. Professor Richard Tsang Yip-fat, then Dean of Students and Professor of Department of Cultural and Creative Arts of HKIEd, was the Deputy Chairman. It also comprised members of HKIEd and external expert advisors.
The Office was established in 1997 as the Office of Planning and Academic Implementation. It was renamed the Office of Strategic and Academic Planning in 2004 and the Strategic Planning Office in 2009. The Office was a central planning unit of the Hong Kong Institute of Education (now renamed The Education University of Hong Kong) and directly overseen by the President. It supported the senior management in the strategic planning and development of the Institute on three functions: (i) supporting strategic development and monitoring, and organisation of strategic events; (ii) conducting contextual and strategic studies and analysis to support institutional planning and informed decision-making; and (iii) coordination of institutional statistical returns to the University Grants Committee. Before October 2009, the Office was also responsible for supporting the formulation of Academic Development Proposals of the Institute. Senior management closed down the Office in July 2012. Dr. Lai Kwok-chan was Head of the Office from its establishment till his retirement in June 2012.
The School of Creative Arts, Sciences and Technology ("SCAST") was part of the new academic structure which came into effect at the Hong Kong Institute of Education ("HKIEd") from the 1998/99 academic year until September 2005, when HKIEd underwent another academic restructuring.
In line with the upgrading of the HKIEd to a university-level institution and the development of bachelor and postgraduate programmes, a working group was set up by the Academic Board to recommend a new structure after wide consultation with all staff. On 5 June 1998, the Council endorsed the recommendation to create four Schools and twelve Departments for commencement in the 1998/99 academic year. Under this new structure, the four Schools were responsible for organising academic programmes, whereas the twelve Departments were reorganised within the four Schools and they focused on extending their expertise in the different programmes and courses organised by their respective School.
The SCAST was responsible for organising secondary and technology education programmes. As of 1 October 2004, SCAST had four Departments and one Centre, namely, the Department of Creative Arts, the Department of Information and Applied Technology, the Department of Mathematics, the Department of Physical Education and Sports Science, and the Centre for Alliance for Educational Innovation.
With the attainment of the self-accrediting university status in May 2004, HKIEd decided to realign its organisational structure by merging the four Schools into two Faculties as from September 2005: the Faculty of Languages, Arts and Sciences, and the Faculty of Professional and Early Childhood Education. Major academic and research developments were to be coordinated at the Institute level with implementation taking place at the Faculty and Department levels. The SCAST and the other three Schools therefore ceased to exist from September 2005.
The Faculty of Languages, Arts and Sciences ("FLAS") was one of the two Faculties created to replace the four Schools in September 2005, after the Hong Kong Institute of Education successfully achieved the self-accrediting university status in the year before. FLAS aimed at preparing its students to become professionals with strong disciplinary and educational knowledge to facilitate effective learning; and offered a total of 19 undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in primary and secondary education, 11 in-service teacher education programmes supported by government funds, language immersion programmes, exchange programmes and study tours. FLAS was composed of five Departments and a Centre: the Department of Chinese, the Department of Creative Arts and Physical Education, the Department of English, the Department of Mathematics, Science, Social Sciences and Technology, and the Centre for Citizenship Education.
The Institute took further actions in enhancing its academic and research capacities following the submission of the Development Blueprint in 2007. Apart from creating the new position of Vice President (Research and Development) and implementing strategic recruitment and appointment exercises, FLAS and the Faculty of Professional and Early Childhood Education were reorganized into a three-Faculty structure on 25 August 2008. The five academic departments initially under FPECE came under the Faculty of Education Studies; whereas the newly created Faculty of Languages took over both the Department of Chinese and Department of English, and the restructured Faculty of Arts and Sciences housing the Department of Creative Arts and Physical Education as well as the Department of Mathematics, Science, Social Sciences and Technology.
Having successfully achieved self-accrediting university status in 2004, the Hong Kong Institute of Education phased in a new academic structure in September 2005 by merging four existing Schools into two Faculties: the Faculty of Languages, Arts and Sciences ("FLAS"), and the Faculty of Professional and Early Childhood Education ("FPECE"). FLAS comprised of the Departments of Creative Arts and Physical Education; Chinese; English; and Mathematics, Science, Social Sciences and Technology; whereas FPECE was composed of the Departments of Curriculum and Instruction; Early Childhood Education; Educational Policy and Administration; and Educational Psychology, Counseling and Learning Needs.
The Institute took further actions in enhancing its academic and research capacities following the submission of the Development Blueprint in 2007. Apart from creating the new position of Vice President (Research and Development) and implementing strategic recruitment and appointment exercises, a new academic structure which reorganized the two Faculties into a three-Faculty structure was launched on 25 August 2008. The five academic departments initially under FPECE came under the Faculty of Education Studies; whereas the newly created Faculty of Languages took over both the Department of Chinese and Department of English, and the restructured Faculty of Arts and Sciences housing the Department of Creative Arts and Physical Education as well as the Department of Mathematics, Science, Social Sciences and Technology. And from 1 September 2009, the two Departments under the Faculty of Arts and Sciences were reorganised into the Departments of Cultural and Creative Arts; Health and Physical Education; Mathematics and Information Technology; Science and Environmental Studies; and Social Sciences.
To reflect the strategic growth in research capacity and teaching expertise in liberal arts and social sciences in relation to the Institute's re-submission for the re-titling exercise, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences was renamed the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences with effect from 1 September 2012. The Faculty is currently housing four Departments: the Department of Health and Physical Education, the Department of Mathematics and Information Technology, the Department of Science and Environmental Studies, and the Department of Social Sciences and Policy Studies.
The Department of English Language Education ("ELE") was first known as the Department of English under the newly amalgamated Hong Kong Institute of Education ("HKIEd") in 1995. Since then, it was known as the Department of English until the academic reorganization in academic year 2012/2013. It had also been organized into different academic entities throughout the years:
• 1994–1998: Department of English, Board of Language in Education;
• 1998–2005: Department of English, School of Languages in Education;
• 2005–2008: Department of English, Faculty of Languages, Arts & Sciences;
• 2008–2012: Department of English, Faculty of Languages;
• 2012–Present: Department of English Language Education, Faculty of Humanities.
The Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd) was renamed The Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK) in 2016. The Institute was founded in 1994 following the enactment of the HKIEd Ordinance in March of the same year. It was one of eight subsidized Universities under the University Grants Committee of Hong Kong.
The history of the institution can be traced back to 1853. St. Paul’s College introduced the first formalised program of in-service teacher training. On 25 April 1994, under the recommendation made by the Education Commission Report No 5., HKIEd was formally established by the merger of four colleges and one institute that were governed by the Education Department of Hong Kong Government.
• Northcote College of Education, established in 1939
• Grantham College of Education, established in 1951
• Sir Robert Black College of Education, established in 1960
• Hong Kong Technical Teachers’ College, established in 1974
• Institute of Language in Education, established in 1982
The English Department was one of the two Departments at the Institute of Language in Education ("ILE"). It was part of ILE's organisational structure since its establishment in 1982, for the ILE was set up to improve the teaching and learning of Chinese and English as subjects, and the use of these languages across the curriculum. The English Department was responsible for running courses in English, both as a subject and as a medium of instruction for teachers of content subjects. There was an approximate ratio of 1 expatriate native-speaker to 1 local member of staff within the English Department. While ILE ceased to exist as an independent body from 1 September 1994 following its amalgamation with the Colleges of Education and the Hong Kong Technical Teachers' College, the work of the English Department had been taken over and continued in the Department of English at the Hong Kong Institute of Education.
The founding of Northcote College of Education was originated from the 1935 Report on Education in Hong Kong and a recommendation laid in 1938 by a Committee on the training of teachers. In 1935, an Inspector of Schools, Edmund Burney, visited Hong Kong and made an enquiry into the local education system. His Report on Education in Hong Kong, also known as the Burney Report, criticised several aspects of Hong Kong's educational policy such as the neglect of primary education and the inadequate training in Vernacular schools in which Chinese was the medium of instruction. One of the recommendations raised at the time, was that it might be necessary to have a new Government Normal School, or considerable additions to the existing premises of the Technical Institute for the training of teachers. In 1938, the Governor, Sir Geoffry Northcote, took up this endeavour in the improvement of teachers' training further by appointing a Committee to review the training of teachers for both English and Vernacular schools. The key recommendation of the Committee was that the Government should act immediately in the provision of a teacher training centre for the training of male and female teachers for both Anglo-Chinese and Vernacular schools - as a result the Teachers Training College was opened on 18 September 1939. The College was housed temporarily in the former Medical Officer's quarters at the old Government Civil Hospital at Hospital Road. It offered a two-year course and had two classes: an Anglo-Chinese class taught in the medium of English and a vernacular class taught in Cantonese. In its first year of operation, each class had 24 students including 12 male students and 12 female students.
The new building of the Teachers Training College at Bonham Road was officially opened on 23 April 1941 by the Governor, Sir Geoffry Northcote, and since then the College became known as the Northcote Training College. The College, however, was forced to close in December the same year because of the Japanese invasion. The Bonham Road building was initially used as the headquarters of the Japanese Military Police but was later mutilated by looters with all of its fittings and equipment removed during the war. Despite of great difficulties in replacing the equipment, the College reopened soon after the war on 13 March 1946.
In order to meet the demand for more trained teachers for the rapidly increasing school population, the College expanded greatly and moved yet again to new premises at Sassoon Road in April 1962, and was officially opened by the Governor, Sir Robert Black, on 31 May 1962. This new premise consisted of a hostel which could accommodate half the full-time enrolment. The vacated Bonham Road building was then used by the United College of The Chinese University of Hong Kong until it moved to Shatin in December 1971, and after considerable renovation reverted to College use and served as an annexe to the College in December 1973. On 18 October 1967, the three government Training Colleges including Northcote Training College, Grantham Training College and Sir Robert Black Training College, were renamed Colleges of Education. The former title, Training College, implied that the function of the colleges was merely to impart basic skills. The three colleges by then, had a much wider function and scope on the further education of students with the introduction of new full-time courses and the discontinuance of one-year courses. A range of student interests and activities were being broadened and subjects were also being studied to a higher level. In consideration of all these developments, Northcote Training College changed its name to Northcote College of Education.
Pursuant to the recommendation of the Education Commission Report No. 5, the Hong Kong Institute of Education ("HKIEd") was formally established on 25 April 1994. Meanwhile, Northcote College of Education, Grantham College of Education, Sir Robert Black College of Education, the Hong Kong Technical Teachers' College and the Institute of Language in Education, the five institutions which were to be amalgamated into the HKIEd, continued their part in delivering teacher education programmes until the end of their last academic year. On 1 September 1994, HKIEd formally took over the administration of the five institutions from the Education Department and amalgamated them into a new, unified autonomous institution; on the same day the campuses and annexes of the five institutions were converted into campuses of the HKIEd until the Tai Po campus was completed in October 1997.