Depression, anxiety and stress of moderate to severe levels were found in 21%, 41% and 27% of university students in Hong Kong respectively. The development of a screening tool for assessing adjustment difficulties among tertiary education students is helpful for counselling professionals in university. The Student Perception of University Support and Structure Scale (SPUSS), based on concepts articulated in Baumrind’s theory of parenting styles, to measure a supportive and structured college environment. The present study used exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis to examine whether the SPUSS’ structure is consistent with the typology of four parenting styles. Secondly, factor scores were used to test the hypothesis that a supportive and structured university environment would be associated with students’ psychological adjustment as indicated by measures of depression, anxiety, and stress. Participants were 773 tertiary education students aged 18 to 25 from three Hong Kong universities. The SPUSS shows a four-factor structure consistent with models of parenting styles; the factor scores have excellent psychometric properties; and the factors represent students’ views of the university environment as authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, or neglectful. This model is different from Yau’s three-factor data-driven model, which identified factors representing psychological, academic, and social adjustment. (2) This study provides evidence of predictive validity in that higher scores on the authoritative factor were related to the lower levels of anxiety, depression, and stress. Only about 2% of students in Hong Kong leave university without completing theirdegree program, compared to rates of between 20% and 40% in the US and the UK. This number suggests that students in Hong Kong enjoy their studies and life atuniversity. However, one large-scale mental health survey of 7915 first year HongKong university students suggested otherwise. Depression, anxiety

Classroom discipline is a topic of international interest and teachers are bombarded with advice regarding how to and why they should manage children' s behaviour in their classrooms. This paper draws on data related to classroom discipline gathered from a detailed classroom observation schedule, teacher interviews, and field notes with four purposively selected kindergarten teachers working in Hong Kong with children aged 5–6 years. The findings of this qualitative case study show that the teachers were concerned about disciplining children to ensure good behaviour. They expected all children to follow the rules and used characteristic discipline strategies such as stating expectations and ‘praising the opposite' to maintain good behaviour. The paper discusses these findings in light of the Westernisation of kindergarten teaching practices in Hong Kong.
[Copyright © 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.]

The field of education is vast and diverse with rare consensus and law-like research findings. An exception is an agreement over the fact that childhood should be protected and their education, fostered. Intriguingly, the concept of childhood did not exist in the West until well into the 17th century, and it owes its emergence not to ‘grand' advances in science but to social instability and degradation brought about by pre- and post-Westphalian inter-national conflicts. It is out of sense of pity for lost childhood that gave birth to its very concept. Honoring the theme of the 2016 Conference of the Comparative Education Society of Hong Kong, ‘Education for Peace', I examine conflict and post-conflict childhood as a unit of analysis in international and comparative education field. It is argued that comparative studies on conflict and post-conflict childhood tend to focus on the immediacies (in time and place) of ‘still-hot conflicts' but little attention is paid to mid-and long-term alleviation and preventive education.

虐兒問題近年備受香港各界關注，學者專家以此為研究題材的亦復不少，但以教師為研究對象的卻絕無僅有。事實上，教師是站在最前線，與兒童接觸最多，時間最長的成人之一，他們較了解兒童，較易得到學生信任及家長的尊敬。因此，他們在面對虐兒或懷疑虐兒個案時如何反應，會採取怎樣的態度和處理手法，和有否足夠的知識、技巧加以處理，都直接關係受虐兒童及其家庭的福祉。本文透過問卷調查150名本港中學教師，目的在了解他們對虐兒問題的認知及其處理。研究結果顯示，受調查教師對虐兒的定義及分類有基本知識，能在知性層面判辨虐兒個案所屬的性質；但基於專業訓練及經驗不足，加上教師工作繁重，在處理虐兒案時，大部份都顯得信心不足兼且不欲過份介入。筆者認為此現象有待改善，並提出了一些建議。
[Copyright © 2000 The Hong Kong Institute of Education.]

It has been reported that poor psychological health of students is linked to the experience of being bullied by peers. In Hong Kong, there is a paucity of research on this form of social aggression and it is difficult to tackle the problem effectively. This study uses stratified random sampling techniques and a variety of research strategies (e.g. self-report, psychological assessment, questionnaire, interview) to collect data from students, teachers, school heads, and parents. The results will help throw light upon the antecedents, contextual factors, short- and long-term consequences of the problem so that appropriate intervention can be initiated.