The growing incidence of mental health problems in adolescents is a significant global concern. School-based counselling, where a student meets with an individual, trained counsellor a number of times in a school setting, is a common component of holistic mental health programmes to support the well-being of students. In Hong Kong, however, professional counselling is in general not well-developed, and school-based counselling has been severely under-researched. Drawing on data from interviews with 8 counsellors and 25 student clients in local secondary schools, the present study aims to investigate the perspectives of counsellors and clients on the practice of school-based counselling in Hong Kong. Following a thematic approach, the study compares the key themes identified in the reflections of counsellors and clients on their experience of counselling. Similarities and differences in the discursive construction and realisation of themes are examined in detail. Representative examples are discussed in context to illustrate the views from both the service providers and users of school-based counselling. Findings from this study will inform and enhance understanding of how school-based counselling can help to promote the mental well-being of students in the local educational setting and in the broader Asian context. Copyright © 2020 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Around the world the prevalence of mathematics anxiety and disengagement point to a poor sense of student 'mathematical wellbeing'. Mathematical wellbeing is defined here as the fulfilment of one's ultimate or core values, accompanied by positive feelings and functioning in mathematics education. Yet student wellbeing and how to support it in specific school subjects including mathematics is vastly under-researched. Also, despite outperforming other countries in international mathematics assessments, East Asian students generally appear to experience poor affect and high academic burden in mathematics education, which are indicative of poor mathematical wellbeing. In this context, this explorative and descriptive study investigates the values that are associated with the mathematical wellbeing of a cohort of Chinese primary school students. 258 Grade three students in Chengdu, China responded to a questionnaire which explored teacher-nominated mathematics learning moments that students valued most for their mathematical wellbeing. Findings pointed to students valuing all the learning moments to some extent, with good grades, fun and interest, mathematics-themed videos, and teacher praise rated most commonly for wellbeing. The values underlying these learning moments are similar to the seven mathematical wellbeing dimensions found in Australian classrooms. The findings also highlight the cultural subjectivities involved, in which the same classroom actions can reflect different underlying values across cultures, and in which a particular value can be espoused in different ways in different places. We also look ahead to suggest how teachers might support students' mathematical wellbeing, by recognising and then fulfilling their students' values in the mathematics classroom. Copyright © 2022 Springer.

In Hong Kong, which transitioned from a colonial to post-colonial One Country-Two Systems structure, sustainability implementation rests on two institutional pillars: education, which drives the city’s knowledge-based economy, and family system. In light of the recent policy demands to strengthen higher education and family systems by capitalizing on the unique advantages of the post-colonial era, the purpose of this study was to: (1) describe and analyze sustainability values of the first-year university students; and (2) investigate roles of family and educational systems in the process of their formation. The mix-method study stressed the importance of discerning and analyzing sustainability value formation in order to create in-depth understanding of the curricular adjustments that align the sustainability mindset of Hong Kong students in the context of the One Country-Two Systems under the pressing demands of global economy. The study relied on the use of two systems theoretical frameworks employed within sustainability education (Sterling, 2003) and family (Bowen, 1957/1974) fields. Data sources included questionnaires of 4985 Hong Kong first-year university students; and 31 semi-structured interviews of Liberal Studies teachers. The quantitative findings showed that 85% of the students believed that their family influenced their environmental values; reported a significant negative coefficient (-0.044) between the two student cohorts in relation to family influence; and showed that family influence on students’ sustainability values differed by gender. The qualitative results revealed the overarching themes of Family Income, Role Modeling, and Shared Responsibility as three major descriptors of family influences on sustainability values of Hong Kong students. Copyright © 2022 Springer.

This study investigates the relationship between values and academic major in university students in Hong Kong. The study used a survey based on a convenience sample of 645 university students in Hong Kong who responded to a questionnaire comprising Schwartz's Values Survey and Super's Work Values Inventory. Comparison between several majors of study and their counterparts reveals that business, as well as humanities and art, students demonstrated general and work values in accordance with the literature. This gains partial support to the claim that there is a close connection between values and choice of academic majors. Copyright © 2022 SAGE Publications.

The number of mainland Chinese students was 791 (64% of total international students in Hong Kong) in 1996/97 whereas such number went up to 12,037 (73%) in 2016/17—more than fifteenfold increase within 20 years. In particular, mainland China undergraduates (MCU) exhibited a phenomenal growth from 5 in 1996/97 to 6,852 in 2016/17. Nonetheless, few studies have focused on this group of students concerning their acculturative stress and/or mental health in Hong Kong, even though there were several cases of suicide committed by MCU in Hong Kong in the past decade. Completing tertiary education in one’s home country is generally not an easy task, and pursuing a university degree in a culturally different and unfamiliar place will surely add to one’s difficulties. A literature search of scales assessing acculturative stress showed that none of the existent scales were applicable to MCU in Hong Kong, either because of language issues, different target population, or cross-cultural problems. Hence, the purpose of this study was to develop and validate a suitable scale to measure the acculturative stress of MCU in Hong Kong.A 172-item pool was created from literature, in-depth and focus group interviews, and then validated in a sample of 274 MCU in Hong Kong using one-parameter Rasch model analysis to produce a 117-item Acculturative Stress Scale for Mainland Chinese Undergraduate Students (ASSMCUS) in 21 dimensions, which are English Barrier: Limited English Proficiency; English Barrier: Limited Colloquial English; Cantonese Barrier: Limited Cantonese Proficiency; Cantonese Barrier: Limited Colloquial Cantonese; Study Stress: Heavy Course Load; Study Stress: Student-Centred Learning Approach; Cultural Difference: Mutual Cultural Misunderstanding; Cultural Difference: Identifying with Hong Kong’s Culture and Values; Social Interaction: Loneliness; Social Interaction: Hard to Make Friends with Hong Kong People; Social Interaction: Limited Social Connectedness; Discrimination:

Having academic honesty is a valuable character for tertiary level learners in their learning journey. The purpose of the current study was to study tertiary students’ behaviors of academic honesty regarding school assignments. Data from 8 public universities in Hong Kong were collected through a questionnaire. This questionnaire contained ten scales for evaluating the five components of “the theory of Planned Behavior: 1) attitude toward behavior, 2) subjective norm, 3) perceived behavioral control, 4) intention and 5) behavior”. Rasch analysis had been used for examining psychometric properties of the modified study instrument and generate students’ measures. These students’ measures were then subjected to a path analysis for investigating relationships among 5 components. Results of the path analysis revealed good model-data fits on the two constructs: avoiding academic misconducts and upholding academic truth. Regardless of the predictive power of subjective norms is debatable, attitudes toward behavior and perceived behavioral controls are significantly related to the intentions and behaviors of tertiary students in maintaining academic honesty. The significance of this current study suggests that the implications of results contribute to further research. These contributions to researchers and practitioners include the advancement of current research and teaching techniques, all of which are presented in this thesis. All rights reserved.

Quality learning environment goes beyond only focusing on students’ academic achievement. Lately, mindsets and well-being of students come to the fore of research agenda and attract burgeoning interests. Growth mindset (Dweck, 2016) and well-being (2014) of students were measured in the latest PISA alongside other aptitude tests and other items concerning learning environments (OECD, 2018). Growth mindset is important, as it was found to predict better learning strategies used, better self-efficacy, less fear towards failure, and better value of school.PISA focused on measuring students of 15 years old, yet, charting their mindset and well-being beyond that was less systematic and sparse. Furthermore, from previous studies, it has been shown that associate degree students were more prone to self-deprecation upon the head-on failing experience from the public examination (Lee, 2019; Wong, 2018). The objective of the present study was to examine the relationships of students’ mindset (growth vs. fixed), their level of grit (interest and effort), their sense of well-being (environmental mastery, personal growth, self-acceptance); and academic engagements (including also positive and negative emotions) in a group of associate degree students in Hong Kong. A total of 169 students aged between 17 to 19, from a community college in Hong Kong, participated the study voluntarily. Instruments was compiled to measure mindset, well-being and academic engagement correspondingly and administered during the lesson of an elective psychology course. All scales demonstrated satisfactory reliability, and correlational analysis showed that growth mindset yielded a more consistent pattern of positive associations with well-being and academic engagement than fixed mindset. Implication of instilling growth mindset both at class-level and institute-level will be discussed. Specific recommendations will also be made in context of self-financed two-year curriculum spaced program. Copyright ©

Mathematical modeling is considered a bridge to STEM education and has been incorporated into K–12 mathematics curriculums in various countries. However, it has a relatively short history in Hong Kong schools. The lack of high-quality, relevant exemplars of mathematical modeling activities is a challenge to teacher practice in this area. Hence, this study aims to establish a design framework for mathematical modeling activities suitable for teachers and students in Hong Kong. We explore the design and content of the official mathematical modeling exemplars published by the Hong Kong Education Bureau using a document analysis approach. The findings provide the basis for developing a framework to be used in the future design of mathematical modeling activities. Four exemplars were found and analyzed in terms of their structural components, level of learning experience in mathematical modeling, and design characteristics. Based on our findings, we discussed various strategies to enhance the design of a mathematical modeling activity, including setting diversified learning objectives, cross-subject collaboration when formulating the problem context and instructions, designing more activities suitable for average and underperforming students, emphasizing the evaluation of modeling outcomes, and providing relevant supporting materials. Our study thus lays the groundwork for advancing the teaching and learning of mathematical modeling in school contexts. Copyright © 2022 by the authors.

In most of the Christian churches in Hong Kong, children Sunday schools were established for nurturing children’s spirituality. Bible storytelling is the major activity in Sunday school lessons. Sunday school teachers are church goers and serve voluntarily. However, some of them feel frustrated as they have difficulties in engaging children.Various research studied the characteristics of children’s spirituality and the influences of storytelling. Scholars suggested that adults can learn from children. Therefore, the author of this study is interested in the experience of Sunday school teachers on children’s spirituality in the lessons. Therefore, a conceptual framework of how the Sunday school teachers or Bible storytellers experienced children’s spirituality was established. A qualitative research was worked out and 15 Sunday school teachers were recruited. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and the verbatims were the major data. Five observation sessions were also done, providing supplemented data.This study identified three kinds of Bible stories that are more attractive to children and visualization of the ancient world with suitable teaching materials also facilitated children’s engagement. When the children were engaged, the teachers experienced children’s spirituality in terms of relational consciousness and characteristics of children as spiritual beings.For the relational consciousness, teachers experienced the children making meanings of Bible stories to God’s stories, self-story and others’ story. Interestingly, the teachers also perceived that they experienced spiritual growth in terms of feeling connected to self, God and others.For the experience of the essential characteristics of children as spiritual beings, it was in terms of simple, wholeness, genuine, and joy. It impacted the teachers and they hoped to be “becoming like a child”.Therefore, this study identified that the teachers were spiritually nurtured in terms of growth in relationships