The secondary school mathematics curriculum in China

This article attempts to give an up-to-date account of the secondary school mathematics curriculum in China. The teaching objectives and curriculum contents are discussed, and the public examination papers and classroom teaching methods are briefly described.     

A cross‐cultural comparison of self‐monitoring

This study examined the goodness of fit of three alternative models of self‐monitoring to data collected in five cultures (two individualistic and three collectivistic cultures) and the influence of individualism‐collectivism on self‐monitoring. It was predicted that the 18‐item unidimensional self‐monitoring scale is the best fit among the three and individualistic cultures exhibit higher self‐monitoring than collectivistic cultures. Data were collected from respondents in the United States, Australia (individualistic cultures) and Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan (collectivistic cultures). Results supported the predictions. The data suggest, however, that it is necessary to develop self‐monitoring measures which are sensitive across cultures.     

Models of workplace training in North America: a review

The dominant workplace training model in North America is the behavioural approach which is well matched to the dominant concept of Taylorism in management. Nevertheless, this paradigm has been increasingly challenged by the worker‐centred model which is dissatisfied with the management‐centred tenet within the behavioural approach. Four factors can be attributed to the declining popularity of the behavioural model: social changes, new needs of capitalism, the importance of worker ownership, and attitudinal changes in mangement. Three emerging alternatives to the behavioural model are examined: action regulation theory, critical reflectivity perspective and ‘working‐class adult eduction’ approach. Though under strong challenge, the behavioural model is still influential.     

Transnational higher education for capacity development? An analysis of British degree programmes in Hong Kong

Drawing upon a project on British transnational education (TNE) programmes offered in Hong Kong, this paper interrogates the capacity development impact of TNE on the students, the Hong Kong Government and the programme providers. It addresses the questions: ‘What capacity is being developed in TNE operations?’ and ‘For whom?’ Our findings reveal multiple capacities at play. As TNE has been traded between British and Hong Kong universities and facilitated by the Hong Kong Government's laissez-faire doctrine, as a commodity in the neoliberal trade-in-education regime, students' interests are often sidelined. This paper calls for a critical reflection on this TNE model.     

Violence on television in Asia

Tan Yew Soon and Soh Yew Peng The Development of Singapore's Modern Media Industry Times Academic Press, Singapore 1994, pp. 263     

香港特别行政区高等院校图书馆统计指标的发展研究

图书馆统计指标与规范直接关系着图书馆历史数据的准确性与有效性.自2000年6月香港特别行政区大学图书馆长联席会达成建立通用统计指标意向开始,历经12年的发展,现在香港地区高校图书馆已建立较为完善的统计指标体系.该文对香港地区高等院校图书馆统计指标与规范的发展历程进行回顾梳理,对比分析不同时期的统计指标的差异及最新指标与美国研究图书馆学会统计指标的差异,并对香港地区高校图书馆现行统计指标进行详细解读.     

Parent–Teacher Conferences in a Secondary School: A Case Study

The authors report on the findings of a case study of parent–teacher conferences in a secondary school in Hong Kong. They explored through interviews parents' and teachers' perspectives of parent–teacher conferences. They noted that parent–teacher conferences were sources of stress for teachers and embarrassment for parents. Parent–teacher conferences were useful for problem‐clarification. The building of mutual trust was the most important conferencing skill. They drew out some practical guidelines which were useful to teachers of the case study school but are also valuable to all teachers who wish to work effectively and positively with parents.     

To what extent does Hong Kong primary school students’ Chinese reading comprehension benefit from after-school private tuition?

The reading attainment of the 3,875 primary 4 Hong Kong primary school students participating in the 2011 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study ranked first among 49 countries and regions surveyed worldwide. Analysis of the association between (a) participating students’ reading attainment and (b) responses to questionnaires completed by the students and their parents revealed that classroom teaching, the school curriculum, the reader’s social and economic background and support from home had all helped shape reading performance. It is not unusual for school students in many Asian countries to receive after-school tuition in various areas of the curriculum to boost performance in impending examinations. The study reported here focussed (1) on the Chinese language reading attainment of students who had attended private tutoring classes after school in this subject against the scores of fellow students who had not and (2) asking whether such after-school tutoring had been of any notable benefit to their reading. Although a majority of the parents questioned said they paid for extra tuition for their children after school, analyses of the data found there was a statistically significant difference between the scores of students who received extra tuition and those who did not, the score of the latter group being superior. It is suggested that the Hong Kong education authorities reassure parents about the quality of teaching in primary schools and publicly pronounce on the potential value of after-school private tutoring.