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This study evaluated the effects of a comprehensive school-based sexuality education programme in enhancing sexual health knowledge and understanding among adolescents, parents and school personnel in six secondary schools in Hong Kong. Study outcomes were evaluated through pre- and post-tests. A total of 1588 students, 40 parents and 271 school personnel participated. Baseline student knowledge scores were highest among younger students, with significant improvements observed in both years for all grades except one. Baseline student attitude scores were = 85% for younger students, with no significant improvement, while older students showed significant improvements. Parents scored below 40% correct at baseline for knowledge items, while self-efficacy items were generally higher. Baseline teacher knowledge scores were higher than parents, but self-efficacy scores were comparable or lower. Baseline guidance counsellors' surveys indicated low confidence levels and awareness of community resources to support students. This study identified a clear need for sexuality education in Hong Kong and a special focus on students in schools traditionally serving a high proportion of non-Chinese speaking students. The programme has significant potential for expansion in Hong Kong schools as well as for dissemination in Mainland China.

As the territory's sole public service broadcaster and a government department, Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) bears a dual responsibility for disseminating information to the public and in assisting in constructing how the public understands emerging issues and marginalized social groups. This paper analyzes how neurodivergent individuals are (re)presented in "A Wall-less World," RTHK's decade-long television series dedicated to promoting social inclusiveness. We find that by using different filming genres, plots, and narratives, the series exposes and negotiates different understandings about disability and perspectives about the lived experience of neurodivergent individuals. Given RTHK's unique position in the industry, and more generally in Hong Kong, we argue that the series perform a social service function to inform their viewers by engaging and shaping the public discourse gradually towards the neurodiversity paradigm. We also suggest future directions for practitioners and researchers to continue to engage and advocate for the neurodivergent community.

Dialogue journals are written conversations in which two partners communicate regularly. When practiced between a teacher and student, dialogue journaling has the potential to engage students in writing, and can lead to improved teacher-student rapport. In this "Innovations in Practice" article, we evaluate the use of structured dialogue journals between a student teacher and his English as a Second Language (ESL) students during a seven-week teaching practicum at a local secondary school in Hong Kong. The aim of this practice was for the teacher to engage with students on a personal level, thereby enhancing teacher--student rapport -- an otherwise challenging goal during short-term school placements. The dialogue journals were designed to elicit students' learning experiences, other out-of-class life experiences, and personal interests, which, when reciprocated with teachers' comments, created a dialogic context for improving open and honest teacher-student communication in English. In this practice, a total of 11 rounds of dialogue journals were administered and completed throughout the teaching practicum period. An evaluation of the practice was based on an analysis of the dialogue journal entries, semi-structured interviews with students, and the student teacher's own reflection. Implications of this practice are discussed in terms of the possibilities for ESL/English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers to use dialogue journals for enhancing teacher-student rapport.

Concerns of equity with respect to the community college model in East Asia persist in educational research. In this study, we described and analysed students' "lived experience" in community colleges in Hong Kong in terms of the "warming up" or "cooling out" of their educational desire. Semistructured interviews with 14 graduates of community colleges in Hong Kong were conducted to determine how their experiences at community colleges affected their educational expectations and the extent to which community colleges help students reconsider their educational disadvantages in a competitive, meritocratic and massified higher education system. The qualitative interview data were inductively thematised into four aspects of college experience in relation to their educational expectations. The data revealed that Hong Kong's community colleges help some students develop their capabilities and change their educational expectations through democratic admissions, liberal pedagogic environments, learner-centred formative assessment and student services for strategic university articulation. Rather than cooling-out students' educational desire (characterised by gradual disengagement, objective denial, alternative achievement), community colleges in Hong Kong provide a second chance for failing and disadvantaged students to pursue a university education, but this warming-up function applies only to students who benefitted from the liberal mode of assessment and discovered and developed their academic capabilities in their college experience. The paper ends with a critical analysis of the problem of such warming up of educational desire and the extent to which community colleges can empower disadvantaged students for a good life.

During the turbulent 2018-19 school year, we researched Hong Kong teachers' perceptions regarding the design and implementation of National Education in schools for students aged 12-17. We seek to make a contribution to understandings of aspects of the cultural, political and social dimensions and contexts relevant to teacher education. 41 civic and/or national education teachers were interviewed about their educational aims, content, teaching methods and assessment approaches. Teachers believe National Education should deliver and assess knowledge of China and nurture students' identification with the nation through teaching Chinese culture and history via a balanced pedagogical approach and experiential learning. They discuss the relationship between Hong Kong and China, and conclude that teaching about the Chinese government is unavoidable. This indicates that in addition to teachers' long established cultural, civic and cosmopolitan forms of nationalism, they are now using national unity and economy-induced nationalism to frame their professional work. These findings are significant because they indicate teachers' fundamental and educational characterisations of National Education at this crucial juncture of Hong Kong; highlight the issues that should be considered for any programme of initial or in-service teacher education; and, ultimately, indicate the nature of what may possibly be implemented in schools.

This article conveys the results of a reflexive investigation of the managerial practices and entrepreneurial discourses that shape the academic trajectories of early career scholars. Beginning with the experiences of early career scholars in research-intensive universities in Canada and Hong Kong, the authors explore some of the social and political-economic relations that are reshaping higher education systems across the world. Drawing on experiences navigating university governance, funding and performance management processes, the authors explore how participation in the marketised relations of higher education inserts people into competition with colleagues within and beyond a single university context, instrumentalises and constrains relationships with civil sector collaborators, and produces a shared sense that nothing one does is ever enough. In this way, the article illuminates some of the ways a new global knowledge economy conditions academic life.

This research study contributes to understanding teachers' perceptions and views of using controversial issues and political neutrality in teaching, through an analysis of data gathered through questionnaire responses in a wider project and 41 semi-structured interviews. There are diversified views about the relationship between controversial issues and education. Some teachers feel that it is impossible to avoid controversial issues and that using them is educationally necessary. Three approaches were identified regarding their teaching of controversial issues: 'open', 'critical', and 'committed'. The authors argue that teachers' actions are influenced by factors which are discussed as 'contextual', 'political', and 'pedagogical'. Teachers operate in specific places and times, have their own views about the nature of the good society, and prioritize their professional responsibilities. These findings contribute to our understandings of the teachers' viewpoints and how those views are shaped. Such understandings will contribute to the development of reflective education policy and practice.

Declining employment prospects of graduates have been reported in the international literature and in Hong Kong. This casts doubts on the 'employability' of graduates of an expanding higher education sector. Yet, published patterns and trends of graduate employment outcomes do not tell us much about the contextualised processes that 'match' or 'mismatch' graduates' qualifications with 'appropriate' graduate jobs. This paper addresses this research gap through examining lived experience and subjectivities of college/university-to-work transition of 10 graduates of self-financing degree-awarding institutions in Hong Kong, which were derived from a study of 40 local young workers in 2018. Drawing upon 'positioning' and 'processual' perspectives on 'employability', this paper sheds light on the nebulous, mutually constituted nature of the skills demanded by employers in workplace. Also, highlighting the tensions discerned in interview narratives, it elucidates the difficulties for graduates to present their skills as 'directly' transferable to the workplace. Graduates' interpretations of (their) 'employability' reveal the differential values attached to ('technical' vs. 'non-technical') skills, (degree vs. sub-degree) qualifications and (self-financing vs. publicly funded) institutions constructed in the specific context of local higher education development. Implications for further research, assessment of higher education functioning and career services are discussed.

The paper draws upon a collaborative action research project using Photovoice aiming at empowering participants to voice and critically reflect by thinking deeply about their context and difficulties, and using images to foster critical consciousness. Nineteen prospective teachers in a Hong Kong public university participated in this collaborative action research project. Findings highlight the obstacles and concerns that prospective teachers faced, core reflections, and action plans for overcoming such challenges. This study demonstrates the feasibility of using Photovoice to facilitate reflective dialogues in developing professional teachers in initial teacher education.

In the existing literature of knowledge exchange (KE) and higher education, there is limited but emerging cluster of research which undertakes a comprehensive analysis of various types of higher education institutions and patterns of KE engagement. Employing the empirical example of Hong Kong, this paper examines the interconnections between institutional types and patterns of knowledge exchange (KE) activities in the context of a global city. It found that during the short history of KE policies and activities, all public universities in Hong Kong have been building their capacities for this new intellectual premise in the last decade. Meanwhile, disciplinary comprehensiveness and research/education intensity of the universities affect their institutional responses to the global trend of KE. The typology of higher education institutions suggested by this paper puts forward a perspective to further understand the institutional patterns of KE in the twenty-first century.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to highlight the urgent need for a genuinely effective and attainable citizenship education model in Hong Kong's schools, which focusses on promoting student participation in school governance. It is an empirical citizenship education management model for school leaders that illustrates the predictive effects of personally responsible, participatory, justice-oriented and patriotic citizenship, necessarily supported by school management practices, school ethos and teacher beliefs. Design/methodology/approach: A total of 3,209 students from 51 secondary schools in Hong Kong participated in a quasi-experimental design questionnaire survey. A structural equation model (SEM) was applied to confirm the model. Findings: The results of the SEM show that the values and cultural practices held by a school's teachers drive the implementation of its citizenship education. Moreover, it is well known that organizational values can exert a powerful influence and it is the same within educational structures: management practices in schools have an impact on ethos, teachers' beliefs and student participation in school governance. Practical implications: The paper provides practical proposals for school leaders to create opportunities for student participation in school governance. Originality/value: This study builds on existing literature and provides school leaders with a practical model for implementing student participation in school governance.

In this essay, Chung-Hin Kevin Ho, a history education university student in Hong Kong, narrates his search for civic identity. Composed through a process of critical and reflective dialogue with Hayes Tang, the essay describes the tension between Chung-Hin's Chinese ethnic and cultural identity and the democratic values held by Hong Kongers. As a student, he and his peers had to navigate these competing conceptions of identity in their coursework and examinations. The youth of Hong Kong, including Chung-Hin, have protested against the Chinese government, and have fought to protect the values of Hong Kong. As a future educator, Chung-Hin has advice for the government administrations of both Hong Kong and China: work with Hong Kongers to help them "build their own house." Chung-Hin argues that if Hong Kong is to become closer to China, it cannot be done through force or propaganda. Further, Chung-Hin contends that education initiatives that change the history curriculum of Hong Kong schools is not enough to bring the youth of the city to heel. Chung-Hin's experiences, and his own understanding of history education in Hong Kong, have helped him see that the values of Hong Kongers need to be respected if there is any hope of gaining their trust and acceptance. In this timely essay, Chung-Hin highlights how government policies and historical legacies have shaped his personal experience and educational trajectory in Hong Kong, as well as the other students who are a part of the largest youth protest movement in recent memory.

This paper provides a critical account of the role of universities in the development of innovation and technology in Hong Kong.To do so, the paper examines the political economy of Hong Kong's innovation and technology development. It outlines a finance-led regime, under which the vision of long-term innovation initiatives is transformed into short-term finance events, and the development of an entrepreneurial culture in society and in universities is neglected. The paper also suggests that the current research funding system and the rise of managerialism in the higher education sector restrict the development of academic entrepreneurship, though universities play a significant role in the innovation system. The paper closes by examining the recent changes in higher education policy and governance, the intensification of integration with mainland China and their implications for prospects of advocating a culture of innovation and promoting innovation and technology in Hong Kong.

To examine the key factors that lead to effective implementation of school-wide behavior interventions, this study examined the extent to which school-wide behavior interventions were implemented in four Hong Kong schools. The study also explored Hong Kong teachers' beliefs about behavioral and social skill programs for secondary students with social, emotional, and behavioral difficulties. Findings indicated that the adoption of behavioral and social skill programs were common practices in schools and that the majority of participants in the present study believed that behavioral and social skill programs should be implemented in schools at an early stage. Furthermore, findings suggested that it is important to consider the interrelationship of professional, strategic, contextual, and attitudinal factors that support students' social competence and minimize their challenging behavior.

To examine the key factors that lead to effective implementation of school-wide behavior interventions, this study examined the extent to which school-wide behavior interventions were implemented in four Hong Kong schools. The study also explored Hong Kong teachers' beliefs about behavioral and social skill programs for secondary students with social, emotional, and behavioral difficulties. Findings indicated that the adoption of behavioral and social skill programs were common practices in schools and that the majority of participants in the present study believed that behavioral and social skill programs should be implemented in schools at an early stage. Furthermore, findings suggested that it is important to consider the interrelationship of professional, strategic, contextual, and attitudinal factors that support students' social competence and minimize their challenging behavior. (Contains 4 tables.)

This article examines the significance of global trends in higher education (HE) development in Hong Kong between 1997 and 2012. Two trends, massification and internationalisation, are considered key driving forces that shaped Hong Kong's HE policy during the period. The former refers to government measures to widen participation in HE. The latter is associated with Hong Kong's regional education hub strategy. Universities in the city revised their governance structure in these contexts. The article first explains why massification and internationalisation entered the HE policy discourse in Hong Kong in the late 1990s, and how they were materialised by neoliberal practices in the 2000s. Subsequently, it reveals how the two trends influenced university governance by examining the development of the University of Hong Kong Group. Based on this review, this article argues that the HE development can be perceived as an extension of structural transformation of the Hong Kong economy.

Objectives: This is an exploratory study to examine the relations among self-esteem, oral health behaviours and clinical oral health status in Chinese adults. In addition, gender differences in clinical oral health status and oral health behaviours were explored. Methods: Participants were 192 patients from a private dental clinic in Hong Kong aged between 18 and 67 years. Prior to oral health examination, participants completed a questionnaire about their oral health behaviours and the Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale. A dentist and a registered dental hygienist examined their tooth condition and clinical oral health status. Results: Participants with high self-esteem had better clinical oral health status than participants with low self-esteem despite no difference in their oral health behaviours. Male participants flossed less frequently than female participants but there was no difference in their clinical oral health status. Linear regression analyses showed that only self-esteem was, but gender, age, and tooth conditions were not, a significant predictor of clinical oral health status. Conclusions: In general, Chinese adults in Hong Kong had satisfactory oral health behaviours. Chinese adults with high self-esteem had better clinical oral health status than those with low self-esteem. However, oral health behaviours did not differ by level of self-esteem. Implications for implementing psychosocial elements in oral health education were discussed.

Body donation is important for medical education and academic research. However, it is relatively rare in Hong Kong when compared with many Western countries. Comprehensive research has been performed on the motivation for body donation in Western countries; however, there is still insufficient research on body donation in Hong Kong to provide information on how to increase the body-donation rate. To understand the factors involved in the decision to donate one's body, the authors interviewed a registered donor and the daughter of another donor in Hong Kong. The authors interpreted the information collected in light of the available published reports, which mostly focus on body donation in Western countries. Despite the consistency of some demographic factors and motivations between the participants in our study and those investigated in the published reports from Western countries, there are differences in education level and socioeconomic status between the donors in our study and those from Western studies. The authors also suggest that Confucianism and Buddhism in Chinese culture may motivate potential body donors in Hong Kong. Other important factors that influence the body-donation decision may include family members' body donation, registration as organ donors, and good doctor-patient relationships. Although case report studies have their limitations, this study allows us to explore the complexity of events and establish the interconnectivity of factors involved in body donation, which could not be achieved in previous survey-based studies.

This study aimed to determine the educational needs of members of the public and related professional disciplines in order to improve health literacy in elderly issues. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2007; 2,694 subjects were recruited from the noninstitutional Hong Kong population aged 16 years and over. Undergraduate students of health care professions, professionals working at the hospitals, and the seniors were purposefully over-sampled. Results showed significant knowledge gaps and misconceptions. The gaps were more prevalent with increasing age in general, although they also existed among health care professionals. Public education should target the revealed areas of knowledge gaps and misconceptions. (Contains 2 tables.)