The International Baccalaureate (IB) has attracted criticism for its Eurocentricity and Western-centricity (Bunnell et al., 2017; Walker, 2010). This article explores international mindedness, questioning whether the IB perpetuates culturally hegemonic, colonial, and Westernised ideas. The paper draws on research data collected in two International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) international schools in the Hong Kong SAR. We observed IBDP lessons and interviewed teachers about their uses of local and global culture and content in their teaching, considering whether the adaptation of curriculum based on cultural significance and perspectives functions to shift the Western-centric discourses for which the IB is commonly criticised. Our analysis suggests that attempts to decentre the West in the curriculum are challenging, resulting from factors including a lack of critical understanding among teachers, demands and expectations regarding assessment, the aspirations of students and their parents, and a lack of time and space within the timetable and curriculum. Drawing on literature and teacher practices, we propose considerations to move beyond recognitive politics to a more critical set of practices unsettling hierarchies of knowledge and power. The task of de-centering the IBDP's Western epistemology requires further consideration and research. In this paper, we contribute to this ongoing inquiry through providing an analysis of a particular set of circumstances in Hong Kong and providing a framework to enable critical reflection of curriculum and teaching practices that could be considered across IB programmes. Copyright © 2025 Routledge.

This study examines 'Faux Comprehension' and 'Pseudo-Understanding' among middle leaders and teachers in curriculum development, where apparent agreement masks deeper misalignments. Through a comparative case study and theoretical lens of action-driven sensemaking, the study analyzes four Hong Kong schools using questionnaires, interviews, and observations. Findings reveal: Faux Comprehension, where teachers superficially comply with leaders' directives, and Pseudo-Understanding, where misaligned goals are concealed by overconfidence. Both reflect overbearing leadership and cognitive biases. The study enriches sensemaking literature by incorporating compliance and cognitive bias perspectives, while recommending clearer guidelines and communication strategies to align educational practices with reform goals and enhance engagement. Copyright © 2025 The Author(s). 

This chapter argues for a school curriculum in Hong Kong that prioritizes student well-being over academic success. It explores the challenges that have hindered curriculum reform in Hong Kong, including the exam-oriented culture, high-stakes assessment, and competitive educational environment. Despite the commitment to whole-person development, young students often feel overwhelmed and lack internal motivation to learn. To address these issues, the chapter proposes an approach based on self-determination theory (SDT) that prioritizes the basic psychological needs satisfaction of students for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. By encouraging students to take ownership of learning and internalize their motivation, a more person-oriented curriculum can be developed that promotes student well-being and supports social justice values. The chapter concludes by providing examples of SDT-based curricula and showcasing the planning and outcomes associated with their implementation. By embracing an SDT philosophy, Hong Kong can adopt change and offer students a more engaging, fulfilling, and holistic educational experience. Copyright © 2025 selection and editorial matter, Huixuan Xu; individual chapters, the contributors.

Internationalisation of the curriculum (IoC) as an important element of internationalisation has seen many challenges. The literature shows that successful IoC cases are rare. Drawing on the concepts of powerful knowledge and 'knowing', we argue that a more comprehensive understanding of knowledge engagement in the IoC process is needed. Currently, engaging knowledge appears to be a barrier to IoC, particularly in hard disciplines such as science and engineering. This study investigated how faculty members from different disciplines engaged knowledge in their approaches to IoC through semi-structured interviews with 34 faculty members based in three Hong Kong universities. The findings show that engaging knowledge is indispensable to IoC because it provides theoretical foundations for 'being' and substantiates discussions on global issues using disciplinary lenses. Furthermore, faculty members from all disciplines show productive ways of engaging knowledge, whilst the differences lie in the expected role of 'knower' and the relationship between 'knowing' and 'being'. Specifically, facilitating an intimate relationship between 'knowing' and 'being' through students' own dispositions was featured in soft disciplines, whilst taking perspectives based on scientific principles was identified in hard disciplines. Copyright ©2023 Routledge.

In this article, we present a (co)reflexive analysis of the multiple adaptations of an English as a Second Language reading curriculum for primary students in Hong Kong during the COVID-19 pandemic through our partnership as a practitioner-researcher and an external researcher. Adopting the principles of interactional ethnography, we examined the actions, considerations, and challenges in undertaking five curriculum adaptations over an academic period via an ethnographic case study. The ongoing conversation facilitated a (co)reflexive analysis of relevant data in two phases of analysis. In the first phase, we aimed to understand the reading program and set the stage for the second phase, which was to unpack the five curriculum adaptation processes across the academic year. Findings revealed that the curriculum adaptations were driven by data, instructional time, and varied teaching delivery modes. Three principles of curriculum adaptations were derived from the findings: prioritizing personalized learning, systematic orchestration of learning activities, and purposeful integration of theory and practice. Copyright © 2023 Cedarville University.

Changing times and postmodern perspectives have changed the traditional beliefs about child development knowledge, early childhood learning and curriculum and their relationships. Despite ongoing exchanges about how best to respond to the critique of the developmental knowledge base, few descriptions of how particular educators have reconceptualized their curriculum exist. Employing postmodern views of knowledge, learning, and curriculum, this chapter describes a new narrative curriculum developed by the authors to enact a postmodern early years learning in a typical Chinese context: Story Approach to Integrated Learning (SAIL). It first reflects on the existing early childhood curricula in Hong Kong and the associated problems and challenges. Second, it reviews the literature about the reconceptualization of early years learning and curriculum to seek possible solutions to Hong Kong problems. Third, a brief introduction of SAIL is presented and an example is given to illustrate how SAIL can put postmodernism curriculum into practice. Last, this chapter concludes with a discussion of some of the challenges and future directions relating to the shift from developmental to postmodern practices in the development of early childhood curriculum.

This chapter considers the articulation of education discourse through visual representations of curriculum policies in Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore under the umbrella of the Global Childhoods project. We are concerned with the ways that policy and culture are co-implicated in the everyday lives of children in global cities. We explore how, in contexts of high-stakes testing, rankings and intense competition, discourses of education are depicted in officially produced visual texts. Texts selected for analysis here focus on curriculum content, learning, and the imagined skills and characteristics of idealised learner-citizens. Drawing insights from social semiotics and using Foucauldian notions of discourse and governmentality, we show how these visual policy texts represent education in broadly instrumentalist terms concerned with “what” and “who” is being taught in a nation’s schools. In all three study sites, these concerns connect to broader economic and social goals, and tacitly reiterate ideologically inflected narratives concerned with the purposes and potential of education. We highlight distinctions between visual policy texts that acknowledge education as an interconnected human endeavour, and those that rely on imagery and bounded lists. We also argue that such images and lists are largely devoid of reference to the students, teachers and societies. Copyright © 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

港澳兩地的公民教育事關“一國兩制”戰略方針，對增強學生的國家觀念與歸屬感有關鍵作用。分別將港澳地區的公民教育課程改革歷程劃分為5個階段，並從政策背景、主體、願景、內容與實施效果幾個層面進行探討。對比分析港澳公民教育課程改革，發現回歸前兩地均實行非政治公民教育；回歸前後兩地均開展公民政治教育；2002年後香港公民教育名實相悖，而澳門地區持續深化愛國主義教育。最後，發掘港澳公民教育存異的原因與課程領導權、學校落實、教師及教材相關。 Copyright © 2022 廣東省茂名市社會科學界聯合會.

Hong Kong went through a complete reform in its higher education curriculum, incorporating opportunities for interdisciplinary learning and holistic competency development. Almost eight years have passed since the reform, yet little is known about the current state of students' holistic competency development across different disciplines. Students' self-evaluation of their capacities in holistic competencies can provide us indirect evidence of student development of these competencies for quality assurance. This study does not only aim to explore how undergraduates in Hong Kong self-assessed their holistic competencies, but also to identify whether there were disciplinary differences. To do so, 2192 undergraduate students from six universities in Hong Kong were surveyed using the validated Students' Perception of Holistic Competencies Questionnaire. Analysis of the quantitative data revealed that students generally rated themselves strongest in Moral Values but weakest in Interpersonal and Leadership Competencies. However, no substantial mean difference across the different disciplines was evident in all six holistic competencies investigated. The overall results indicated that undergraduates in Hong Kong generally believe that they have a moderately high level of capability in holistic competencies. Copyright © 2022 Elsevier.

Contributions: The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)-Jockey Club AI for the Future Project (AI4Future) co-created the first pretertiary AI curriculum at the secondary school level for Hong Kong and evaluated its efficacy. This study added to the AI education community by introducing a new AI curriculum framework. The preposttest multifactors evaluation about students’ perceptions of AI learning confirmed that the curriculum is effective in promoting AI learning. The teachers also confirmed the co-creation process enhanced their capacity to implement AI education. Background: AI4Future is a cross-sector project that engages five major partners—CUHK’s Faculty of Engineering and Faculty of Education, secondary schools, Hong Kong government, and AI industry. A team of 14 professors collaborated with 17 principals and teachers from six secondary schools to co-create the curriculum. Research Questions: Would the curriculum significantly improve the student perceived competence, attitude, and motivation toward AI learning? How does the co-creation process benefit the implementation of the curriculum? Methodology: The participants were 335 students and eight teachers from the secondary schools. This study adopted a mix-method with quantitative data measures at pre- and post-questionnaires and qualitative data emphasizes teachers’ perspectives on the co-creation process. Paired [Formula Omitted]-tests and ANCOVAs, and thematic analysis were used to analyze the data. Findings: 1) students perceived greater competence and developed a more positive attitude to learn AI and 2) the co-creation process enhanced teachers’ knowledge in AI, as well as fostered teachers’ autonomy in bringing the subject matter into their classrooms. Copyright © 2022 The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE).