Journal Articles

Politics, culture, and school curriculum: The struggles in Hong Kong

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Title:
Politics, culture, and school curriculum: The struggles in Hong Kong
Authors:
- Ho, Wai Chung Hong Kong Baptist University
Source:
Discourse, 28(2), 139-157, 2007
Publisher:
Routledge
Year Published:
2007
Education Categories:
Keywords:
Foreign Countries Political Attitudes Government School Relationship School Culture Politics of Education Curriculum Political Socialization Hong Kong United Kingdom
Region:
- Hong Kong
Period:
- 1980s
- 1990-1997.6
- 1997.7 onwards
Level:
- Primary Education
- Secondary Education
Abstract:
The purpose of this paper is to describe the Hong Kong (HK) school curriculum, especially the general curriculum for civic education and other social subjects, in relation to the political events of the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, the 1989 Tiananmen Square Incident, and the return of HK's sovereignty from the United Kingdom (UK) to the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1997. This paper will argue that since 1984, the school curriculum of HK has been marked by tensions brought about by political cultures shaped by the UK and the PRC, the bureaucratic mechanisms of which are used to make sure that those curriculum contents that are judged to be politically correct are taught in school. Over the last two decades the school curriculum has been depicted as being shaped by the emergence of the nation-state and the transfer of sovereignty. Granted that political and national education forms part of the school culture, the question of how to shape students to be patriotic through the curriculum will continue to be contentious.
[Copyright of Discourse is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01596300701289045]
Language:
- English
Document Type:
Journal Articles
ISSN:
- 01596306
DOI:
- 10.1080/01596300701289045
Permalink:
https://bibliography.lib.eduhk.hk/en/bibs/43d2bffe
Entry Date:
2010-09-27