With the handover in 1997, Hong Kong has adopted the ‘Biliterate and Trilingual’ language policy, which aims at developing citizens who are biliterate in both written Chinese and English as well as trilingual in Cantonese, Putonghua, and spoken English. In this chapter, a comprehensive historical review of the development of language education in Hong Kong schools will be given first, followed by a discussion on how the ‘biliterate’ and ‘trilingual’ language policy is currently implemented in Hong Kong primary schools based on findings of an empirical study. Finally, the chapter will conclude by giving some recommendations to policy makers and school administrators to consider when formulating language policies in Hong Kong primary school education. Copyright © 2019 The Author(s).

After a brief overview of the basic education in Hong Kong, this chapter illustrates the historical development and changes of primary science education that have taken place in Hong Kong over 50 years. Following this, efforts are made to describe the current primary science education as integrated in the course General Studies, pupils’ informal learning opportunities in science events as extracurricular activities, and the status of science teacher education. A review of the research is conducted on the implemented curriculum which reflects the concern of Hong Kong science educators regarding primary pupils’ science learning. The final section focuses on discussing three recent trends in Hong Kong primary science education, i.e., STEM education, IT in science learning, and education for environmental sustainability. Copyright © 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature.

The global trend of learning English as an L2 in the early years is identifiable in Hong Kong. Cognitively immature pre-primary learners face the dual challenges of coping with formal learning in low L2 exposure contexts. This chapter argues for a specific approach that better fits the learning characteristics and abilities of pre-primary learners who learn an L2 differently from that of older learners. The approach recommends the use of informal instructional strategies like using quality stories together with rich vocabulary activities in the form of games and songs for vocabulary learning and phonological awareness which are essential building blocks for L2 literacy skills. Evidence-based examples from research are cited to show their effect on very young learners’ motivation and interest in learning an L2. Copyright © 2019 The Author(s).

Research Findings: This study investigated the relationships of preservice teachers’ year of study in the teacher education program, creativity, zest, and self-efficacy in managing children’s behaviors to self-efficacy in creating child-centered learning environments. Data were collected from 275 Hong Kong preservice teachers via self-reported questionnaires. Results showed that creativity had a direct positive linkage with self-efficacy in creating child-centered learning environments. Zest was associated with self-efficacy in creating child-centered learning environments, however, indirectly through self-efficacy in managing children’s behaviors. Year of study was unrelated to both self-efficacies. Practice or Policy: Preservice teachers’ creativity and zest can be conceptualized as personal resources for creating child-centered environments. Teacher education programs should therefore incorporate components of fostering pre-service teachers’ own creativity and zest. Copyright © 2019 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

It is important for us to be on the same page from the outset of our discourse. Thus, I will make clear who and what are included in this chapter. The primary subsets of the population included in this discourse of education for all in Hong Kong are school-age children (up to the completion of secondary education) with disabilities and persons from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Hong Kong’s journey is closely tied to its historical and political past as a British colony. As such, this chapter begins with an examination and analysis of Hong Kong’s policy development in education as a British colony and examines legislation and policies toward education equity for the above subgroups of the population before July 1997. This is followed by a critical review and analysis of the change after the handover of sovereignty to the Chinese government when the implementation of the inclusive education policy officially began. The persistent challenges caused by the elite-oriented education system and social demands in Hong Kong’s struggle toward education for all permeate the discourse. Finally, this chapter stresses the importance of understanding issues regarding difficulties in distinguishing and assessing certain disabilities (e.g. language-related disabilities) from difficulties due to cultural and linguistic diversity. This would aid the move toward education equity in Hong Kong, a vital and multicultural gateway to China, Asia, and beyond (Hong Kong Government, Brand Hong Kong. Retrieved from http://www.brandhk.gov.hk/en/#/en/about/development/launch.html, 2014a). Copyright © 2019 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

A number of East Asian education systems (e.g. Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Shanghai, Singapore and Taiwan) have gained international prominence over the years, due to their rapid climbs to top positions in international tests such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) and Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). For example, Hong Kong was placed 17th in PIRLS reading literacy, and Singapore ranked 15th in 2001, but within 5 years, they garnered 2nd and 4th places in 2006, respectively. In the 2015 PISA results, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taipei, Japan and Beijing-Shanghai-Jiangsu-Guangzhou (B-S-J-G), China, were top achievers (OECD, Report on PISA 2015: results in focus. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2016).The sterling report cards of these East Asian systems, combined with the declining performance of western systems such as those of the United Kingdom and the United States, have led the West to a “look East” drive for inspiration. Whether it be scholarly publications or media articles, much literature has been generated on the “success” of education in East Asia, which has become “the new ‘poster boy’ in the global discourse of education policy borrowing” (You and Morris, Compare 46(6), 2016, p. 883).Increasingly, a good education system is considered one that not only produces high achievements but is also equitable in terms of the distribution of its success across the system and its student population. Perhaps a more nuanced understanding of these East Asian education systems could be facilitated if we could examine them considering both equity and quality issues, since the pursuit of each often affects the other. The chapters in this book illustrate that excellence and equity are not independent and separate but can be paradoxically intertwined. Copyright © 2019 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

This chapter examines women’s representation in the leadership positions at key world-class research universities in the Asia Pacific region. It engages with documentary research into the case studies of various Asian flagship universities, namely National Taiwan University, Peking University, Seoul National University, the University of Hong Kong, and the University of Tokyo. The documentary research is based on an in-depth review of the academic literature comprising empirical studies which investigate and explain the representation of women academics and their involvement in intellectual leadership at Asia Pacific higher education institutions. Special attention is paid to the significant factors that structure female engagement in leadership roles. The determinants that either facilitate or impede the women’s representation in academe and senior managerial positions are reviewed to make sense of the empirical findings of this study. The findings indicate that the University of Hong Kong (HKU) has the highest representation of women leaders (28.9%) who are mainly from non-STEM backgrounds and are also most prevalent at the departmental level. HKU has also, among the five case-study universities, higher representation of female institutional leaders (14.3%). Another East Asian world-class university which has made better progress in gender equality and university management is National Taiwan University (24.6%). For working toward inclusivity of intellectual leadership in the East Asian academic profession, there needs to be more culturally sensitive and gender-appropriate policies and practices in the human resource management in universities, which are sensitive to the personal and professional lives, including marriage and family obligations (Tang 2017). The inclusion of more women professors in leadership positions can serve as much-needed role models for mentoring young female academics. Through better gender-informed and humanistic implementation of human resources

To respond to the growing concerns about the need for university students to learn generic skills to complement their disciplinary expertise, many universities have included General Education (GE) in their curriculum. A new general education framework entitled "General University Requirements" (GUR) was implemented at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) in the 2012/13 academic year. A fiveyear longitudinal project using multiple evaluation strategies was conducted to evaluate the GUR, including objective outcome evaluation (online survey), Collegiate Learning Assessment Plus (CLA+), subjective outcome evaluation (Student Feedback Questionnaire), and qualitative evaluation (focus groups, longitudinal case studies and document analyses). With reference to the second year of program implementation, results from different evaluation strategies consistently demonstrated that the GUR subjects were effective in promoting the five desired graduate attributes as defined by PolyU (i.e., problem solving, critical thinking ability, effective communication, ethical leadership and lifelong learning). Both students and teachers perceived the subject contents, teaching and learning methods, and teaching staff in GUR subjects favorably though several challenges were also noted. Copyright © 2015 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.

This book focuses on Hong Kong as a multilingual society. It investigates how trilingual education is implemented in Hong Kong primary schools. Based on a large scale survey of 155 Hong Kong schools and in-depth case studies in 3 selected schools, the book gives an overview of trilingual education in Hong Kong primary schools, revealing the views on trilingual education of all stakeholders: school principals, panel chairs, subject teachers, students, and parents. The research findings presented in this book suggest that the implementation of trilingual education varies significantly from school to school, as does the effectiveness of the trilingual education models used. It shows how students’ views towards the use of different media of instruction (MoIs) also vary, and how their mother-tongue backgrounds affect their perceptions. By documenting views, policies and implementation methods, the book provides insight into the practice of trilingual education in Hong Kong and offers suggestions on potentially effective implementation methods. Copyright © 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG.