This article is concerned with the politics of lifelong learning policy in post-1997 Hong Kong (HK). The paper is in four parts. Continuing Education, recast as 'lifelong learning', is to be the cornerstone of the post-Handover education reform agenda. The lineaments of a familiar discourse are evident in the Education Commission policy documents. However, to view recent HK education policy just in terms of an apparent convergence with global trends would be to neglect the ways in which the discourse of lifelong learning has been tactically deployed to serve local political agendas. In the second part of this paper, I outline what Scott has called HK's 'disarticulated' political system following its retrocession to China and attempts by an executive-led administration to demonstrate 'performance legitimacy'--through major policy reforms--in the absence of (democratic) political legitimacy. Beijing's designation of HK as a (depoliticized) 'economic' city within greater China must also be taken into account. It is against this political background that the strategic deployment of a 'lifelong learning' discourse needs to be seen. In the third section of this paper, I examine three recent policy episodes to illustrate how lifelong learning discourse has been adopted and has evolved to meet changing circumstances in HK. Finally, I look at the issue of public consultation. The politics of education policy in HK may be seen to mirror at a micro-level, the current macro-level contested interpretations of HK's future polity.
[Copyright of International Journal of Lifelong Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/026037042000311497]

In the process of examining the recent and, especially, post-Handover, contributions that the Hong Kong Education Commission (EC) has made to policy concerning Continuing Education (CE) in the Special Administrative Region, the authors of this article were drawn into discussion of three underlying issues. These include the issue of conceptual clarity with regard to 'continuing education' and the operational implications of the local adoption of the fashionable worldwide mantra of 'lifelong learning'. They necessarily become involved in the need to distinguish between policy rhetoric, often employed in the form of Confucian-like exhortation, and practical applications of specific recommendations. They consider the extent to which the new polices have been implemented. While their analysis of policy process is, in an important sense, Hong Kong specific, it raises questions of international interest and concern, and this is probably most clearly manifested in the case study they offer of different arguments and proposals about the funding of CE.
[Copyright of Studies in Continuing Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0158037032000131529]

The picture that often emerges from the research literature on 'Chinese learners' is a caricature of rote-learning, memorization and passivity. This article takes issue with the stereotype. The paper is in three parts. The first part considers the extent to which Chinese culture may influence Chinese learning styles. Some received opinions are counterpoised with more recent reinterpretations. The paper later examines some of the findings from the literature on effective adult learning. The third part explores the extent to which Hong Kong adult learners adopt learning styles consonant with those outlined in the second section. The results of the survey research, action learning projects and case studies considered suggest that Hong Kong adult learners are receptive to new modes of learning and go on to adopt learning styles quite different from those they deployed in school. The arguments are situated within the literature on adult Chinese second language (L2) learning but have wider resonance and application to Hong Kong adult learners in general.
[Copyright of International Journal of Lifelong Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02601370210156745]