The internationalization of higher education has become a key policy within the global higher education sector. Yet a large body of literature suggests that simply having a diverse group of students does not guarantee meaningful intercultural engagement. This paper presents a qualitative study intended to gain a richer understanding of Hong Kong's higher education environment. In-depth interview data were collected from students of different cultural backgrounds and from academic, non-academic, and managerial staff at three Hong Kong universities. The data collection period covered local political turmoil in Hong Kong as well as the COVID-19 pandemic. Results indicate that, due to language barriers and potentially opposing political ideologies, all students faced challenges engaging with others who were culturally different from themselves. These findings can facilitate the development of an adaptable cross-institutional framework for meaningful intercultural learning. Copyright © 2023 Comparative and International Education Society.

Neoliberalism has permeated every sphere of social life, including education and language learning, seeking to produce a particular kind of subject, homo economicus , with the dispositions required to manage the self as an economic project. This article unravels the workings of the unfulfilled promise of neoliberal English education and its damaging consequences on a high-achieving female university graduate in the context of contemporary Hong Kong. Combining Marxist and Foucauldian perspectives, while simultaneously drawing on Goffman's concepts of stigma and spoiled identity, our analysis is informed by positioning theory and captures the impact of what we have termed the English language gaze on our informant's sense of self. Seen through a Foucauldian lens, the data reveal the extent, but also the limits, of her assimilation of neoliberal governmentality, while the Marxist lens allows us to account for her plight in terms of alienation and the resulting stigma of a spoiled identity. Copyright © 2023 Cambridge University Press.

This paper explores how mobility is experienced differentially in international education, through a comparison of two ostensibly very distinct student groups. Both groups have non-UK citizenship and have studied, or are studying, for a British higher education degree – one in the UK, the other in Hong Kong. Through a dual focus on the materialities and mobilities within international higher education, we consider the extent to which physical mobility across borders is a defining feature of the experiences and outcomes of those engaging in international education. We argue that combining perspectives of mobilities and materialities challenges simplistic dichotomies of im/mobility amongst students and unsettles the boundaries between onshore and offshore international education. Our paper provides a more granular and nuanced understanding of the relationship between im/mobility, international higher education and social reproduction. Copyright © 2023 Taylor & Francis.

This comparative study investigated the associations between instructional practices and students' reading performance among 10 top performing regions that participated in the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2018. A nationally representative sample consisting of 80,016 15-year-old students from 5 Asian regions (B-S-J-Z [China], Singapore, Macao, Hong Kong, and Korea) and 5 Western regions (Estonia, Canada, Finland, Ireland, and Poland) were included. A secondary analysis of PISA survey and assessment data was conducted. T test and ANOVA analyses revealed systematic differences in instructional practices of the 10 regions. B-S-J-Z (China) had significantly higher levels of teacher support, teacher-directed instruction, and teacher stimulation than the other sample regions. Asian regions tended to have higher levels of teacher support, teacher-directed instruction, teacher feedback, adaptive instruction, and teacher enthusiasm compared with Western regions, although variations were also found within Asian regions or within Western regions. Hierarchical linear regression (HLR) analyses indicated that reading performance was positively predicted by teacher support, adaptive instruction, teacher stimulation, and teacher enthusiasm, but negatively predicted by teacher-directed instruction and teacher feedback. This study sheds light on the effective instructional practices for optimizing students' reading performance across different cultural contexts. Copyright © 2023 Springer Nature.

After the government of Hong Kong branded Hong Kong as "Asia's World City," there has been more interest in addressing the needs of multicultural education in the city. This is also the intent of this study, which discusses the impact of a sports program that involves a South Asian sport called kabaddi on intercultural competence. The program was conducted in a multicultural setting in secondary schools and social communities with participants of different ethnic backgrounds. These participants included students, school teachers and kabaddi coaches. Four schools were purposefully selected, and the data collection methods comprised interviews and participant observation. The findings of the study revealed that the program which adopted the approach of teaching games for understanding (TGfU) could enhance the intercultural competence of both Chinese and South Asian students. The students gained new knowledge about heritage/minority cultures, learned to appreciate them, and developed bonding and bridging social capital. The implications of this study validate the feasibility and merit of integrating intercultural education into physical education. However, it is important to identify the ethnic composition and relations of the participants and devise a suitable pedagogy and curriculum when implementing the program for optimal results. Copyright © 2023 Taylor & Francis.

The present study investigated how students' attitudes toward bullying were influenced simultaneously by personal and contextual factors in Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taipei. Participants included 25,338 students (15-year-olds, from grade 7 to 12) and 663 schools from Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taipei drawn from the Program for International Student Assessment 2018. Multilevel structural equation modeling with Bayesian estimation was conducted for data analysis. The results showed that, for personal factors, girls had stronger anti-bullying attitudes than boys in each sample. Resilience and self-efficacy predicted students' anti-bullying attitudes positively and significantly in all three regions. For family contextual factors, parents' emotional support had positive effects on students' attitudes toward bullying in three regions. For school contextual factors, there was no consistent result among the three regions. School location and school belonging were positive predictors of students' anti-bullying attitudes in Mainland China. By contrast, class size and student behavior hindering learning negatively correlated with students' anti-bullying attitudes in Hong Kong. In Taipei, students in public schools were more likely to form anti-bullying attitudes, and a positive association was found between the student--teacher ratio and students' attitudes toward bullying. Distinguishing the commonalities and differences in the factors influencing students' attitudes toward bullying in Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taipei provides empirical evidence to understand school bullying prevention and control mechanism. Copyright © 2023 Wiley.

Teachers’ beliefs influence educational goals, teaching practices, and learning outcomes, and are thus of great importance for civics research. This comparative study used semi-structured interviews with 17 teachers in Hong Kong and Germany conducted in 2020 to examine teachers’ beliefs about digital citizenship and education in digital societies. The teachers acknowledged the positive influences of digitalization on information gathering and participation opportunities. They also highlighted the threat of manipulation and interference by antidemocratic actors but rarely reflected on the influences of digitalization on the citizenship concept. Teacher education should facilitate discourses about digital citizenship that go beyond traditional competence models. Copyright © 2023 Elsevier.

This article compares two learning units developed by elementary schools in Japan and Hong Kong to engage students in learning about and taking action to promote social cohesion through community participation. We choose two similar learning units for comparison, both focusing on issues related to older people in the community. Based on our analysis of their activity design and practices, we outline five directions for educational practitioners interested in promoting community participation for social cohesion in Hong Kong and Japan: practicing service-learning, promoting social cohesion, learning authentic skills, integrating community participation into the curriculum, and helping students become active members of society. This paper argues for the importance of developing such learning units to foster young citizens' contribution to their communities in post-industrial, ageing societies. Copyright © 2023 OpenED Network.

A growing body of research has examined the relations of dispositions toward information and communication technology (ICT) to intercultural competence among university students. However, there is little research exploring the associations between ICT-related dispositions and intercultural competence among adolescent students. The mechanism of such relationships also remains unknown. Therefore, from a self-determination theory perspective, this study investigated the relationships of perceived autonomy, competence, and relatedness in ICT usage with global competence--intercultural knowledge, skills and attitudes--among 17,055 15-year-old students from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan in PISA 2018. Results of Multilevel Structural Equation Modelling (MSEM) analyses indicated that perceived autonomy in ICT use, perceived competence in ICT use and perceived relatedness in ICT use all positively affected intercultural knowledge, skills and attitudes. Further, the results of the study revealed that the use of social media was a partial mediator in the relationship between perceived autonomy/competence in ICT use and intercultural knowledge/skills; and between perceived relatedness/competence in ICT use and intercultural attitudes. Our findings emphasized the importance of satisfying students' ICT-related needs and acknowledged the role of the use of social media in cultivating their global competence. Implications for teachers, schools and parents were discussed. Copyright © 2023 Springer.