Beyond Pedagogy: Language and identity in post-colonial Hong Kong

The society of Hong Kong objected strongly when the government instructed schools to change their medium of instruction from English to Chinese at the junior secondary level soon after Hong Kong was reunited with the People's Republic of China in 1997. This paper tries to make sense of the objection to this piece of politically correct and pedagogically sound policy. It analyses the situation from Bourdieu's ideas of habitus and various types of capitals. The paper argues that the government's effort to persuade Hong Kong society to accept mother-tongue education on pedagogical grounds alone was to no avail because the English language has not only become a habitus of society; it also serves to distinguish Hong Kong people from mainland Chinese. The failure of the government was partly due to its insensitivity to the nature and social functions of language.     

The legitimacy of curriculum development in post-colonial Hong Kong: insights from the case of Liberal Studies

Liberal Studies was initially introduced as a non-statutory subject in Hong Kong in 1992. It then confronted intense opposition and a bumpy implementation path before securing mandatory status in the new senior secondary curriculum introduced in 2009. Recently, this core subject has been under review. Whilst it is considered to promote students’ socio-political participation, the subject has also been accused of triggering antagonism towards the government. In view of these concerns, this article probes teachers’ perceptions of the recent development of Liberal Studies and examines the dynamic interplay between the curriculum review and the potential political controversies surrounding the subject in post-colonial Hong Kong. Reporting the results of a study comprising questionnaire-based surveys and follow-up semi-structured interviews, it reveals that whilst teachers are worried about the proposed reduction of socio-political topics in the curriculum, they approve of incorporating additional China-related content. Furthermore, the participating teachers praised Liberal Studies for its notable impact on raising students’ social consciousness, which has motivated them to learn about community affairs and fight for justice. Finally, the article also explores the study’s profound implications for the further development of Liberal Studies and citizenship education in Hong Kong and beyond.     

Outcomes of schooling: Mathematics achievement and attitudes towards mathematics learning in Hong Kong

High achievement of cognitive skills and the formation of favourable attitudes towards learning are universally acclaimed outcomes of schooling. The present study utilised the Second IEA Mathematics Study data (N=5644) to examine which of the ten measured attitude dimensions are pertinent in explaining mathematics achievement variance of Form One students in Hong Kong. Correlational and commonality analysis revealed that students' perception of their ability to do mathematics, the importance of mathematics to society and the concept of mathematics being a creative subject are the most pertinent attitude dimensions. In particular, the perception of students' estimated abilities to do mathematics made a substantial, unique and common contribution to the explained mathematics achievement variance.     

Outdoor education in Hong Kong: Past, present and future

This paper examines the development of outdoor education in Hong Kong from its colonial roots to the challenges of its uncertain future. The scene is set by a synopsis of Hong Kong's geography, history, economy, and culture. Next, we trace the history of organised outdoor education from the early 1900s to the present day. This is followed by a critical exploration of issues facing youth adventure education programmes and management development programmes. The paper closes with recommendations to return to “real” outdoor courses in natural environments, to raise the standards of training available to outdoor leaders, and finally, to create a governing body that would facilitate inter-organisational learning, raise standards of programme design and delivery, and help build a body of literature that is specific to experiential learning in Hong Kong.     

JET : Directions for the future

Researching can be viewed as a way of analysing issues of schooling by linking theoretical knowledge with perceptions of educational reality already during teacher education. Not only does practicing teaching provide a context for analysing instruction, learning, school culture, diversity, or any other issue related to schooling, also researching these issues provides future teachers opportunity to view schooling as complex and problematic. This case study surveyed and interviewed a group of recently graduated teachers who had worked as teachers during their education. The interest was on their experiences of M.A. thesis research as well as the integration of theory and practice during the education. The respondents had experienced researching as useful as well as meaningful, although they also had development ideas concerning it.     

Creating a Vision for Teacher Education between East and West: The case of the Hong Kong Institute of Education

This paper might be described as a case study, depicting the process of vision development for a new institution of teacher education, established in a time of political transition for Hong Kong. The focus is on issues of cultural identity, and the first part of the article lays out a framework for civilizational dialogue in the post Cold War period. Next the context of educational development is analysed, including the emergence of this new institution, and the demands placed upon it to support a range of educational reforms after Hong Kong's return to China in 1997. The third part of the paper describes the process of developing a vision statement, and the ideas that informed it. The fourth part provides a careful look at four of the nine guiding values chosen for the Institute, showing the particular shape they give to the development of the vision, and the ways in which they are linked to the dialogue of civilizations.     

Gender gap in maths test scores in South Korea and Hong Kong: Role of family background and single-sex schooling

In many industrialised societies, women remain underrepresented in the sciences, which can be predicted by the gender gap in math achievement at school. Using PISA 2006 data, we explore the role of family background and single-sex schooling in girls’ disadvantage in maths in South Korea and Hong Kong. This disadvantage is found to be associated with single-sex schooling, but not with family background. Attending a girls’ school confers a benefit only in South Korea, whereas the gendered curriculum counteracts the selectivity advantage of girls’ schools in Hong Kong. We find that a gendered social structure prevalent in both societies.     

The Perplexity of Sponsored Environment Education: a critical view on Hong Kong and its future

This study critically examines Hong Kong's environmental education initiatives beyond schooling in the last 5 years with reference to the engagement of environmental non‐governmental organisations (NGOs) in this process under an emerging sponsorship regime. It highlights that the manifested form and mode of environmen‐talism in general and environmental education in particular are embedded within the socio‐political context of colonial governance, the proliferation of green ideas and the local adaptation of ideas of environmental education. It is observed and argued that environmental education programmes in the last 5 years, promoted mainly in the mass media domain, have been partially successful in changing people's perception on environmental affairs, but environmental groups' autonomy is questioned under a sponsorship regime. The paper ends with remarks on the future of environmental education under a new political regime in 1997 and beyond.     

以"学习者为中心"的教学模式中外语教师角色的定位

文章通过传统教学模式和“以学习者为中心”的教学模式中教师角色的对比,探讨“以学习者为中心”的教学模式中外语教师角色定位的转化问题,并指出在转化过程所需要面对的挑战。     

Sibling incest: a Hong Kong experience

OBJECTIVE: The one case study intends to gain a preliminary understanding of the long term impact of older brother-younger sister incest in Hong Kong RESULTS: The adult survivor's experience did cohere with Western studies to date on age of onset, symptomatology, and feelings such as shame and guilt. The symptoms and negative feelings might also be the results of inaccessible parents and negative parental response at disclosure. Specific contextual factors such as patriarchal power structure, strong moral codes, and secrecy of family shame in Chinese culture may have contributed to the victim's inability to protect herself from her older brother's sexual advances. CONCLUSION: This case study calls for a multi-dimensional, and interactive rather than a unidimensional and unidirectional view to explore into the individual, familial, and contextual factors that may contribute to sibling incest and a delay in disclosure. The brief analysis is also a plea for systematic research in the Hong Kong context and comparative studies that take into account cultural specificity.     

重构历史与反省身份——试论香港文学中关于“香港历史”的书写

1984年中英联合声明的签订,激发了"香港意识"的诞生。香港作家在思想界的呼吁下开始回顾香港历史,反省自我身份特征并找寻定位。在20世纪80年代末的怀旧潮中,他们重现了历史片段并进行了寻根尝试;以"妓女"形象为媒介,他们隐喻了香港的身份实质及变迁轨迹。对这些香港作家而言,他们要立足香港,写出表达港人声音的历史故事。     

准确把握马克思、恩格斯对未来社会的设想同社会主义现实之间的关系

要正确地分析马克思、恩格斯对未来社会的设想同社会主义现实之间的关系。中国的社会主义建设 ,曾由于不能正确地理解马克思、恩格斯的科学社会主义理论 ,死搬教条 ,不能很好地处理生产力与生产关系、阶级斗争与经济建设、计划和市场的关系 ,使社会主义事业遭受了严重挫折。邓小平的社会主义理论是对传统社会主义理论的反思和创新 ,是对科学社会主义理论的发展     

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.     

Brave new platforms: a possible platform future for highly decentralised schooling

ABSTRACT

Sweden has one of the most marketised and decentralised school systems in the world while also ranking amongst countries with the highest levels of access to technology in classrooms. Considering the increasingly central role that digital platforms play in the practices of schooling, this article speculates on what might happen during the 2020s in highly decentralised school systems like Sweden’s. Based on current trends in education, directions indicated by platformisation in other contexts and taking a critical speculative approach, it offers a discussion of what could happen to the practices of schooling and the public mission of education. This discussion is intended to raise important questions for researchers, educators and policy makers to consider as the platformisation of schooling unfolds.     

Preserving the literary past, looking to the future： the first Hong Kong Literature Database

INTRODUCTION In the last two decades of the 20th century, there was an emerging interest in and emphasis on the study of Hong Kong literature among academic scholars. Since the first biennial conference “Conference on Taiwan and Hong Kong Literature (Tai Gang Wen Xue Xue Shu Tao Lun Hui)” held in 1982 in Mainland China, various conferences with diverse themes on Hong Kong literature have been held both locally and overseas in these twenty some years (Huang, 1988; Liu, 1997). The…