Neoliberal challenges in context: A case of Hong Kong

Neoliberal challenges in context: A case of Hong Kong

• Lee, Tsz Lok Trevor The Education University of Hong Kong
• Kwan, Paula The Chinese University of Hong Kong
• Li, Benjamin Yuet Man The Chinese University of Hong Kong

International Journal of Educational Management, 2019

Emerald Publishing Limited

2019

• R Educational Policy & Administration
  • RC Educational Planning & Decision Making Process, Educational Administration
• R Educational Policy & Administration
  • RF School Supervision, Accountability & Inspection: Education Indicators, Privatization of School

Hong Kong Accountability Privatization Neoliberalism Government Expenditure

• Hong Kong

• 1997.7 onwards

• Unknown or Unspecified

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to systematically analyze the neoliberal challenges and problems facing public schools in the particular Hong Kong context.Design/methodology/approach: Based on a systematic and critical analysis on the history and socio-political context of Hong Kong's school policies and practice as well as the official documents and statistics, this paper examines the impacts of neoliberalism in four main aspects of school education in Hong Kong: school governance, accountability, privatization and government expenditure.Findings: Convergence, as well as deviation, on neoliberal globalization occurs in the particular Hong Kong context. School bureaucracy has irresistibly expanded. Policymakers have placed increasing emphasis on instrumentally evaluating schools while decentralizing, diversifying and privatizing education. School leadership has become focused solely on succeeding within those imposed performance management and metrics, pulling ahead of school competitions and prioritizing easily quantifiable and measurable tasks. Teachers have faced a potential threat from the loss of autonomy through the market logic and consumerist metrics. The rise of privatized education has further intensified school practices based on competitiveness and performativity. On the other hand, resource cutbacks and financial constraints – problems that are generally inflicted by neoliberal discourse – have rarely occurred in Hong Kong.Research limitations/implications: This study is part of concerted efforts in research that adopts the comparative and critical perspectives emerging from different social contexts to consider and flesh out how neoliberalism look across the school systems, how it challenges the systems differently, and how it evokes various responses from within the systems (Apple, 2001). Taken all the efforts together, a finely nuanced understanding of the trails of neoliberalism can help collectively re-discover school education as a social good, and collectively re-imagine and reshape alternatives for the future.Originality/value: This paper offers an international and comparative perspective and further nuances to an understanding of how neoliberal policies and ideology are recontextualized in countries across the globe given particularities of different local contexts. Copyright © 2019 Emerald Publishing Limited.

• English

Journal Articles

• 0951354X

• 10.1108/IJEM-06-2019-0220

https://bibliography.lib.eduhk.hk/bibs/5743246f

2020-05-18