This article demonstrates how a Hong Kong primary school enlists students (aged 6 to 12 years) in school governance by having a student council and by creating a supportive learning context, including building a supportive ethos and offering training for student leaders. The significance of this study lies in its reporting of a successful case of a student council in a primary school and the impacts on the civic qualities of the students involved. This is an attempt at investigating: the educational impacts of a student council in a primary school setting in a Chinese context; and the collaboration between schools, teachers and a service provider in nurturing a school ethos and context favourable for student engagement. This study argues that although primary school students are young, they are able to speak up and act as office bearers in a student council in an effective way. They can contribute towards school governance by conveying informed views on school matters. A supportive school context consisting of favourable attitudes taken up by school parties, namely the school governing board, principal, teachers and students, is crucial. Hopefully, the study can shed light to the international communities on the nurturing of citizens through active participation in school community at an early age to have the competence to know, think, act, reflect and care in a new political environment marked by uncertainty and increasing political polarization. Copyright © 2018 Intellect Ltd Article. English language.

Guided by the “opportunity–propensity” (O‐P) framework, this study explores how immigrant status might affect students’ civic knowledge through an antecedent factor (socioeconomic status [SES]), opportunity factors (civic learning at school and civic participation at school), and propensity factors (perceived open classroom climate, perceived student–teacher relationship, and perceived importance of conventional citizenship). The data were taken from the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) 2016. The sample comprised 2,544 eighth graders from Hong Kong. Results of two‐level path analysis showed that, at the student level, mainland Chinese immigrant grant students had a higher level of civic knowledge. Although perceived open classroom climate and perceived importance of conventional citizenship were found to be two positive mediators and family SES (via civic learning at school) was a negative mediator, the mediation effects at the student level were quite small. In contrast, quite a large amount of variance was explained at the school level: School‐aggregated immigrant status was positively linked to school‐aggregated civic knowledge and negatively via school‐aggregated students’ family SES via school‐aggregated civic learning. Copyright © 2019 The Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

This chapter explores different factors that contribute to the school failure of ethnic minority young people in Hong Kong. It draws on a case study approach based on 15 in-depth interviews with 11 “out of school” ethnic minority young people, of whom 6 were dropouts, 4 were at risk of dropping out, and 1 never attended a school. It was also augmented with an additional 22 in-depth interviews with 20 other stakeholders related to ethnic minority education including 3 principals, 6 teachers and support staff, 3 school social workers and NGO professionals, 2 government officials, 3 ethnic minority community leaders, and 3 parents. Several themes were created using schema analysis that help explain different factors making them “out of school.” It has been common to attribute school failure for ethnic minority students in Hong Kong to problems with Chinese language education, yet this study shows that a number of other interrelated factors contributed to their lack of successful schooling. The key influences are multilevel – with individuals themselves, within families, within schools, and within the community. Implications are drawn at the levels of policy, practice, and theory to better support ethnic minority young people’s schooling success in Hong Kong. Copyright © 2019 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

After the “National Education” issue arose in Hong Kong in 2012, the Hong Kong Government “shelved” the Moral and National Education Curriculum Guide. However, the government still claimed that national education would be implemented via different formats. One of the main objectives of national education would be to promote a sense of patriotism regarding (Communist) China, and to teach students about their Chinese “national identities”. However, some of the students in the public schools in Hong Kong are members of ethnic minorities: Pakistanis, Nepalese, Filipinos, etc. The Education Bureau of Hong Kong has designated certain schools which should cater to these students' educational needs, and the students are being taught the official curriculum, the same as the local students. This paper will examine the national education curriculum of these “designated schools”, in order to analyze the ways in which, and the extent to which, this curriculum will promote the establishment of a “national identity” for these ethnic minority students. Copyright © 2018 APNME.

有關中文二語的教學研究，世界各地在教材和教法方面都有卓越的成就。無論開發教材或探索有效的教學途徑，都必需一個目標清晰的課程，做為教與學的規範，以致評量學習成果及教育資歷的依據。過去十多年，中文二語教學在香港漸趨多元化，外籍學生有學習讀寫繁體字而聽說粵語者，也有學習讀寫繁體字而聽說普通話者，甚或學習讀寫簡化字而聽說普通話者，學習中文的媒介語言完全視乎入讀學校的取向而定。對只是過境香港的外籍學生而言，學習中文與升學和就業的關係或許不大；但對在香港出生和打算在香港長期生活的外籍學生來說，能否學好中文，影響則極其深遠。按 2016 年中期人口統計報告，香港的外籍少數族裔主要包括菲律賓人、印尼人、白人、印度人、尼泊爾人、巴基斯坦人、泰國人和日本人等，各佔總人口 2.5% 至0.1%不等，這些家庭語言並非中文的少數族裔學生為數一萬多人，就讀於不同的本地學校。除了應付日常生活外，中文還是這些學生在香港升學和就業必須跨越的門檻。隨著少數族裔的人口逐步增加，如何處理非華語學生的中文教育問題越趨迫切。要徹底解決非華語學生的中文教育問題，社會輿論對設置中文二語課程有強烈的呼聲，因為學校難以在非華語學生身上實以中文為母語的語文課程原則、策和建議。本來非華語學生學習一些基本的中文口語，已經可以用中文與人溝通，掌握「基本人際溝通能」，但要運用中文學習其他知，卻要增加大量語彙，並培養和心智發展相應的讀寫能，才能達致「認知學術語言水平」。本文關注的是，如何在中文二語課程闕如的情況下，提高學生發展認知學術語言的效能。雖然輿論沸沸揚揚，直接面對教學考驗的始終是前線教師。為此，通過訪問教師所得的啟示，本文建議在非華語學生中文課程中結合小學常科的相關學習內容（例如：個人、家庭、學校、社會事物等），為調適非華語學生中文課程作嶄新嘗試。 Copyright © 2018 國立臺灣師範大學.

This longitudinal study examined the association between Chinese children's coping strategies and depressive symptoms within the context of the transition from preschool to primary school in Hong Kong. Research Findings: Principal component analyses of children's strategies for coping with stress during the transition to school revealed three factors: negative coping, positive coping, and distraction. Children's strategies were moderately stable over time, but the relationship between coping and depressive symptoms differed for boys and girls. Girls' positive coping strategies at Time 1 predicted fewer depressive symptoms at Time 2, whereas girls' use of distraction positively predicted later depressive symptoms. Boys' depressive symptoms at Time 1 predicted negative coping strategies at Time 2. The present findings show that distraction may not always be an effective way to help young children reduce depressive symptoms, and that coping strategies may have a greater impact on reducing later depression risk for girls than for boys. Practice or Policy: Implications for future studies and practices are discussed at the end of this paper. This study provides information for educators and government and non-government organizations in developing programs to help children with effective coping strategies during their first year at school. Copyright © 2018 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Hong Kong, along with other Asian societies with universities with top world rankings, has in recent years attracted an increasing number of international students, mainly from Asia. Previous research in English-speaking Western countries has indicated the importance of resources, including language proficiency, positive intergroup relations, and social support, in understanding international students’ stress and coping in cross-cultural adaptation. Guided by a similar acculturative stress and coping framework, we investigated predictors of psychological and sociocultural adaptation in a survey sample of 726 international students (62% female and 73% Asian-born) from Hong Kong public universities. We found that English language proficiency, social support, and a low level of perceived discrimination fostered both types of cross-cultural adaptation, while contact with local students and proficiency in the local dialect further enhanced sociocultural adaptation. Implications for future acculturation research and higher education internationalization policies and practices are discussed. Copyright © 2019 European Association for International Education.

The purpose of this paper is to document the experiences of program implementers of the Project P.A.T.H.S. in Hong Kong. Thirteen program implementers from three schools were invited to participate in three focus groups to discuss their views on the Tier 1 Program (Secondary Three Level) of the project. All program implementers regarded the program as beneficial to the program participants in different psychosocial domains, particularly interpersonal and personal levels. The program implementers also perceived the program positively and positive metaphors were used to represent the program. Consistent with the previous research findings, the present study provides evidence that support the effectiveness of the Tier 1 Program of the Project P.A.T.H.S. in promoting holistic development in Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong. Copyright © 2010 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin New York.

The implementation quality of the Tier 1 Program (Secondary 1 Program) of the Project P.A.T.H.S. in the third year of the Full Implementation Phase was examined in this study, with classroom observations of 233 units in 157 schools. Results demonstrated that the overall level of program adherence was generally high with an average of 72.96%. A total of 13 aspects regarding program delivery were significantly correlated. Multiple regression analyses indicated that overall implementation quality was significantly predicted by student participation and involvement, classroom control, use of positive and supportive feedback, degree of achievement of the objectives, and time management. Student participation and involvement, classroom control, degree of achievement of the objectives, and time management were significant predictors of success of implementation. Copyright © 2011 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston.

This study examined the implementation quality of the Tier 1 Program (Secondary 1 Curriculum) delivered in the second year of the Full Implementation Phase of the Project P.A.T.H.S. (Positive Adolescent Training through Holistic Social Programmes). Under the "Co-Walker Scheme", systematic observation of curriculum units was conducted in 138 schools. Results indicated that the overall level of program adherence was high, with an average of 82.9%. The mean ratings of the program implementation quality were also high. Despite limitations, the findings of this study suggest that the implementation of the Secondary 1 Program (Tier 1 Program) of the Full Implementation Phase was of very high quality. The present findings also provide strong evidence to account for the successful and encouraging outcomes of a major positive youth development program in Hong Kong. Copyright © 2009 with author. Published by TheScientificWorld.