Integrating Cantonese Opera: students’ learning outcomes and assessment

Abstract

Cantonese Opera is a valuable asset of the Chinese culture and is also the essence of Hong Kong’s culture. Cantonese Opera (aka Yueju Opera) had been inscribed in 2009 on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanities. Started in 2006, “Seed Project of Cantonese Opera --- Integrate Cantonese Opera in Education” (the “Seed Project’ in short), carried out by the Faculty of Education, the University of Hong Kong, aims at letting students to understand, reflect and appreciate the art of traditional Chinese opera. The project also aims to integrate Cantonese opera into the Chinese language school-based curriculum, especially for the sake of the New Senior Secondary Curriculum reform. The project was completed in May 2009. This paper analyses the student learning outcomes and reflections of the seed schools of the project, using Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences and Model of Learning Styles.