Emotional autonomy and perceived parenting styles: relational analysis in the Hong Kong cultural context

Three hundred and seven teacher education students of a Hong Kong university were administered two questionnaires, one measuring emotional autonomy (EAS) and the other measuring perceived parenting styles (PAQ) of their parents. It was found that the Hong Kong teacher education students tended to be autonomous and they characterized their parents as authoritative instead of authoritarian. In addition, the emotional autonomy scale was positively related to authoritarianism, but negatively related to authoritativeness and permissiveness of parenting. Emotional detachment instead of autonomy seemed to be a more appropriate meaning of EAS for the interpretation of results. Implications were drawn for future research including development of an improved instrument in measuring emotional autonomy to study its associations with perceived parenting styles of young people across cultures.     

浅议文化大发展语境下的畲族文化传承

福建宁德的畲族人口,占全国畲族人口总数的四分之一多,是全国最大的畲族聚居地。在长期的发展过程中,畲族形成了独特的文化,在现代化进程中,因种种原因,传统畲族文化面临礼仪弱化,村落文化缺乏特色,畲族传统技艺处于失传边缘等问题,本文在分析畲族文化传承现状的基础上,提出加强保护,开展抢救性征集工作;以文化为媒,走文化产业化与旅游业共同发展的新路等思路,以期能够不断提高文化创新能力,为传承和保护闽东畲族原生态文化提供新的视角和思路。     

Higher Education in Hong Kong: the context of and rationale for rapid expansion

Hong Kong is now engaged in implementing a programme designed rapidly to expand its Higher Education sector. This policy will effectively shift the role of higher education away from providing for the needs of a small and elite segment of school leavers to one which provides for a significant proportion of the relevant age cohort.The paper initially identifies the factors which have contributed to the emergence of the new policy. Central amongst these is the impending return of Hong Kong's sovereignty to the PRC in 1997. Subsequently the policy is analysed with reference to the context within which it will be implemented. This includes the shifting demographic structure, the level of emigration and the number of students who study overseas. Finally the paper anticipates the probable impact of the expansion on both higher education itself and on other sectors within the education system.     

充分挖掘维吾尔族非物质文化遗产中的传统道德文化思想

本文主要通过发挥维吾尔族非物质文化遗产中的民族凝聚力和亲和力思想,发扬维吾尔族非物质文化遗产中的爱国主义思想来进一步促进社会和谐,为拥护祖国统一、维护民族团结服务,以期为中华民族的道德建设服务.     

Formative assessment of students from a Confucian heritage culture: Insights from Japan

Abstract

Since the turn of the century there has been increasing interest in educational assessment and the ways in which it can encourage or discourage effective learning processes. Much of this interest has centered around formative assessment and those practices which can promote student learning through the act of being assessed. Societies that have a Confucian heritage culture are widely believed to prioritize summative assessment at the expense of formative assessment. This will inevitably impact the ways in which students from these countries approach and engage with assessment tasks. The present study seeks to understand the dispositions of students from one Confucian heritage culture though the analysis of quantitative and qualitative data. The conceptions and experiences of university students in Japan were studied in order to provide direction for the development of formative assessment practice. Two data collection instruments were used: a self-report survey and a narrative frame task. The results indicate that students from Japan approach assessment tasks in a way that is at odds with some popular Confucian categories, such as intense competition, a desire to please the family, and the priority of book knowledge above practical skill. The paper concludes with pedagogical implications for teachers.     

Bilingual Education and Social Class: some speculative observations in the Hong Kong context

In this paper, we propose a possible correlation between bilingual education and social class. We investigate this assumption along four parameters: intergroup relationship, usefulness of the target language, first language proficiency and quality of program; we argue that the results differ depending on the social‐economic background of the learners. When the four variables are applied to the bilingual program in Hong Kong, we find a similar situation, namely, that because of the different language learning environment, members from the lower social‐economic background are less likely to learn successfully in a bilingual program than those from the higher social background. We also suspect that since 90% of the programs in our secondary education system are bilingual, learners from certain social groups may find themselves at a disadvantage when competing for equal educational opportunity.     

Diversified professionalism of physical education teachers in the Asian context of Hong Kong

This study investigates the socialization and professional experiences of primary school physical education teachers (PSPETs) in the Asian context of Hong Kong. A qualitative research design is adopted. The researcher used semi-structured interviews, supplemented by documentary sources (diaries) for conducting data collection. Eleven PSPETs participated in this study. Data were analysed through open axial and selective coding. The concepts of organizational sensitivity, sources of satisfaction, dealing with influential persons or critical incidents, status of the profession, educational reform as a trend, and versatile roles are revealed in the theory of ‘Diversified Professionalism’. The substantive theory thus contributes to an increased appreciation of the PSPETs’ work and to the literature on physical education teachers’ professionalization and professionalism.     

儒家文化教育对欧洲近代文明的影响与启示

Confucianism, not only is the core of Chinese cultural educational thoughts but its influence has been identified in the West by the European scholars. And with the impact of Confucianism civilization, the theological authority in the Dark Ages wavered. The human-based ideas of Confucianism that people are the foundation of the country, the governing way of “Governance with virtue”, the way of personnel placement that men of great virtue and talent are elected who will cultivate mutual trust and promote universal understanding, the nationwide education thought that there should be education for everyone without distinction and the imperial examination system under the idea that those who excellently learned should serve (in the government), have exerted beneficial influences on the European modern civilization. Looking back at the course of Confucian influence in the West and the influence on the Enlightenment and modern civilization, it is easy to find that Confucianism education is of universal value in the pluralistic cultural world, which can enhance the cultural identification and cultural consciousness of a nation, creating a heritage of excellent cultural education and enriching the connotation of the contemporary cultural education. __________ Translated by ZHANG Lin from Jiaoyu Yanjiu 教育研究 (Educational Research), 2007, (11): 76–81     

Appreciated but constrained: reflective practice of student teachers in learning communities in a Confucian heritage culture

This study aimed to understand the reflective practice of 23 Chinese student teachers in learning communities (LCs) during their practicum in a Confucian heritage culture. The reflective levels of the student teachers and the factors that mediated the effects of LCs on their reflective practice were explored using journals and post-journal interviews. The results showed that the majority of the student teachers reflected on their teaching at surface and pedagogical levels, and only a few of them critically reflected on their teaching in LCs. Although the student teachers acknowledged the positive roles of LCs in terms of collective wisdom, constructive suggestions from peers and peers’ emotional support in their reflective practice, they believed that some Confucian-based cultural factors, such as reliance on authority, giving/saving face, and maintaining harmonious social relationship, constrained their reflective practice, particularly when they had to make decisions or were confronted with conflicting views.     

Effort counts: The moral significance of effort in the patterns of credit assignment on math learning in the Confucian cultural context

Students in East Asia, including Taiwan, stand out on international math assessments and tend to attribute their achievement to effort. This study only focuses on the cultural factor with regard to the effort/credit relationship in math learning that may contribute to students’ math performance. It aims to examine why effort is valued and how parents and teachers assign credit for students’ effort, and thereby to establish a link among effort, moral image, and credit assignment. Questionnaires containing various scenarios were administered to three groups in Taiwan: 120 parents, 89 teachers, and 121 students. The results showed that as the mediating variable, moral image acts to explain how the relationship unfolds: Higher levels of effort lead to better moral image, thus resulting in more credit being assigned.     

基层文化馆(站)与非物质文化遗产的保护

面对亟待保护的珍贵的非物质文化遗产,基层文化馆应充分发挥其文化职能的作用,发挥基层文化馆的优势,积极参与非物质文化遗产的研究、保护,开展服务、宣传等振兴非物质文化遗产等工作.     

Formative assessment in Confucian heritage culture classrooms: activity theory analysis of tensions,contradictions and hybrid practices

Formative assessment has recently become a preferred assessment strategy in educational institutions worldwide. However, it is not easy to implement in Asian classrooms, because local cultures and institutional constraints potentially hinder the practice. This one-semester study aimed to use the ‘third space’, as the core of the third generation of activity theory, as a frame to capture how Vietnamese teachers took into account both traditional practices and contemporary influences to transform formative assessment practices to make them feasible in their classrooms. Participants were 2 lecturers and 250 students from two college classes in Vietnam. The results showed that Vietnamese students’ conceptions of learning were heavily influenced by examinations and their traditional learning culture. Consequently, the teachers needed to transform the initiative to align with these features in Vietnamese classrooms. When the revisions were made, the students were evidenced to achieve a growth in learning, change their beliefs about learning and develop both self-learning and collective learning.     

港台第二代新儒家群体的发展历程——从人文友会到《鹅湖》

第二代新儒家群体的牟宗三、唐君毅等人,在港台地区为儒学志业的弘扬及声势的壮大,竭尽毕生之力:1954年牟宗三在台建人文友会力求疏解弘扬儒家传统人文之精神;1962年唐君毅于港发起东方人文学会,加强了第二代新儒家群体与海外学界的广泛联系,影响力渐大;20世纪70年代中期,唐、牟二人的门人弟子创办《鹅湖》月刊,对当代新儒学的拓展起到了相当重要的作用。唐君毅的故世标志着第二阶段新儒学思潮的结束,牟宗三独撑大厦十余年,见证了新儒学第三期多元化的发展。     

Teachers’ cultural differences: case studies of geography teachers in Brisbane,Changchun and Hong Kong

The primary purpose of this exploratory study is to identify variations in the ways in which individual teachers in different educational contexts interpret their curriculum and plan their lessons and in particular to explore the possibility that cultural differences as identified by Hofstede (1991) may be a contributing factor to understanding how teachers understand their work. “Educational reform” has become a catchphrase in the Anglo-American world, including the United States, Canada, Australia, and England and Wales, as well as in the Confucian Heritage Areas such as Mainland China, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Across the world, the educational reform measures being implemented are surprisingly similar. This paper describes a study of how geography teachers in Queensland, Australia, Hong Kong, and Changchun, China, plan their lessons and curriculum. From classroom observations and interviews with the teachers involved, we confirmed marked differences in each location regarding their cultural traits of power distance, individualist and collectivist preference and uncertainty tolerance, and that these traits appear to be highly influential in their curriculum planning. Despite the small scale of this study, we contend that there are good reasons for caution before national education systems import policies and curriculum reform initiatives from other countries for unthinking adoption.     

香港的印度人及其对两地经贸的影响

印度人到香港的历史由来已久,19世纪中期,印度人随着英国的商人和军队来到了香港;他们有的经商,但大多数为英国人服务。他们虽然人数不多,但为香港的发展作出了贡献。如今30000名左右的在港印度人更是香港多元社会不可分割的一部分,他们的宗教、教育、社团等活动丰富了香港的多元文化生活;他们大多是第二或第三代印度人,能讲汉语,但不懂汉字。他们大多活跃在商业领域,从事印港贸易。印港之间的贸易与印度人到香港一样历史悠久,印港贸易更是每年都大幅增长。此外,印度和香港政府还致力于科技合作,以充分发挥印度在科技领域的优势以及香港在亚太乃至世界的区位优势。     

Creating culturally responsive environments: ethnic minority teachers' constructs of cultural diversity in Hong Kong secondary schools

One of the challenges facing Hong Kong schools is the growing cultural diversity of the student population that is a result of the growing number of ethnic minority students in the schools. This study uses semi-structured interviews with 12 American, Canadian, Indian, Nepalese and Pakistani teachers working in three secondary schools in the public sector to examine how school teachers are handling this challenge. The study uses these interviews to establish a model for the creation of culturally responsive environments that may help to improve the academic performance and promote the personal growth of students in Hong Kong's secondary schools. Five aspects of cultural responsiveness are identified: conceptualising cosmopolitanism, raising sensitivity to “minor acts of racism”, managing the diverse learning needs of students, promoting a deep understanding of cultural values and helping students deal with the challenges of trilingualism. This study argues that ethnic minority teachers are engaged in a continuing cross-cultural process through which they make sense of the cultural diversity of students and re-learn their own beliefs and practices. The implications for the creation of a culturally responsive environment are also presented.     

One Hong Kong,Two Histories: 'History' and 'Chinese history' in the Hong Kong school curriculum

Hong Kong's school history curriculum is unique worldwide in that it consists of two entirely separate subjects--'History' and 'Chinese History'--which differ not only in content, but also in terms of their pedagogy and their assumptions concerning the nature of history as a discipline. The distinct subject of 'Chinese History' was first created in the 1950s, largely in response to the colonial government's desire to limit the politicisation of local schools. However, there was subsequently little interference by the government in the development of curricula for the 'two histories'. The pattern of curriculum development for history in Hong Kong over the past few decades does not support conventional theories concerning the impact of colonialism on education. On the contrary, it suggests that the relationship of colonialism to curriculum development may in Hong Kong's case be better understood in terms of a mutually convenient collaboration between the government and local educational élites.     

香港高考校本评核的运用及启示

校本评核是指在学校进行,由同一学校任课的教师评核学生在指定项目中的表现,并将评核成绩纳入高考成绩。香港考试及评核局对校本评核的分数比重、评审方法、评分准则、评审范围等做出明确规定,教师在评审过程中也有据可循。香港考试及评核局还采取措施保证校本评核的公平、公正。香港高考校本评核的成功运用对大陆高考改革有借鉴意义。