The extant literature on parental involvement in the university choice process sheds light on the positive impact of parents' social capital on enrolment. Little research captures the complex dynamics of parental social capital that might within certain sociocultural and economic contexts compound the effects on university choice and access. This study contributes insight to address this gap, from the context of Hong Kong. It administered a questionnaire survey to 139 students and examined the role of parental social capital in students' university aspirations. Moderated multiple regression analysis and simple slope analysis revealed that parent-student involvement – a main composite of parental social capital – weakened rather than strengthened the effect of parents' cultural capital on the students' educational aspirations. This study cautions us against a context-independent stance towards the value of parental social capital and warrants future research and policy work on how to optimise parental involvement in education. Copyright © 2023 Taylor & Francis.

Despite a hypothesized link between family conflict and school bullying perpetration, previous findings on the direct association have been inconsistent. It has been argued that affiliation with delinquent peers may be a potential psychosocial mechanism mediating the relationships between family conflict and school perpetration. However, such a proposition has not been examined employing longitudinal panel data. Using longitudinal panel data (two waves with a 9-month interval) from Hong Kong collected from 424 lower secondary students (grades 7–9), this study examined how affiliation with delinquent peers mediates the relationships between family conflict and adolescent school perpetration. The results of the half-longitudinal mediation model indicated no significant link between family conflict at T1 and school bullying perpetration at T2. However, family conflict at T1 was indirectly linked to school bullying perpetration at T2 through affiliation with delinquent peers. The findings imply that affiliation with delinquent peers mediates the association between family conflict and adolescent school bullying perpetration. The findings provide insights into the future development of policies and interventions to reduce school bullying perpetration. Copyright © 2023 The Author(s).

This article analyses the study-abroad identity of Central Asian undergraduate students in a Hong Kong university. It draws on the narrative data to explore the intercultural tensions and challenges they faced in the higher education context, as well as the impact of their study-abroad experiences on their identity-making when integrating into the receiving society. Drawing on Herzfeld’s (2005) concept of cultural intimacy, this article explains the students’ limited participation in local Hong Kong communities and their strong connection to the small, diasporic Central Asian network. It also reveals the co-existence of post-Soviet national identities and a cohesive Central Asian identity in the participants’ identity-making processes. Copyright © 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Despite the mounting evidence supporting the effectiveness of short-term study abroad programs (such as Service-Learning programs) on university students’ development, few studies have been conducted to explore the impact of short-term study in China programs on young people from Hong Kong. This study employed a qualitative design method to examine the impact of three types of short-term study programs in China—summer school, cultural tour, and service-learning—on Hong Kong university students’ development and to explore both the facilitators of, and the barriers to, the impact of the programs. A total of 42 students from 17 short-term study in China programs were interviewed individually. Results showed that all three types of short-term study in China programs were perceived by participants as having a positive impact on their intercultural competence as well as their perceptions of, and attitudes toward, the Nation and Chinese people. Participants of service-learning programs also demonstrated enhanced global citizenship. However, these programs did not have any significant impact on their perceived identities as Hong Kong or Chinese citizens. Individual and program factors that facilitated or impeded the student’s gains from the programs were identified. These findings provide pioneer evidence for the positive impacts of short-term study in China programs on Hong Kong local university students and for the improvement of the current programs as well as the development of new programs in the future. Copyright © 2023 The Author(s).

The phenomenological qualitative study was conducted to present the in-depth and collective individual experiences in this study. The aim of the study was to uncover the essences of lived experiences of the caregivers with rearing their children in secondary school.Due to the nature of studying a marginalized community, purposeful sampling was adopted to recruit the informants who have the experiences of bringing up a child with diagnosed with dyslexia, and their child had experienced in local secondary schools in Hong Kong. Over the period 2017-19, twelve parents were invited and finally involved in the in-depth interviews. Consent form was conducted before the interview, and the researcher informed all informants the interview processes and the purpose of the study before the interviews through the phone and/or email.Qualitative data analyses through a software package Nvivo. Seven overarching themes were yielded, 1) Feeling frustrated in parent-school collaboration; 2) Feeling discriminated about their children’s experience; 3) Facing emotional difficulties in care-taking; 4) Feeling relieved and be more reflective; 5) Feeling powerless but critical to the education system and Confucian culture; 6) Feeling stressful in financial support; and 7) Feeling resilient in difficult time. The result revealed that parents of children with dyslexia were quite common to have unpleasant experiences in collaboration with schools, encountered misunderstandings and conflicts. They often felt worried, stressful, helpless, powerless, and discriminated in school, even in society, but resilient at the end. In the process of collaboration, although they have not much positive experience in cooperation with schools, most of them finally become stronger to face various difficulties in their lives.The current findings should be a signal to the education bureau to review their policy who promote the inclusive education in Hong Kong. In addition, educators, parents, school counsellor, school

跨文化敏感度指在跨文化交際中應對文化差異的情感能力。提高國際漢語教育專業學生的跨文化敏感度對於他們未來有效教授多元文化背景的學生至關重要。本研究以針對國際漢語教育專業碩士生（准教師）的修訂版跨文化敏感度量表（ISS）為研究工具，調查了132位就讀於香港、北京、珠海三所大學的國際漢語教育碩士生的跨文化敏感度及其影響因素。結果表明：參與研究的國際漢語教育專業碩士生跨文化敏感度整體處於中高水平。香港地區被試跨文化敏感度顯著高於北京、珠海兩地。年齡、過往跨文化培訓經驗、國際漢語教師教齡、學生國籍、境外旅行次數與國外生活時長、外國朋友數量與聯繫頻率對跨文化敏感度有顯著影響。 Copyright © 2023 香港教育大學.

Students’ beliefs of whether intelligence is innate (fixed mindset) or changeable (growth mindset) vastly influence their learning behavior and willingness to persist in face of academic setbacks. Much research effort has been devoted to examining growth mindset interventions in Western countries, but relatively little is known about the impact of mindset interventions on students in the Chinese cultural context where beliefs regarding effort have already been an ingrained part of one’s cultural heritage. The present study examined the effectiveness of a growth mindset intervention on changing students’ mindsets, and also grit, and behavioural tendency as secondary constructs. A sample of community college students (n = 49) in Hong Kong participated in the study where they were randomly assigned to control or experimental group. Intervention materials used in the experimental group involved a text that introduces the concept of growth mindset, followed by writing tasks to deepen understanding. Instruments measuring mindset, grit and behavioral tendency for remedial actions were used before and after the intervention to track changes. Furthermore, students’ self-perception of academic failure and their actual academic performance were used as covariates in the analysis. Repeated measure MANCOVA (2 groups × 2 time points) for growth and fixed mindset, when self-perception of academic failure was controlled, showed significant interaction effect; in particular, the significant interaction effect on mindset was attributed to a greater degree of decrease of growth mindset in control group when compared to their experimental counterparts; whereas no other significant interaction effects was found in other dependent measures even when covariates were controlled. Results yielded both theoretical and educational implications on the design of ‘growth mindset interventions for specific group of students in the Chinese cultural context. Many practitioners may dismiss the effectiveness

This study contributes to the Western-normed whole-day versus half-day kindergarten debate with Asian-focused evidence from a longitudinal study on parental perceptions, needs, and decisions in the privatised kindergarten marketplace in Hong Kong. The parents of children attending the whole-day and half-day programmes were surveyed in the first two years of kindergarten. Both programmes were perceived to possess distinctive qualities and parents reflected an effortful quest for an optimal home–work–life balance. Two-step cluster analysis identified three parent profiles – the Slightest Needs, the Moderate Needs, and the Urgent Needs – differentiated by family income, parents' occupation and education, and residence ownership. Finally, logistic regression analyses predicting parental decisions found a shift from a socioeconomic orientation to an educational orientation. The findings indicate that the ‘either or’ thinking in this debate is problematic as what parents need is not the ‘best’ programme but the best ‘fit’. The 4As approach – allocation, affordability, availability, and accessibility, was proposed for policy refinement to cater for evolving societal, familial, and educational dynamics.

Background: Little is known about the progression of obesity from childhood to adolescence. This study aimed to longitudinally examine the obesity status in a cohort of children across their childhood and adolescence, and to identify the factors associated with persistent obesity. Methods: The study used data from School Physical Fitness Award Scheme (SPFAS), a population-based programme in Hong Kong primary and secondary schools. Students were included if they participated in the SPFAS in both 2014 (Primary 1 and 2) and 2018 (Primary 5 and 6). Their anthropometric and physical fitness parameters were analyzed. Results: A total of 18,863 students were included. The baseline prevalence of obesity was 5.7 %. After 4 years, the prevalence increased to 6.7 %. Among those with obesity at baseline, 35.3 % remained obese after 4 years. The addition of baseline physical fitness level did not improve the prediction for persistent obesity. Conclusions: One-third of obese students in junior primary school remained to be obese into adolescence. Their baseline physical fitness level did not improve the predictive value for future obesity. Further studies should investigate the prognostic factors that may influence the natural course of childhood obesity.

Research Findings: Early childhood educators’ own disposition has been suggested to contribute to their ability to promote physical literacy (PL) in young children. There is currently limited evidence of educators’ own PL, and studies have not explored how PL relates to teaching knowledge and behaviors in the early childhood education (ECE) context. This current study examined the relationships of teachers’ perceived PL with their self-efficacy and perceived professional competence in relation to promoting physical activities in ECE settings. A total of 338 early childhood educators from Hong Kong responded to an online survey that consisted of the Perceived Physical Literacy Inventory (PPLI), Chinese version of the Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale (C-TSE(R)), and Teachers’ Professional Competence (TPC) questionnaire. The findings revealed that educators’ perceived PL is moderately associated with self-efficacy and professional competence when conducting physical activities in ECE contexts. The PL attributes of self-expression and communication, and knowledge and understanding were significant predictors of educators’ self-efficacy in classroom management and teaching strategies, as well as their professional knowledge and attitudes. Practice or Policy: The findings suggest that ECE teachers’ training should consider aspects of their own PL to enable their self-efficacy and perceived competence for conducting physical activities in ECE settings and thereby promote the PL of young children. Copyright © 2023 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.