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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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hong Kong is currently a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. It has autonomy over many policy areas, including finance and education. It is a community of seven million people, which has changed its focus and identity significantly over the last 25 years, from predominantly manufacturing to a service and knowledge economy with particular strengths in financial services. Purpose: This paper will consider the market for teacher education places and the market for teachers, and explore the career intention and commitment implications of high numbers of well qualified applicants applying for teaching in the context of reduced work opportunities elsewhere, an increasing higher education focus on intake scores and the challenge, for the teaching profession and the education system, of teaching becoming less secure work. Sources of evidence: Governmental and institutional publications and data, along with research and survey findings, together with comparative literature underpin the reactions to past, present and possible future effects on teacher education in Hong Kong. Main argument: Given its financial focus, Hong Kong would be expected to suffer significantly during the recent financial crisis and that this would impact across all its sectors including Education and Teacher Education. In addition to the financial crisis, other changes have affected teacher education in Hong Kong, including major reforms in curriculum and school and higher education structure and a significantly diminished birth rate reducing posts in teaching, and raising concerns about job security. Conclusions: Hong Kong is a very prudently managed economy with substantial reserves and a commitment to ‘small government’ and the impact has been different from many other systems. Places on teacher education programmes remained unchanged. Applications for teacher education programmes however increased significantly during the crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Personal and social education has become an important area of development in education in Hong Kong. Given that much of the literature on personal and social education is Anglo-American or European, what is the influence on the largely Chinese settings in Hong Kong? This paper will examine some of the debates of what constitutes personal and social education. The significance of competing contexts in the development of personal and social education will be analysed in detail. Comparisons will be made between Western and Chinese (especially Confucian) views on personal and social education. Attempts will be made to come up with a notion of personal and social education which is suitable for the Hong Kong context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT 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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Provides information on broad literature on colonial transition and identify ways in which the Hong Kong pattern does and does not match experiences elsewhere. Patterns of colonial transition; Systems of education in Hong Kong; Autonomy and educational decolonisation prior to the transitional period; Educational changes between 1984 and 1997; Information on continuing transition beyond 1997; Conclusions.

Investigates how both Hong Kong's future after 1997 have influenced education policy and how the resulting policy developments have reflected considerations of politics and economics. Exploration of educational practice and policy by tensions about and aspirations for the future of Hong Kong; Some case studies of links between the 1997 factor and education policy; Conclusions.

The international classroom should be a place where students can gain intercultural competencies, which are increasingly important in a global economy, but there are difficulties facilitating interaction between students from different cultures. Students prefer to work in monocultural groups due to the barriers of language and understanding cultural and academic norms therefore they cannot take advantage of sharing and learning from each other's experiences. To understand how to improve this situation, from a student perspective, a White male student from the UK was sponsored to spend a week studying in Hong Kong and to reflect on his experiences. From this it was found that the induction period was the most important for academic and social integration for all students and should focus on expectations of students, including behavioural aspects such as intercultural communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The research literature linking children's educational outcomes with levels of parental involvement has in many instances resulted in the location of disadvantage being placed on lack of parental involvement, something that has been the case with South Asian parents in Hong Kong (Au, K., Multicultural issues and literacy achievement, Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Association, 2006; Jeynes, W.H., A meta-analysis – The effects of parental involvement on minority children's academic achievement, Education and Urban Society 35: 202–218, 2003; Hau, K.T., Tracking the adaptation and development of non-Chinese speaking children (NCS) in mainstream schools, Retrieved from http://www.edb.gov.hk/FileManager/EN/Content_7065/exe_summary%20eng.pdf, 2008; Tsung, L., Zhang, Q., and Cruickshank, K., Access to majority language and educational outcomes: South Asian background students in postcolonial Hong Kong, Diaspora, Indigenous and Minority Education 4, 1–16, 2010). Purpose: This small-scale research study examines the educational involvement of Pakistani and Nepalese parents, and explores the difficulties and challenges South Asians face to succeed in school. Design and methods: In-depth interviews were conducted with 10 South Asian parents (five Nepalese parents and five Pakistani parents). Interviews were semi-structured and consisted of open-ended questions about parents’ educational aspirations, ability in tutoring children with homework, and arrangement of home-learning activities. Transcribed interviews were subjected to content and thematic analysis. Results and discussion: The findings indicate that South Asian parents, despite high aspirations for the education of their children, feel that they lack the linguistic and cultural capital valued by the mainstream society in Hong Kong. This prevents effective involvement in the education of the children. Conclusion: Understanding the perspectives of the parents offers insights into ways in which access to educational outcomes can be denied in school contexts. It is suggested that there needs to be a greater focus on how inclusion/exclusion operates in school contexts in Hong Kong. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: Recent government initiatives in Hong Kong have focused on raising the participation of students from South Asian backgrounds in mainstream schools, to encourage their further integration into Hong Kong's educational system and society. These students' learning in mainstream schools takes place within the context of the central curriculum and, thus, students face the challenge of learning Chinese as an additional language. Mainstream schools sometimes provide additional support, including the provision of bilingual teaching assistants to address the specific needs of the students from South Asian backgrounds. Purpose: This exploratory study aims to investigate the roles of bilingual teaching assistants in Hong Kong. Method: Interviews were held with two bilingual teaching assistants from the South Asian community in Hong Kong who were working in a mainstream secondary school. Teachers from the school were also interviewed. Open-ended interview questions focused on perceptions of the roles and responsibilities of bilingual teaching assistants in Chinese-language-medium classes. The data were analysed to identify any emergent patterns and themes. Findings: The research findings indicate that the bilingual teaching assistants from the South Asian community not only took on the role of helping the learners from South Asian backgrounds in Chinese language acquisition, but also acted as cultural mediators between mainstream school culture and the culture of the South Asian community in Hong Kong. Conclusions: This small-scale exploratory research study suggests the importance of the role of bilingual teaching assistants in promoting equal access to quality education for ethnic minorities in Hong Kong. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Whilst past studies have established the joint influence of student learning experience and study behaviour on academic achievement, few attempts have been made to determine their causal ordering in a longitudinal framework. Purpose: This study explored the reciprocal relationship between learning experience and study behaviour, and examined their relative impact on university students' academic performance. Sample: Participants were 396 undergraduate students from a university in Hong Kong (191 men, 205 women). Design and methods: Students' learning experience and study behaviour were evaluated using the Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) and the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI). A two-wave cross-lagged structural model was constructed to examine the reciprocal effects between learning experience and study behaviour measured over a 12-month period. Results and conclusions: The findings showed that after controlling for previous academic achievement, student learning experience measured at Time 1 exerted significant influence on study behaviour measured at Time 2, and study behaviour measured at Time 1 also exerted significant impact on learning experience at Time 2. Both constructs were significantly predictive of current academic performance. Conclusions: Results from this study outlined linkages between learning experience and study behaviour in influencing academic achievement. As the current study is based on students from a single university, further studies with different student populations are recommended. The implications of fostering motivation and enhancing university learning experience are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on how education policies in areas such as the medium of instruction and curriculum changed as Singapore moved towards self-government and independence in the 1950s and 1960s. Colonial transition in Singapore and its impact on education; Comparison and contrast of Singapore and Hong Kong; Conclusion.

Analyzes the relationship between the school curriculum and Hong Kong's transition on July 1, 1997 from a British colony to a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Discussion of evident periods in the relationship between the state and the school curriculum; Selection and competition in education in Hong Kong; Civic education in Hong Kong; Emerging of Social Studies as a school subject.