升讀專上教育（專教）一直被視為香港青年上游的途徑，不同社經背景的學生所面對升讀專教的挑戰各有差別。近年，香港教育政策推動多元發展並提供多項支援和計畫，以提升中學生畢業後的發展路向，但不同學生組群在升學上都遇到不同障礙和不同程度的教育不均情況。由於學生的社經和族群背景影響他們對升學與就業的價值觀、期望和目標，他們追求專教面對的障礙和成功因素各有不同，惟香港對此問題的系統化探討不多。為此，本實證研究探討香港主流、內地來港和少數族裔（南亞／東南亞裔）高中生升讀專教所面對的障礙和成功因素，於2018年10月至2019年5月期間在23所香港中學進行問卷調查，合共成功收回5,014名高中生的問卷，發現主流學生雖然在經濟障礙和其他封頂因素的評分均低於少數族裔及新來港學生，但同樣地在多項有利升讀專教的成功因素上的評分亦較後兩者低，而少數族裔則比華裔群體樂觀。本文討論了當中原因，並提供相關的政策建議。Copyright ©2021 香港中文大學香港教育研究所.

Geopolitical changes worldwide, together with rapid advances in technology, have created a situation where an individual's working life can present many new challenges. Helping students develop the attitudes and skills necessary to adapt to constant change along a career path has become a priority in education. Developing this career adaptability is becoming increasingly important to the sustainability of democracy, the economy, justice, human values, and equality. The authors of this paper argue that to improve the quality of our education system in universities, active learning should play a more important role to enrich the typical lecturing-learning processes. The aim of the study reported here was to examine the impact from implementing a 3-month active learning program that took university students beyond the classroom to increase their career adaptability and self-esteem and to strengthen their meaning in life. A mixed-method approach was adopted and conducted in two phases with 119 undergraduate students in human resources management at a university in Hong Kong. Findings suggested a significant improvement in career adaptability of the students after participating in the program when compared to a control group. However, data did not indicate any significant change in self-esteem and meaning in life in the training group. The findings support the valuable role of active learning as a strategy to enhance students' career adaptability in a changing but sustainable world of employment. Copyright ©2021 MDPI.

Purpose This study explores the learning and career motivation of the students who have chosen archival studies as their major in their master's degree programs, which has scant prior research. Design/methodology/approach The authors use a qualitative interview method to investigate the students' opinions and underlying reasons. Nine students from the University of Hong Kong (HKU) and University of British Columbia (UBC), both members of the iSchools, were interviewed. Considering the responses and research questions, the authors applied content analysis techniques to summarize data gathering from interviews into five themes to better interpret the meanings behind them. Findings Despite different development stages of archives sectors in Hong Kong and Canada, the learning and career motivation factors of these students from both universities share some similar characteristics and can also be divided into intrinsic factors (such as personal interests, personalities) and extrinsic factors (such as prior working experience, working environment, nature of archives work and development of the archives field). Both intrinsic and extrinsic factors significantly influenced them in choosing archival studies as major in their graduate studies. Practical implications These findings can help educators and professions review and improve the curricula as well as promote the profession to the public and attract more people to pursue their studies in the archives field. Originality/value Scant studies discussed the career development and education motivation of archivists, especially related to Asia. Copyright ©2021 Emerald Group Publishing Ltd.

Purpose:Social networks provide convenient communication and connection among people, and they have become essential in college students' lives. However, problems also come along with increasing concern about trust and privacy issues. This research attempts to investigate the trust and privacy perceptions of university students when using social networks for learning purposes.Design/methodology/approach:This paper investigated the differences in trust and privacy perceptions between undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) students through an online survey with 96 subjects in Hong Kong. The authors used the Mann–Whitney U test to compare the differences between the responses provided by UG and PG subjects.Findings:The authors found that both PG and UG students were generally satisfied with the use of social networking sites (SNSs) for learning. However, PG subjects used SNSs more for learning and were more willing to exchange with classmates than UG and PG perceived higher value of SNSs than UG students. The authors also found a relative lack of privacy awareness of UG students.Practical implicationsBased on the study’s findings, the authors made some recommendations about the application of SNSs for learning purposes. The authors also suggest universities provide more guidance and training to students on the privacy issues of SNSs.Originality/value:Even though some previous studies have focused on studying privacy and trust issues on SNSs, studies that aim at university students in the context of Asia–Pacific are rather limited, especially university students' own trust and privacy perceptions on using SNSs for learning purposes. Copyright © 2021 Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Learning Chinese as a second language is challenging for non-Chinese speaking population in Hong Kong. In order to facilitate the Chinese learning of this group of people, understanding their trajectory of Chinese language development is crucial. The present longitudinal study follows 88 non-Chinese speaking preschoolers in 4 time points, from their K1 to K3, in order to have a grasp of their Chinese language development in three key aspects, namely listening, speaking and reading. Results showed that non-Chinese speaking preschoolers progressed their Chinese language proficiency over time in the three domains, whereas their listening abilities have the best advancement. Though their speaking abilities were the worst at the beginning, they had significant improvement by the end of their K3. The qualitative data provides descriptors of the Chinese language proficiency of non-Chinese speaking preschoolers in different grades. The study's findings serve as a valuable reference for schools regarding school-based curriculum development, learning and teaching materials, approaches and assessments. Copyright © 2021 Academy Publication Co., Ltd.

A professional teaching development programme was established to equip multicultural teaching assistants (MTA) with skills and knowledge to teach non-Chinese speaking (NCS) preschoolers in Hong Kong. To evaluate if MTAs are perceived to be able to perform their intended roles (support Chinese and overall learning, provide pastoral support, bridge the communication between NCS parents and kindergartens, and promote social integration), questionnaires were collected from 18 principals and 74 teachers. To assess if the programme can equip MTAs with necessary skills for the planned roles, questionnaires were collected from 39 MTAs, and a focus group interview with 8 MTAs was also conducted. Results showed that principals and teachers were satisfied with MTAs' performances in supporting NCS students' learning. Moreover, the majority of MTAs agreed that the training programme helped them to perform their intended roles in preschools. Most modules taught in the training programme, apart from one exception, were well received by MTAs. The focus group interview revealed that MTAs were satisfied with the programme, though they preferred more training on Chinese writing skills and knowledge in dealing behavioral issues of children. The study shows the possibility of integrating MTAs into multicultural classrooms in Hong Kong to facilitate NCS children's learning. Copyright © 2021 Academy Publication Co., Ltd.

Online peer assessment has been proposed as an effective strategy for cultivating critical thinkers in higher education, but there is a dearth of relevant studies in a Confucian heritage context. This study investigated the effects of online peer assessment in a General Education course on the development of critical thinking among Hong Kong undergraduates, with a design characterised by six elements (i.e. online peer assessment training, provision of guiding questions, peer feedback requirements, anonymity, student evaluation of the usefulness of peer feedback and summative use of online peer assessment). Analysis of the participants' e-journal entries revealed a significant improvement in critical thinking in the experimental groups. Individual follow-up interviews indicated that the participants acknowledged online peer assessment design with the consideration of cultural influence and at the same time made some suggestions for refinement. This study highlights the need to adopt a culturally embedded approach to design online peer assessment to cultivate students' critical thinking in non-western contexts. Copyright © 2021 Routledge.

This paper addresses Hong Kong Chinese undergraduate students' conceptions of teacher care informed by their experiences of teacher-student relationships within university context. Utilising the concept of teacher care from Nodding's (1984) ethics of care from a Confucian-Vygotskian perspective, this research considers emergent themes of teacher care from the narrative accounts of final-year students majoring in management and bilingual studies. Results indicate that teacher care is perceived as a deepening of trust, mutuality, responsiveness, and reciprocity between students and teachers, and an enrichment of caring scope, embodied in the conceptualisation of 'Pedagogical Care' to 'Holistic Care' and then onto 'Sustainable Care'. A dialectical framework of teacher care within Hong Kong higher education context is proposed, based on the psycho-social make-up of students and socio-cultural context of learning. This study exposes the importance of teacher care in students' learning as influenced by relational dynamics, and proposes the adoption of caring pedagogy in universities. Copyright © 2021 Routledge.

This study aims at exploring middle teacher leadership practices for social justice in career and life planning (CLP) education as part of the research collaboration developed in the International School Leadership Development Network (ISLDN) in the past decade. We have identified that young people face challenges to their career development in different types of public secondary schools led by various school leaders. Teacher leaders of the education, as informal or formal middle leaders, are responsible for the whole-school programme development, while senior secondary students are participants to be inspired about potential career pathways before graduation. However, allocation of students to different schools according to their academic achievement is a long-standing social justice issue. A framework of inclusivity was adopted for exploration of the teacher leaders' experiences of the issue in leading the education, and diverse young people's experiences of development in different secondary school types in Hong Kong. A qualitative approach was used for capturing the views of three teachers and three groups of students in three school types in answer to the research questions: What challenges facing the whole-school CLP education for different young people are derived from the social justice issue in secondary schooling? How do middle teacher leaders cope with challenges through their leadership practices in socially just CLP education for students in different types of school? What equal development opportunities for younger people's career pathways can be contextualised from the leadership practices in the schools? Although the students' self-understanding and competencies can generally be awakened, different interests and various abilities beyond academic performance are the common key factors of tailor-made CLP education for every student's development by the school types. A long-term commitment to social justice for youth's future pathways is also discussed.

This study aims to develop and validate a strength-based instrument for assessing the academic advising needs of university students in Hong Kong using the Appreciative Advising Inventory (AAI) as a blueprint. We reviewed the content validity and cultural relevance of the AAI and developed a 37-item AAI Hong Kong Version (AAI-HK). We conducted Rasch analysis and principal component analysis. The AAI-HK has four stable and reliable factors (social competence and support; positive identity and participation; positive values; and commitment to learning and study), which represent key strengths of university students. Four AAI-HK subscales demonstrate good reliability. We found significant differences in AAI-HK scores between students who are under academic probation or not and between students who are local or nonlocal. Copyright © 2021 NACADA: The Global Community for Academic Advising, Inc.