In many settings a perplexing scenario is unfolding in which school systems claim to move towards whole-person development while students and parents run in the opposite direction of narrowly defined academic achievement enhanced by private supplementary tutoring. Such tutoring is widely called shadow education because much of its content mimics that of regular schooling. It has long been clearly visible in Asia, and is now increasingly visible elsewhere. This study focuses on school teachers' perceptions of shadow education in the context of a flourishing sector that parallels and to some extent contradicts progressive education reforms. Drawing on 47 in-depth interviews with teachers from 12 secondary schools in Hong Kong, the research found ambivalent views towards private tutoring. This ambivalence reflected intrinsic contradictions between the educational ideals of whole-person development and the function of schooling in social stratification. Such tensions are likely to become increasingly evident elsewhere as commercialised forms of private supplementary tutoring expand.

In 2007, the Comparative Education Research Centre at the University of Hong Kong co-published with Springer a book entitled Comparative Education Research: Approaches and Methods (edited by Mark Bray, Bob Adamson and Mark Mason). The book was well-received. It was translated into six languages (Chinese, Farsi, French, Italian, Japanese and Spanish), and became a core text for comparative education courses in five continents. It has also been a core text in the editors' own courses, especially at the masters and doctoral levels. In 2013, the editors and authors decided to embark on a second edition which was published at the beginning of 2014. Some chapters were dropped, one was added, and all were revised. This presentation will reflect on the strengths of the book and will summarize the changes. It will consider on the one hand the ways in which the changes for the second edition respond to the evolving field, and on the other hand the ways in which the editors and authors hope to shape further evolution.

Around the world, increasing numbers of students receive after-school private supplementary tutoring. Such tutoring may be provided through informal channels or by companies, and it may be received one-to-one, in small groups or in large classes. The tutoring is commonly called shadow education since its content mimics that of regular schooling. The spread of shadow education is part of a global shift of balance with increased roles for the private sector. Hong Kong is among the societies in which shadow education enrolment rates are particularly high. Much of the shadow education focuses on techniques for performance in external examinations, and is not consistent with the emphases stressed by teachers and the government. This paper focuses on a newly introduced subject called Liberal Studies in which the tensions are especially visible. Although the official curriculum emphasizes creativity and critical thinking, many students have sought large-class tutoring focused on formulae for passing examinations. Interviews exposed the needs that the students felt were not being met in their schooling. The findings illustrate some of the complexities in relationships between the public and private sectors. Viewed in a wider context, the paper illuminates some of the mechanisms and effects of marketization, which are increasingly evident globally.
[Copyright of Journal of Curriculum Studies is the property of Routledge . Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00220272.2014.883553]