The Accommodation and Resistance to the Decolonisation,Neocolonisation and Recolonisation of Higher Education in Hong Kong

On 1 July 1997, sovereignty over Hong Kong was returned from the UK to the People's Republic of China (PRC). This article identifies the impact of such a political transition on the Hong Kong higher education system during the transitional period between 1982 and 1997. The struggles among the departing and incoming sovereign powers and local groups are also examined. The article argues that, during this period, three related colonial transition processes-decolonisation, neocolonisation and recolonisation-co-existed in Hong Kong higher education within the framework of 'one country, two systems'. These processes can be seen as resistance to each other: for example, neocolonisation as resistance to decolonisation and recolonisation as resistance to neocolonisation. They are further complicated by the spectra of their accommodation and resistance by the three major actors. On different occasions, the local government and groups played different or even contradictory roles as decolonising, neocolonising or recolonising agents. They selectively participated in the three processes so as to create facilitating conditions for and obstacles to the control of higher education by the incoming ruling power in the post-1997 era.     

赖际熙与早期香港中文教育的发展

1912年9月香港大学成立,作为香港地区的最高学府,如何承担起发展中文教育的重任就成了摆在有识之士面前的严峻问题。恰当此时,身为前清进士的赖际熙受聘担任港大中文讲师,协助创办中文教学单位,并担任负责人直至1932年底退休。赖际熙任教20年间对港大及香港的中文教育发展作出了重要贡献。港大中文教学单位从无到有,由小组升格为学系,直至得到港商捐助兴建中文图书馆和教学办公大楼,师资队伍逐渐增强,都与赖氏的努力有直接的关系。许地山加盟港大后确定的港大中文系文、史、哲、翻译四大教学板块的结构,也是赖际熙主政期间创立的由文、史、哲、经学、翻译所组成的课程的进一步发展。赖际熙所推动的中文教育,尽管存在着偏重文言文和轻视新文化等种种不足,但开拓性贡献应予充分肯定。     

Portrayals of pro-Beijing Workers�� Night Schools in Hong Kong from 1946 to post-1997

This study focuses on the transformation of pro-Beijing labour education in the socio-political context of Hong Kong. It explores the reasons that Hong Kong pro-Beijing educators initiated Workers’ Night Schools for adults; the organisation of schools in many locales and the transformation of labour education that workers received in these educational settings. The history of the development of this organization is deeply intertwined with the politics of education and the social transformation of that period. That development provides an understanding of how the pro-Beijing educators constructed an alternative culture that opposed the colonial government and was later transformed to serve as a pro-hegemonic force in the post-1997 era. In addition, rapid and widespread changes were taking place throughout Hongkongese life. Labour education was once viewed as a radical project to enhance working-class’s anti-hegemonic consciousness, socialist practices and political activism in the colonial Hong Kong. The introduction of international standards, global benchmarks for career and technical education and the transfer of sovereignty have created a new situation forcing these pro-Beijing educators to respond quickly. This article aims to see how the pro-Beijing educators related to international standard for vocational training and how the schools transforms itself to fit into the industrialized, market-oriented and globalized society of HKSAR (Hong Kong Special Administrative Region).     

The Politics of Bilingualism: A reproduction analysis of the policy of mother tongue education in Hong Kong after 1997

After the resumption of sovereignty in 1997 mother tongue education in Hong Kong, though it began with the good intention of national reintegration, politically, socially, culturally and educationally, has escalated the tensions and contradictions of the politics of bilingualism in its implementation. The government policy of bi-literacy and trilingualism addresses, rather than resolves, the problems of hegemonic struggle among different social groups in the society, and between the indigenous elite class and national ruling elites at both the local and national level. A reproduction analysis is conducted to examine the events pertinent to the language shift of English as a medium of instruction (EMI) to Chinese as a medium of instruction (CMI), with particular emphasis on controversial issues such as parental choice, antagonism of elite classes, and group politics in the face of the internationalisation of English under globalised developments of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT). English, a colonising language in the past and now a world language for changes in ICT, remains problematic for Hong Kong's language policy undergoing decolonisation and internationalisation in its early post-transitional years. Putonghua, the national language of China, challenging Cantonese, the regional dialect, as the formal and high Chinese language of the society, has added complexities to the discourse of polemical mother tongue education under the 'one country, two systems' framework practised in Hong Kong.     

香港中小学公民教育的发展与对策

本文剖析了香港于回归前后公民教育的发展.因受前殖民地教育的影响,回归初期,香港中小学生的建构新国民身份教育进展不大;近年特区政府逐步加强推行公民教育.作为一个国际城市,在全球化的情境中,香港学校要以全球、国家和本土等三个层次向学生推行公民教育,以应对学生的需要.     

Meeting the challenge of human rights education: the case of Hong Kong

Since 1 July l997 Hong Kong has become a Special Administrative Region under the Peoples Republic of China. There is a difference in the interpretation of human rights between East and West. Even before the change of sovereignty human rights education was not an important element in the Hong Kong school curricula. The hidden curriculum is not supportive of human rights education either. During the United Nation Decade for Human Rights Education (1995–2005), Hong Kong people are torn between the dichotomy of liberalism-communitarianism over human rights. This paper examines the attitude about human rights of the Hong Kong Chinese people and the issues of human rights in Hong Kong schools, thereby throwing light on the prospect of human rights education in its relationship to education reform taking place in Hong Kong. The conclusion is that Hong Kongs education reform proposals already embody the spirit of human rights and they have laid the foundation for the development of human rights education.     

Brief of Language education in Hong Kong

This paper discusses the current language education and issues in Hong Kong,The language apply maintain successfully the international and local identity needs in Hong Kong,both English and Cantonese are mainly in the different areas,meeting the different needs of various aspects of the mainstream language.Hong Kong was a multi-lingual region.English was the official language in more than one hundred years before Return;English enjoyed a dominant position in Hong Kong,where expression under the influence of English,Chinese and English code-switching is also very common.The Return of Hong Kong has a considerable influence to language phenomenon;greatly strengthen the importance of Mandarin.In this paper,from the Angle of social linguistics,this paper discusses the English position before and after Hong Kong's return to China,discussing economic,business,education,and other areas of the social development and changes of English status,and analyzes the Hong Kong residents for English,Cantonese and Mandarin language attitude.     

Nationalistic education as the focus for civics and citizenship education : The case of Hong Kong

Civic education has been assigned the mission of preparing critical thinking, responsible, participating, multidimensional citizens and is also used to serve the function of instilling a sense of national identity, loyalty to the nation state and patriotism In 1996, before the return of sovereignty of Hong Kong to China, the Hong Kong Education Department published theGuidelines in Civic Education for School (1996), which includes education for democracy, human rights education, global education and nationalistic education This survey adopted an amalgamate framework of five types of nationalistic education to study the understanding of nationalistic education of civic educators in secondary schools in Hong Kong The initial findings showed that the civic educators were basically strongly eclectic in terms of education for cosmopolitan, civic, and cultural nationalism and moderately eclectic in terms of anti colonial nationalism but rejected education for totalitarian nationalism This eclectic understanding can be said to be heading towards a more liberal, rational, open and inclusive type of nationalistic education, which is compatible with a cosmopolitan and pluralistic society such as Hong Kong     

Education Policy and the 1997 Factor: The art of the possible interacting with the dismal science

The '1997 factor' has broad and narrow connotations. Its broader sense equates it with concern about Hong Kong's future. Its narrower sense focuses on the attitudes and actions affected by the change of sovereignty over Hong Kong at midnight on 30 June 1997. The present article investigates how both senses have influenced education policy in Hong Kong and, in particular, how the resulting policy developments have reflected considerations of politics (the art of the possible) and economics (the dismal science). The article divides itself naturally into two main parts. The first, larger section offers a broad historical perspective, demonstrating that concerns about the future of the colony of Hong Kong are recurrent and almost exactly as old as the colony itself. The second section focuses briefly on three case studies of educational issues that have arisen recently from ideas related to the resumption of Chinese sovereignty over Hong Kong.     

A conceptual change staff development programme: Effects as perceived by the participants

Abstract

Hong Kong society is composed predominantly of people of Chinese ethnic origin and is characterized by a mix of traditional Chinese culture and Western culture, the latter arising in part from 155 years of British colonial rule. While some would argue that, by virtue of their international connections and British origins, Hong Kong universities do not differ in significant ways from their counterparts in Western countries, this paper pursues the counter‐argument that academic life in Hong Kong strongly reflects traditional Chinese culture (albeit in a modified form) and that this is turn influences not only the culture of teaching and learning but the possibilities for effective faculty development. It is by recognizing and valuing, rather than denying, unique local characteristics, that the universities can achieve the kind of excellence in education that Hong Kong society so clearly values. In evaluating the likely success of initiatives to enhance teaching effectiveness there is a need to consider those special aspects of Chinese culture which appear to underlie the context of university teaching and learning.     

Moral education in Hong Kong: Confucian‐parental,Christian‐religious and liberal‐civic influences

A brief review of the social and educational context of Hong Kong shows that the publication of the General guidelines on moral education in schools in 1981, by the Hong Kong Education Department, marked a milestone in the development of moral education. The Guidelines explicitly asserted moral education as one function of schooling, whilst also formally recognizing the home and the community as two main influences. This paper narrates how three moral sources of influence – namely Confucian‐parental, Christian‐religious and liberal‐civic – have shaped the development of moral education in Hong Kong from 1973 to 2003. It then examines in more detail: parental influence at home – the Confucian moral source in Chinese family; schooling influenced by religious sources – taking Christian schools as an example; and the Independent Commission Against Corruption as an official agency for moral education – a liberal source calling for civic morality. In conclusion, the post‐colonial emergence of nationalistic influence in the recently constituted Chinese Special Administrative Region, advocating national identity as the new core value, is traced and the implications for future moral education in Hong Kong are considered.     

Social developments and school music education: the struggles in Hong Kong

This paper explores two current issues in the educational policies and practices of Hong Kong that have been shaped by the emergence of the nation-state and the return of Hong Kong's sovereignty from the UK to the People's Republic of China on 1 July 1997. Since this time there have been two great challenges facing music education. The first concerns how to incorporate diverse cultures, including Chinese music, into a Western-orientated music curriculum; and the second is to find a way to cultivate national identity and democracy through music education. The data presented here were collected via in-depth, semi-structured individual interviews with music teachers, school heads and assistant school heads across 40 primary and secondary schools between 2006 and 2007. The findings can be explained by referring to the shortcomings of multicultural education and the underdevelopment of democracy in Hong Kong's education system.     

Education,culture and politics: the evolution of Chinese education at The University of Hong Kong, 1911–1941

The University of Hong Kong (HKU), following its establishment in 1911, has assumed the mission of bridging British and Chinese cultures, to prepare European and Chinese elite youth for political and other professional careers, and thus to improve Britain’s cultural influence in competition with other western powers with regard to China. Dominated by its colonial character and pragmatic orientation, Chinese education at HKU was confined to no more than a supplementary subject at the initial stage. However, colonial crisis and cultural changes in the 1920s and 1930s, together with the endeavours of local cultural and commercial elites, made advanced Chinese education at HKU necessary and possible, and led to an independent unit for Chinese education and Chinese studies being established and strengthened. Organisational and curricular reforms before the outbreak of the Pacific War in 1941 led to further modernisation and solidified the structure of Chinese education at this university, laying the essential foundation for its post-war recovery and development. The evolution of Chinese education at HKU demonstrated well the subtle entanglements of education, culture and politics in a colonial context, through which coexistence and tensions between tradition and modernity, between China and the West, and between the imperial and republican intellectuals were also vividly revealed.     

中国内地与香港地区译名之比较

香港是中西文化融和之地,中华5000年文化的熏陶,加上150年的殖民地岁月,造就了香港独特的面貌和个性,也创造了香港与内地大相径庭的译名,成为香港地区一个鲜明的文化现象。本文试图对中国内地与香港地区的译名作一番归纳、比较和探讨,旨在寻求更为合理的翻译文本,以适应内地与香港地区进行沟通与交流之需求。     

Nationalistic Education in a Post-colonial Age: the Impact of Study Trips to China and the Development of Hong Kong Students' National Identity

With the return of its sovereignty to the People's Republic of China (PRC) on 1 July 1997, Hong Kong attained a new political status as a Special Administrative Region. Hong Kong students, under British rule, had long been receiving de-politicised education, and a sense of belonging to China was limited to the cognitive domain of Chinese history. The ideal of promoting national identity, underpinned in the current civic education curriculum, is proving to be a difficult task. While much literature has documented how curriculumbased educational practices fail to instil students with such an identity, little study has been undertaken to suggest effective alternatives and to examine how they work. This paper reports a study investigating the impact of study trips on developing students' national identity. Through observation and interviews, it takes an in-depth look into students' experience, into how they identify with a Chinese identity. Results indicate that though the study trips help to nurture the cognitive and affective dimensions of national identity, there are limits and possibilities involved. This paper concludes with reminders which teachers should have taken into account when thinking of using co-curricular activities to address the legitimate need of fostering nationalistic education.     

Language and the Curriculum in Hong Kong: Dilemmas of triglossia

As with colonial transition elsewhere, the language patterns in Hong Kong have changed with the return of sovereignty to China. Biglossia (whereby Hong Kong Cantonese and English predominate) is shifting to triglossia, as Putonghua, the official language of the People's Republic of China, has become increasingly important. This paper focuses on the impact of colonial transition and in particular the emergence of Putonghua and on the language subjects in the primary and secondary school curricula in Hong Kong. It argues that, whilst the rationale for promoting Putonghua is logical, tensions are evident in the school curricula, most notably in two areas. Firstly, the curricula were already heavily biased in favour of language subjects and, secondly, the necessary teaching expertise for Putonghua is not readily available.     

Referencing and borrowing from other systems: the Hong Kong education reforms

Abstract

Background: This paper analyses the role of, and approach to, policy referencing and borrowing in Hong Kong’s recent reforms that culminated in the creation of its New Academic Structure and the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education.

Main argument: It argues that Hong Kong has gone further than most jurisdictions not just in responding to global influences on education reform, but in taking explicit steps to internationally benchmark its curriculum and assessment, and in involving the global community at multiple levels in the process of education policy planning and implementation.

Sources of evidence and method: The paper is based on the documentary analysis of policy documents in Hong Kong, and 23 interviews with key stakeholders in the policy network, including policy-makers, practitioners and community leaders.

Discussion and conclusions: While policy referencing and borrowing in the Hong Kong context can, in part, be traced to a colonial legacy, the Special Administrative Region of China demonstrates a collaborative approach to education reform involving local and international engagement that may be relevant to other systems. Its approach was informed by a measured use of policy referencing that involved ‘horizon scanning’ of other systems’ policies and practices; international benchmarking; and engaging international expertise to facilitate implementation.     

Myth of the Inferior Status of Vocational Education: The Case of Hong Kong

Abstract

In this article, factors contributing to the poor perceptions and inferior status of vocational education in Hong Kong are discussed. Critical discourse analysis (CDA) is employed as the methodology in examining the discursive construction of vocational education in the policy context. A total of five policy documents published between 1970 and 2015 are included. Our findings show that the socioeconomic transformation of Hong Kong in recent decades, massification of higher education, and cultural factors such as parental expectations are pertinent to the stigmatization observed in vocational education. This article discusses the implications from the findings and concludes with possible solutions for the future development of vocational education in Hong Kong under the novel vocational and professional education and training (VPET) initiative launched by the government.     

香港学前教育对中西部小城镇民办幼儿教育发展的启示

香港学前教育机构包括幼儿中一譬和幼稚圆，均为私立机构，在性质上与国内中西部小城镇民办幼儿教育相同。香港学前教育在其曲折的发展历程中给子中西部小城镇民办幼儿教育的发展许多重要的启示，主要表现在对于学前教育分类管理、加强教育法制建设、册强学前教育的师资培训、深化学前教育课程改革、加强幼儿园与家庭、社区之间的密切合作以荻政府和社会团体资助学前教育的发展等方面。     

Reforms and challenges in the era of inclusive education: the case of China

This article, written by Meng Deng of Beijing Normal University and Kim Fong Poon‐McBrayer of the Hong Kong Institute of Education, reviews and analyses the reform of special education in China, the challenges confronting Chinese special education provisions, and how the Chinese inclusive education model, namely ‘Learning in Regular Classrooms’, has been shaped by the pragmatic needs aligning with the nation's economic and social developments. In an effort to provide wider school access, the current inclusive education model has become the form of educational placement that serves the majority of students with disabilities in China. The authors conclude that reforms in the last two decades have resulted in dramatic changes and progress in many facets of special education service delivery, school structure, administrative monitoring mechanism, and instructional practices. However, the current Chinese special education service structure is still shaky, with inadequate resources, personnel preparation and support at the local level. Fundamental changes to the examination‐oriented mainstream education system are still needed, to enhance the quality of education for students with special needs.