Education and the Hong Kong umbrella movement

Abstract

This special issue of Educational Philosophy and Theory considers the Hong Kong Umbrella Movement as an educational event, which has impacted attitudes and outlooks and conceptions of young people’s role, of education, and of society. This essay serves as an introduction to the more substantive pieces that follow. It describes two alternative perspectives on youth civic engagement in Hong Kong historically; and in so doing, it addresses some of the challenges related to free academic expression that hinder scholarly research and publishing on the area of Hong Kong-China relations looking into the future. It concludes with a brief glimpse of the contributions that follow.     

Curriculum mapping food science programs: An approach to quantification of professional competencies

It is fundamental that students are able to identity where they have developed specific professional competencies during their study. This ensures students can not only articulate their competencies well in job applications and assessments but also draw on their experiences for use in the workplace. The aim of study was to ascertain if desirability of an element or competency as indicated by employers, was reflected in an equivalent level of program content, appropriately perceived by the student. A case study approach mapped elements of the previously developed Competencies for Food Graduate Careers framework against food sciences curricula at University of Nottingham. The mapping process facilitated evaluation of appropriate levels of inclusion of each element in degree programs, by recording types of content and experiences provided, in collaboration with teaching staff. Perspectives of the student experience were captured using an online survey. In addition, guidance from a prior industry survey provided context of the level of desirability for each element across the range of graduate roles in the United Kingdom. The results showed some areas of mismatch, where curricular content did not align with employer expectations or student perceptions. This has informed review of this curriculum, to best reflect “competency development” to meet the needs of the food industry. Recommendations were made to address gaps through enhancement of content, delivery, communication, or assessment. Additionally, the exercise has suggested a more informed development of curricula categorization and coding for future similar mapping activities.     

The advantages of rime‐prompting: a comparative study of prompting methods when hearing children read

Goswami (1999) summarised the evidence supporting the teaching of onset and rime in early reading development. In the present study onset‐rime theory was applied in a randomised controlled trial to the authentic reading task of reading aloud to an adult. Helpers heard Year‐2 children read and responded to miscues and hesitations using one of two prompting procedures. Half of the subjects were prompted using a rime‐prompt approach whereas the other half were told the correct word after five seconds. Progress was measured using word and text‐level tests and the rime‐prompt group performed significantly better than the word‐prompt group at the 5% level. The rime‐prompt method has potential for helping children recognise one‐ and two‐syllable words. It is suitable for use by parents, teachers and other helpers.     

Norm-referenced,Criterion-referenced,and Dynamic Assessment: What exactly is the point?

Assessment of individual children and young people has remained a major focus of professional activity for educational psychologists (EPs) and one surrounded by continuing controversy. Despite the arguments of the 'reconstructing movement' of the 1970s, and ensuing debates, individual assessment has survived seemingly as strong as ever. Subsumed within arguments concerning the prominence given to individual assessment, another set of discussions has concerned the paradigms from which such professional activity might derive. Located among constructs contrasting environment with individual and static with interactive perspectives, the particular debate within individual assessment has centred on the relative merits of norm-referenced, criterion-referenced, curriculum-based and dynamic methods. This article presents a taxonomy of purposes and procedures deriving from these major assessment paradigms. This collection is illustrated by examples taken from EP reports, and the relative familiarity and use of each approach by one major audience group is evaluated through examining questionnaire responses from 59 Special Educational Needs Coordinators within one Local Education Authority.     

Changing Patterns of Thinking: Individuals and organisations

The promises and hopes of the 'reconstructing' movement in educational psychology post-Summerfield 1968 (Gillham, 1978) have not had a major impact on the ability of the profession of applied educational psychologists to effect change across systems. Despite innovative ideas generated by individuals over the past few decades that have promoted opportunities to apply psychology more widely, there is little evidence that the profession has been able to expand on these initiatives and incorporate them into their existing practice. Ideas drawn from a variety of psychological sources enable applied educational psychologists to review their thinking and practice, and to develop different models that can promote and influence useful change at an institutional and/or individual level. This paper considers, in particular, the impact of new models of language and thought on organisational behaviour and, in turn, identifies the manner in which change at an individual and organisational level can be promoted.     

Relations of blood? Racialization of civic identity in twenty-first century Hong Kong

ABSTRACT

This paper explores how notions of race, ethnicity, and blood are mobilized in educational texts in Hong Kong. It elaborates how civic identity is racialized as part of a nationalist education operating beneath the surface of expressed commitments to global citizenship, human rights, etc., in curriculum and textbooks. Many have commented on how cultural and ethnic ties are prioritized over political principles as bases for civic education in Asian societies. These cultural/ethnic bases should be critically examined, however, as they imply racial/ethnic exclusions. Examining how race, ethnicity, and blood are used to justify cultural framings of civic identity leads to questions about how education can be used to unify some, while alienating others from a sense of belonging and community. I argue that racialization of Hong Kong civic identity is not a happy solution for all members of society, and for more inclusive visions of identity in education.