Community College Policy in Hong Kong: Intention,Practices, and Consequence

In order to increase the competitiveness of the workforce at low cost, the Hong Kong government brought in the idea of community colleges and the associate degree while keeping the same annual set quota of first-year, first-degree places at publicly-funded universities. At first glance, in doing so, the government could avoid expanding the sector of university education, which could eventually lead to credential inflation usually found in the West. However, the policy, perhaps unintentionally, boosts up students’ educational aspiration: while a greater number of students obtain an associate degree, they do not take an associate degree as a final degree but demand a bachelor degree. This rising demand, then, leads to the emergence and subsequent expansion of the self-financing sector of university education. This Hong Kong experience demonstrates that it is perhaps a mission impossible, to let more people have a higher education while keeping the sector of higher education intact.     

Opening up the road to nowhere: problems with the path to mass higher education in Hong Kong

Hong Kong has moved from elite to mass post-secondary education in a very short space of time and at little cost to the Government. Most of this spectacular expansion in participation has come through enrolments in 2 year associate degrees in recently founded community colleges, which have self-financing status. The achievement has been clouded by complaints from associate degree graduates that the articulation envisaged by the government is not working; so they are unable to obtain places for undergraduate degrees in UGC-funded universities. The value of an associate degree as a suitable terminal award for employment in a knowledge-based economy is yet to be clearly established. There must be doubts as to whether students will continue to enrol in associate degrees if they provide stepping stones to neither employment nor places in undergraduate degrees in UGC-funded universities. In an attempt to deal with the lack of articulation, some community colleges, in conjunction with overseas universities, have started to offer top-up degrees to enable associate degree graduates to convert the award to a degree. However, the resulting qualifications are seen as inferior to undergraduate degrees from the UGC-funded universities.     

不均等教育结果的成因：理性资本与不同社会阶级家长的教育行动

台湾从20世纪90年代起执行了一系列教育改革方案,其中课程是重点之一,其目的在于结合其他教改方案,改善学习成效以及教育结果的不均等。尽管如此,社会大众却强烈质疑教改成效。本文将不评论这些质疑的合理性,而是试图说明教改结果的高度动态性,以及此种特性与社会阶级的关联性。尽管教育政策足以产生结构性规范,但＂施为＂的主动作为足以使家长脱离结构的束缚,因为他们能积极介入教育政策的制定,影响教育政策的实施过程,至少能调整自身以契合政策的特性与要求,因而使子女处于有利的学习位置。但受阶级文化差异的影响,中产阶级家长往往展现高度＂施为＂,劳工阶级家长则偏向接受结构的规范,此种差异使教育结果难以脱离社会阶级的影响。

Abstract：

Taiwanese central government has initiated a series of educational reforms since 1990s targeting at improving leaning efficiency and educational inequality.Nevertheless,such educational reforms do not significantly meet the needs of parents but bring education into a controversial arena.This article will not evaluate such criticism but attempt to profile the social class factors whose influence is adequate to regulate educational results.Although educational policies may produce a structural form to constrain parents＇ educational behaviors,agency,a counter element,may bestow a great amount of latitude upon parents allowing them to conduct constructive actions and,then,to free themselves from such structural constraints.Nevertheless,different social class parents may employ different types of educational actions towards educational reforms.Generally speaking,middle class parents may generally be characterized as a proactive creature.In contrast,working class parents tend to be subject to the structural constraints.Such a differentiation with a powerful influence tends to make educational inequality remain firmly.     

Context of academic achievement: lessons from Hong Kong

Vygotsky speculated that parents play an important role in the intellectual development of their children, and that this role includes the transfer of expectations related to their children's academic achievement. Consequently, different parents can produce different contexts of academic achievement for their children. The participants were 215 Primary 5 and 6 students from four primary schools in Hong Kong, and their parents. Students were administered a test of working memory and their academic achievement was indicated by their school‐assessed mathematics and language achievement scores. Parents reported their expectations of their children's academic achievement, the extent of their home and school involvement, and their educational and income levels. Correlational and sequential regression analyses showed that different schools yielded different contexts of academic achievement. The results support the hypothesis that parents, and especially parental expectations, play an important role in children's academic achievement, and that within Hong Kong different schools can be characterised by different contexts of achievement.     

Purposes of Early Childhood Education: expressed views of teachers and parents in Hong Kong

This article reports on a study of 100 Chinese parents and 100 Chinese teachers in Hong Kong who were interviewed on a range of questions relating to their views on the purposes of early childhood education. In Hong Kong early childhood education refers to kindergartens and nursery centres. The administrative division in Hong Kong between kindergarten and nursery centres leads to community views whereby nurseries are perceived as being child minding centres only. The study analyses and compares the views of both parents and teachers showing where congruence and differences occur.     

Nexus between massification of tertiary education and community college students’ learning experiences in Hong Kong

ABSTRACT

The concept of the associate degree is new to the Hong Kong tertiary education system. Public discussion and research have focused much on the policy and operational aspects of this tier, but empirical efforts to examine associate degree students’ learning experiences and how it relates to the policy are relatively sparse. The present study characterised Hong Kong associate degree students’ learning experiences in this new tier of tertiary education from the light of human capital theory using qualitative methods. Thirty-five students forming 11 focus groups participated in the study. The focus group interview was exploratory and semi-structured, inviting the students to discuss their transition experiences. Three themes were grounded on the data: 1) Inferior identity; 2) Dual purposes of associate degree; and 3) Intense competition and stress. The present finding regarding associate degree students’ learning experience yields implications on policy-making; specifically on the provision of financial support to minimise the cost incurred and broadening of admission in order to make this tier an integral part of the tertiary education system in Hong Kong to promote public perception of economic gain.     

Do reading practices make a difference? Evidence from PIRLS data for Hong Kong and Taiwan primary school Grade 4 students

This study examined the influence of classroom pedagogic reading practices and out-of-school practices in explaining why the reading attainment of Hong Kong Grade 4 students was superior to that of their counterparts in Taiwan in the 2006 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study. Analyses of scores from 9301 students (4712 from Hong Kong and 4589 from Taiwan) revealed that independent reading in school made a distinctive contribution to the reading performance of Hong Kong and Taiwan students after controlling for the effects of students’ and parents’ reading attitudes, the availability of supportive home educational resources and student engagement in a range of reading practices. Out-of-school informational reading was found to be negatively associated with students’ reading attainment for both Hong Kong and Taiwan students. There was evidence that reading aloud in class in Taiwan classrooms significantly contributed to the Taiwan students’ poor reading performance.     

Kids,College, and Capital: Parental Financial Support and College Choice

Parents vary in both their willingness and ability to pay for their children’s college expenses, yet there is little research on how adolescents’ expectations of future financial support from parents affect their college enrollment decisions. Using data from the High School Longitudinal Study, I fill this gap in the literature by examining the predictors of parents’ plans to pay for college and estimating the effect of having a parent that plans to pay for college on an adolescent’s probability of college attendance. The results suggest that after parents’ ability to pay is taken into account, social class remains a strong predictor of whether parents plan to pay for their children’s college education. Additionally, parent’s plans to pay for college have a measurable impact on children’s college enrollment as long as the child is aware of or agrees with the parent’s plans. Therefore, it is likely that socioeconomic differences in parents’ pledges of financial support to adolescents contribute to postsecondary stratification. The results from this study suggest that policymakers and researchers who are concerned about educational inequality should pay greater attention to the role of parental financial support in structuring children’s ability to access college.     

香港教育评核的方法、特点及其对优化内地基础教育质量监测与督导制度的启示

香港是中西文化交融之地,不仅拥有高水平的教育体系,而且建立了科学系统的教育评估方法。本文重点介绍香港目前中小学主要的教育评核制度,包括全港性系统评估、学生评估和中小学校表现评估等,评论其对香港学校教育教学质量的影响。借鉴香港教育评核的经验,实施科学的教育评价对于深化内地基础教育改革,建立、优化符合内地实际的教育质量的评估与督导制度具有重要的参考意义。     

Investigating the role of bilingual teaching assistants in Hong Kong: an exploratory study

Background:?Recent government initiatives in Hong Kong have focused on raising the participation of students from South Asian backgrounds in mainstream schools, to encourage their further integration into Hong Kong's educational system and society. These students' learning in mainstream schools takes place within the context of the central curriculum and, thus, students face the challenge of learning Chinese as an additional language. Mainstream schools sometimes provide additional support, including the provision of bilingual teaching assistants to address the specific needs of the students from South Asian backgrounds.

Purpose:?This exploratory study aims to investigate the roles of bilingual teaching assistants in Hong Kong.

Method:?Interviews were held with two bilingual teaching assistants from the South Asian community in Hong Kong who were working in a mainstream secondary school. Teachers from the school were also interviewed. Open-ended interview questions focused on perceptions of the roles and responsibilities of bilingual teaching assistants in Chinese-language-medium classes. The data were analysed to identify any emergent patterns and themes.

Findings:?The research findings indicate that the bilingual teaching assistants from the South Asian community not only took on the role of helping the learners from South Asian backgrounds in Chinese language acquisition, but also acted as cultural mediators between mainstream school culture and the culture of the South Asian community in Hong Kong.

Conclusions:?This small-scale exploratory research study suggests the importance of the role of bilingual teaching assistants in promoting equal access to quality education for ethnic minorities in Hong Kong.     

The Learning Environment and its Effects on Learning: Product and Process Modelling for Science Achievement at the Sixth Form Level in Hong Kong

Using a multilevel, integrative approach, this paper shows the possibility and desirability of modelling both science learning products and processes simultaneously within an educational structure and specific learning context. Questions of inequality and inequity of science teaching and learning at the Sixth Form (grade 12) level in Hong Kong are answered within the confines of (1) the aims of Sixth Form education and (2) the related issue of educational wastage. From the comparative science education perspective, this comprehensive study would provide some insights regarding science learning contexts and processes for researchers to reflect why Hong Kong was found to rank amongst the top positions in physics, chemistry and biology in the IEA Second International Science Study.     

Peers as Paired Reading Tutors

Pupils from the peer group can be more effective as reading tutors than the parents of children with reading difficulties suggests Sam Winter, formerly an educational psychologist in Cleveland, now lecturer in educational psychology at Hong Kong University.     

Student behaviour and emotional challenges for teachers and parents in Hong Kong

Social, emotional, and behavioural disorders of children, within the context of a whole‐school approach to inclusion as adopted by Hong Kong, can be challenging for teachers and parents. Based on a comprehensive review of the literature and feedback from a range of experts and parent groups in Hong Kong, specific scales were developed to measure four behavioural traits identified in local school‐aged children and the impact these have on their teachers and parents. Completed surveys were obtained from 914 members of school staff and 573 parents of school‐aged children. This research, carried out by Chris Forlin and Paul Cooper of the Hong Kong Institute of Education, led to the identification of substantial levels of student behavioural problems in relation to educational engagement, motivation, co‐operativeness and oppositionality. Evidence of emotional burden from these problems was also identified on parents and teachers. Discussion focuses on areas of potential stress in the school situation and possible points of influence in the home.     

美国社区学院授予学士学位现象分析

美国社区学院作为其高等教育体系中极具特色的教育形态,在高等教育大众化、普及化的历史进程中发挥了重要作用.社区学院是以转学教育和职业教育为主,其授予的学位以副学士学位为主.随着经济和科技的迅速发展,美国当代社会对高层次、高学历人才的需求不断加大.美国部分社区学院开始在其校内通过各种方式实施学士学位课程并授予学士学位,此举在改善和提升社区学院的学术质量、自身形象和地位上初见成效,为社区学院的未来发展探索出了一条新路.     

港台地区高校创业教育的特点及启示

自创业教育兴起以来,港台地区高校就积极参与并形成了独具特色的创业教育体系和模式。大陆和港台地区同文同种,在文化传统、大众观念等方面有很大程度的相似性,通过对港台地区高校创业教育特色的梳理分析及合理借鉴,对我国高校创业教育体系的完善具有一定的启发意义。     

Developing students' critical thinking skills through visual literacy in the New Secondary School Curriculum in Hong Kong

This paper argues that the planned introduction of visual literacy into the New Secondary School Curriculum can play a crucial role in enabling students to think critically and creatively in Hong Kong's highly visual landscape. As Hong Kong's educational system remains entrenched in long-established and conventional pedagogies, the primacy given to the written word is in sharp contrast with the pragmatic roles that visual images play in students' day-to-day life. Hong Kong is well-known for its extremely high level of Internet / broadband penetration and media saturation, yet visual literacy is still in a state of infancy in Hong Kong. Therefore, from a curricular standpoint, as Hong Kong society relies to a greater degree than ever before on visual communication strategies, it is vital that visual literacy be integrated as part of the new curriculum under the current educational reforms. As contemporary Hong Kong culture becomes increasingly dependent on the visual environment, developing visual literacy to enhance students' learning can be an important step in the future towards a more successful implementation and development of the New Secondary School Curriculum.     

Parents’ educational involvement: Types of resources and forms of involvement in four countries

Parents’ involvement in schooling and education is highly important for children’s results. Still, both levels of involvement and their effects vary according to social class. Previous research on educational reproduction within the family has, however, largely studied differences between the middle and the working class, and generally ignored differences in the composition of cultural and economic capital. In this article, we aim to fill this gap in the literature by separating cultural and economic resources and investigate their correlation with two kinds of parental involvement in four different European countries. Results show that parents with more cultural resources are more likely to be involved by having future educational expectations, and parents with more economic resources are more likely to be involved in their children’s current schooling (e.g. help with homework) than those with more cultural resources. The association between economic resources and involvement in educational expectations is however stronger in Spain and Iceland than in Belgium and Norway, suggesting an influence from system-level features as well as general economic trends.     

The operation of grade retention and educational inequality: who gets retained in Macao and why?

While the existence of a class, gender, or ethnic gap in educational attainment is well documented for many societies, how the practice of grade retention contributes to these patterns of educational inequality has been inadequately addressed. Given that grade retention is commonly practised in Macao, Macao is used as a case for illustration. Using data from PISA 2009 and a qualitative research project, we seek to demonstrate how inadequate state regulation could make possible the manipulation of grade retention institutionally and individually in Macao. This, in turn, illustrates how the specific contextualized structural operation of grade retention could serve as a mechanism for social differentiation and thus play a role in contributing to the observed educational inequality.     

Teacher stress in working with challenging students in Hong Kong

This article first illustrates how recent social, economic and educational development in Hong Kong contributes to teacher stress. It then presents data from an international study on teacher stress with respect to working with challenging students, i.e. students with behavioural problems. Teachers were asked to report on the perceived behavioural incidence, associated stress and the impacts of the most challenging student in their classes. The relationships among the various perceptions of teachers were examined using bivariate correlation, canonical correlation and one-way ANOVA. To account for the associated stress and impacts on teachers, negative affect, self-critical attitude and self-efficacy beliefs of teachers were found to be more important than the school characteristics. Compared to their counterparts, Hong Kong teachers were found to be subjected to highest negative impacts from the challenging students and have most negative beliefs in working with them. This study concludes with a discussion of the findings and remedies that might relieve the stress among teachers in Hong Kong.