Students’ concepts and attitudes toward citizenship: the case of Hong Kong

This paper analyses the data obtained from the findings on Hong Kong, as a part of the IEA second civic study. Because the survey was conducted two years after Hong Kong's return to China, the findings reflect concepts and attitudes toward citizenship among Hong Kong students shortly after the change of sovereignty. The study shows that Hong Kong ranks highest in two aspects of citizenship: civic knowledge and attitudes toward immigrants. Hong Kong ranks lowest in attitudes toward the nation, support for women's political rights, confidence in participating at school, and open classroom climate. Moreover, Hong Kong students are most concerned about elections and freedom of expression, but are least interested in political parties. They are more interested in social-related citizenship issues, and try to avoid confrontational and activist politics. This suggests that Hong Kong students are concerned with citizenship issues and politics; are very knowledgeable, and while they are also concerned about society, do not favor confrontations. This partly reflects a Chinese culture and partly reflects that depolicitization perpetuates beyond 1997.     

比较全球化背景下香港和台湾的公民教育

全球化在政治、经济和文化等方面产生广泛的影响,由于与中华人民共和国特殊的关系,香港和台湾的公民教育更复杂。通过比较香港和台湾公民教育在全球化背景下如何强调本土化特色、改革公民教育的内容、目标以及指导思想等方面的异同,揭示只有独立主权国家的公民教育才能真正迎接全球化的挑战。     

A comparison of attitudes related to global citizenship between Korean- and US-educated Korean university students

This study compared the perceptions of Korean-national university students studying in Korea and in the US regarding global citizenship. The study sample consisted of two distinct groups: students who had received their education exclusively in Korea and students who were born in Korea but had studied in the US since secondary school. By applying latent mean analysis, the study found that the US-educated Koreans had higher levels of trust and national identity, whereas the Koreans had higher levels of social responsibility and participation. The results suggest that university students of the same nationality who experience different social environments may perceive global citizenship in dissimilar ways. For future investigations, we suggest a longitudinally designed experimental study, which may reveal a causal relationship between the social experiences of university students who study abroad and their perceptions of global citizenship. In addition, future investigations should consider how these students are assimilated into and adapt to diverse interactions on multicultural campuses.     

“Floating elites”: interpreting mainland Chinese undergraduates’ graduation plans in Hong Kong

Cross-border student migration has significant implications for host communities in terms of academic, financial and social consequences. In light of Hong Kong’s thirst for human resources, this paper reports on a study that interpreted the graduation plans of a group of “elite” mainland Chinese undergraduates in a publicly funded university. To fully appreciate the complexity of the participants’ graduation plans, the study examined their perceived behavioural control, attitudes towards the students remaining in Hong Kong upon graduation and subjective norms as mediated by socio-contextual conditions. The analysis revealed the participants’ ambivalent attitudes towards Hong Kong in their careers and life pursuits beyond graduation; most of them regarded it as a transition point rather than a destination for their adventures. These findings suggest that the participants had developed intercultural personhoods and regarded educational efforts as a means to acquire cultural capital for their transnational aspirations. They highlight the necessity for institutions and governments to foster and sustain close ties between cross-border students, as represented by the participants of this study, and local students. These efforts will not only develop local students’ intercultural competence but they also help these globally mobile students acquire social capital locally, which facilitates their smooth integration into host communities and encourages them contribute to the communities as part of their globally expanding social networks.     

Western influences on Chinese sexuality: insights from a comparison of the sexual behavior and attitudes of Shanghai and Hong Kong freshmen at universities

In this 1991 study the sex behavior and attitudes of first-year university students in Shanghai, China, were compared to attitudes and beliefs of first-year students in Hong Kong. Findings do not confirm a strong Western influence and increased promiscuity. The evidence suggests that the effect of Westernization or modernization is dependent on and varies with the nature of the imported Western culture and the form of and standards for sex education. Students from Hong Kong, which is more modernized than Shanghai, were less sexually active and more conscientious about using contraception. A high percentage of Shanghai students had experienced sexual intercourse and multiple sex partners. Christian males from the Hong Kong survey had less coital experience than non-Christian Hong Kong males. The surveys were conducted in 22 universities in Shanghai among 1919 first-year students, but only 25.1% responded with completed questionnaires (344 single Chinese males and 137 single Chinese females). The Hong Kong questionnaire was distributed to 7675 students. 2341 single Chinese males and 2247 single Chinese females who were unmarried and non-Chinese completed the survey (a 48.5% response rate). It is argued that restrained female unmarried sexuality is still limited by cultural and religious attitudes.     

Revisiting thinking styles' contributions to the knowledge and use of and attitudes towards computing and information technology

This study examines the role of students' thinking styles in their knowledge and use of as well as in their attitudes towards the use of computing and information technology (CIT) in education. One hundred and five students from a large university in Texas responded to the Thinking Styles Inventory and to a brief measure of their attitudes towards the use of CIT in education. Between the present study and a previous study of Hong Kong students, the following common findings have been obtained. First, the more creativity-generating thinking styles positively predicted knowledge and use of CIT as well as a favorable attitude towards the use of CIT in education, whereas the more norm-conforming thinking styles negatively did so. Second, female students reported less knowledge and use of CIT. Minor differences were also identified between the U.S. and Hong Kong groups. These findings have implications for teachers, staff development personnel, and for CIT program designers.     

One international university,two perspectives: the role of English as a lingua franca as perceived by Mainland and Hong Kong Chinese students

Internationalisation of higher education greatly facilitates cross-border student mobility, which has been extensively researched. This comparative study focuses on the relatively under-explored field of intra-regional educational mobility. It compares attitudes towards learning and using English of M ainland Chinese students and Hong Kong Chinese students while studying side-by-side at an English-medium university in Hong Kong. Using a mixed methodology the study found that the two groups expressed a similarly strong need for, and acceptance of, English as an academic lingua franca but expressed significantly different attitudes, needs and desires in relation to the use of English for social intercourse. The weaker presence of a social lingua franca was accompanied by perceptions of a lack of inclusivity. If, as is suggested in the literature, both social and academic integration are integral to the university experience, the findings reveal a lacuna in the learning environment of this and potentially other similarly internationalised universities.     

Hong Kong tertiary students' conceptions of assessment of academic ability

Students' beliefs, attitudes, experiences and responses towards assessment reflect the ecology of their specific context. The study examines Hong Kong tertiary students' conceptions of assessment using focus group interviews and the content analysis technique. Using six focus groups, 26 Hong Kong university students were interviewed. Hong Kong tertiary students associated assessment with lifelong high-stake examinations. The assessment determined an individual's personal value or worth and achievement was an obligation one had towards one's family. As a legitimate tool for selecting the best candidates for educational and career opportunities, assessment provided upward social mobility, but also served the function of monitoring and surveillance to shape people's behaviour according to societal expectations. Resilience was reflected in both self-regulative agentic responses of effort, persistence and gaming strategy and passive escaping from the oppressive assessment system. The general emotional reaction towards assessment was negative; and participants cast doubts on the assessment validity, accuracy and the limited utility confined by academic-only content. In addition to the portrayal of the Chinese student as an effective, persistent learner, this study shows that Chinese students are very aware of the negative, controlling impact of assessment on their lives.     

香港在校大学生来内地求学的行为意向研究——基于计划行为理论的解释框架

随着我国综合国力和国际竞争力的不断提升,香港与内地在教育交流方面日益频繁,来内地高校求学的香港在校大学生数量逐年上升。文章基于计划行为理论,采用结构方程模型对香港8所公立高校在校大学生来内地求学的行为态度、主观规范、感知行为控制等三个因素进行定量分析。结果显示,三个因素对香港在校大学生来内地高校求学的行为意向均具有显著影响,其中,行为态度对行为意向的影响最大,其次是感知行为控制,主观规范影响最小。基于研究结果,提出提升内地高校质量和国际声誉、改革教学模式、重视对香港在校大学生的招生宣传、创造良好香港在校大学生毕业就业环境等对策建议。     

The attitudes of hong kong primary school principals toward integrated education

Positive attitudes of key stakeholders, such as school principals, towards a new policy are considered a necessary pre-requisite to implement any such policy. Hong Kong has recently formulated a policy that supports the integration of students with disabilities into regular schools. This study investigated the attitudes of Hong Kong primary school principals toward integration, with a view to determining if these school leaders are prepared to implement integrated education practices in their schools. A modified version of the School Principals’ Attitudes toward Inclusion scale (Bailey, 2004) was used to collect data from participants. Based on the responses of 130 primary school principals, it was found that their attitudes toward integration were slightly negative. Principals who had less teaching experience and who were administering schools with smaller student enrolment were found to hold more positive attitudes toward integration. The variable of “having a family member or close friend with a disability” had a significant and positive effect on the principals’ attitudes toward integration.     

Transition, induction and goal achievement: first-year experiences of Hong Kong undergraduates

Educators worldwide are faced with challenges of understanding how undergraduates are making their school-to-university transition and becoming inducted into their academic discipline. A recent study investigated Hong Kong first-year Chinese students?? experiences of transition from school to university and induction into their discipline in relation to perceived course experiences, approaches to study and achievement of goals. Analysis of the survey data of this study indicates that although students reported transition difficulties, these were unrelated to perceptions of the course, approaches to study or achievement of goals. Students who reported good understanding of their discipline were those who achieved their goals, had a good course experience and adopted deeper study approaches. These findings suggested that rather than focusing mainly on tackling students?? transition difficulties, efforts of promoting a positive first-year experience for Chinese university students and facilitating their goals achievement should be oriented towards constructing a facilitative learning environment.     

Perception of reading instruction and self-regulated learning: A comparison between Chinese students in Hong Kong and Beijing

Based on the theoretical framework of self-regulated learning (SRL), the study aimed to examine whether the proposed relationship between classroom environment and students’ SRL was applicable in the case of Chinese readers. In this study, a questionnaire measuring students’ perception of reading instruction, strategy use, and reading motivation was completed by 1,654 Hong Kong and 2,006 Beijing students from grade 10. By comparing students from two different Chinese cities, the study also attempted to understand the learning attitudes and behaviors of students who share the same Confucian cultural backgrounds but experience different educational environments. The findings of this study indicated that the positive effects of perceived reading instruction on Chinese students’ SRL mainly came from strategy and metacognitive-based instruction, teacher support, and the nature of task. While both Hong Kong and Beijing students demonstrated a positive attitude towards their reading instruction as well as a positive degree of strategy use and reading motivation, significant area differences were found in nearly all measured variables. These findings have been discussed in the light of the contextual environments of the two Chinese cities. The study provides useful insights for understanding Chinese learners and Chinese classrooms from the perspective of SRL.     

Taming cosmopolitanism: the limits of national and neoliberal civic education in two global cities

ABSTRACT

This paper analyzes global education policy and curricular documents in Singapore and Hong Kong. Using a discursive approach, we characterize curricular aims through various cosmopolitan perspectives. We posit that although touted as Asian global cities, Singapore and Hong Kong are cases where neoliberal and nation-centric educational agendas have effectively rebranded cosmopolitanism and tamed its transformative potential. To develop this argument, we review theories and critiques of cosmopolitan forms of global citizenship education deemed necessary to prepare young people for complex global social conditions. We discuss cosmopolitan principles on identity, values, and deliberation and draw on critical cosmopolitanism and Asian forms of cosmopolitanism to provide a discursive framework for analyzing curricular intentions in the two cases.     

Teacher self-efficacy in cultivating students to become ‘good citizens’: a Hong Kong case

Civic education is a contested subject in Hong Kong, and there is no agreement in society on what form civic education should take, which leaves each school to choose its own approach. Under these circumstances, each teacher needs greater capability and self-efficacy to develop school-based civic education. This study examined the factors that influenced Hong Kong primary school teacher confidence in teaching citizenship education with the ultimate goal of nurturing students to become ‘good citizens.’ The results of this study indicated that teacher self-efficacy was influenced by beliefs about the subject (Moral, Civic and National Education) and beliefs about teachers’ roles in the curriculum but not beliefs about teaching. Teachers felt more confident teaching social topics than political topics. While this study was conducted in the Hong Kong context, the findings could be valuable for policy makers and educators elsewhere who seek to strengthen teacher self-efficacy.     

Formative and summative assessment in Hong Kong primary schools: students’ attitudes matter

ABSTRACT

This study investigates the relationship between students’ attitudes towards formative assessment and summative assessment and aims to enrich the understanding of formative and summative assessment from the students’ perspective. A total of 3,019 Hong Kong primary school students responded to a newly developed instrument. Overall, students reported positive instrumental yet negative affective attitudes towards formative and summative assessment. Girls had less negative affective attitudes towards formative assessment, but more positive instrumental attitudes towards formative and summative assessment than boys. Grade 4 students consistently scored higher than Grade 5 and Grade 6 students in assessment attitudes. The gender and grade differences were statistically significant, but had small effect size. Moreover, it was found that students’ affective and instrumental attitudes to formative assessment positively predicted students’ affective and instrumental attitudes to summative assessment.     

Citizenship,citizenship education,and the state in China in a global age

Citizenship and citizenship education change during periods of social transition, such as globalization. As globalists have argued, while globalization undermines the state, local institutions, values, cultures, and identities, it also facilitates liberal democracy and a common consumer culture. Citizenship education is urged to respond to globalization and its impact on both global and local communities. In reality, virtually no nation state adopts merely global citizenship; rather, they adopt frameworks of multileveled/multidimensional citizenship. With particular reference to citizenship education in the People's Republic of China (PRC), this paper challenges globalists' views for over‐exaggerating the domination of global forces over domestic ones. In particular, the paper examines the complicated struggles associated with the reconfiguration of the PRC's socialist citizenship and citizenship education that have occurred in response to social changes, including globalization. The paper explains the role of the PRC's state in such reconfiguration and offers a new framework that regards citizenship education as being based on different players' sociopolitical selections from a multileveled polity.     

全球化对大学生公民教育的影响及对策

在全球化背景下,大学生公民教育受到了冲击和挑战,对此,应加强当代大学生公民教育。我们应以爱国主义教育为重点,构建大学生公民教育的内容体系;应以重大活动和重大事件为契机,营造良好的公民教育环境：应重视民族传统文化在大学生公民教育中的重要作用;应强化阵地意识,加强社会主义理想信念教育。     

‘It’s more foreign than a foreign country’: adaptation and experience of Mainland Chinese students in Hong Kong

Recent years have witnessed an increasing number of Mainland students crossing the border to pursue tertiary studies in Hong Kong, a Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China. In contrast to those who have chosen to study in foreign countries, such as United States, United Kingdom or Germany, the Mainland group are studying and living in a society that is both familiar and strange to them due to unique political and sociocultural relationships between Hong Kong and the Mainland. Previous research has mainly focused on Mainland students’ motivations for choosing Hong Kong as their academic destination, but questions as to how they adapt to the university setting and host society have been under-researched. Adopting a qualitative approach, this study reports on the findings of focus groups exploring Mainland students’ adaptation to life and study in Hong Kong. Findings revealed that linguistic adaptation, social network, political identification and discrimination were the most significant acculturative stressors reported by Mainland students. Implications for how Mainland students can best adjust and how universities can better support them are discussed.     

Students positioned as global citizens in Australian and New Zealand universities: A discourse analysis

ABSTRACT

Higher education plays a critical role in producing society’s leaders by preparing graduates with the knowledge, capabilities and disposition to appreciate diversity and address social injustice. Many higher education institutions within and beyond Australia have aimed to internationalise their curricula to ensure students achieve capabilities that enable them to contribute to an evolving global knowledge economy. However, the inclusion of global citizenship as a graduate attribute embedded in internationalised curricula, and the processes to achieving this, are highly contested. Guided by a discourse analysis approach, this study explored how Australian and New Zealand universities position students as global citizens in public web pages. Publicly available policy and other text documents on university websites relating to internationalisation and/or global citizenship were collected and screened. Those that met inclusion criteria were analysed to identify discourses and to further understand how higher education institutions describe their plan to advance and achieve global citizenship agendas. Two key themes were generated: expressions of internationalisation policy and global citizenship as an obscured educational intention. These findings are further elaborated, providing an outline of the possible implications for higher education policy and practice relating to the internationalisation of curriculum for global citizenship and its potential impact on educators and students.     

全球化、国际化与高等教育交流:香港的经验

为了应对日益激烈的全球市场竞争,许多新兴国家和地区的政府近年来都纷纷起草教育改革蓝图,并出台一系列针对教育体制改革的措施。香港特别行政区也把教育作为一项优先发展的公共政策,以增强本地公民的全球竞争力。在认识到人力资源是特别行政区拥有的唯一资源后,香港特区政府亦斥巨资投资教育。尽管特别行政区目前面临严重的预算赤字,但教育仍占到2004-2005年政府预算公共支出的最大份额22.5％。本文着重对在全球化的背景下,香港特别行政区采取怎样的措施来改善其高等教育体制,以及香港的大学如何与海外大学加强学术交流,以增强本港大学的国际竞争力进行论述。