Purpose: Vocational education in Hong Kong suffers from an image problem. Stakeholders often perceive it as a second-best option for those who fail to advance in academic education. In 2016, to promote vocational education, the Hong Kong government launched a publicity campaign and rebranded vocational education and training (VET) as vocational and professional education and training (VPET). This study critically analyzes the new discourse crafted by this campaign and assesses its potential to change VPET's status.Design/methodology/approach: This study applies critical discourse analysis to the set of television public service advertisements produced as part of the government publicity campaign.Findings: The messaging of the publicity campaign consists of two major discursive strategies. One stresses the ability to find self-fulfillment through VPET. The other stresses the academic ability and middle-class status of VPET students as well as the non-manual and high-end career opportunities for graduates. While the first strategy offers a new basis on which to value VPET, the second recreates assumptions about the value of academic achievement and what constitutes respectable employment, even as it attempts to challenge stereotypes. It reinforces that the ultimate goal of education is financial gain and social status. It overlooks other values of education and the potential value of VPET in enhancing individual choice and agency.Research limitations/implications: Discourse analysis does not provide information about audience perceptions and interpretations.Social implications: The government could consider reframing their messaging in terms of the diverse values and experiences of VPET students. Highlighting the values that VPET students themselves see in their education provides alternative discourses that can better challenge hegemonic ideas.Originality/value: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first discourse analysis of the government's publicity campaign to

The information technology industry has been identified as a priority industry for development in Hong Kong. Within this sector, there are a growing number of “new collar” jobs that may not require a traditional four-year degree. However, these jobs require a combination of technical and soft skills that are not often taught in secondary schools. The Applied Learning course titled “Tech Basics” was introduced to five secondary schools in 2019. It has the unique feature of bringing together secondary schools, a local public university, and industry partners in curriculum design and program delivery, to provide students with work-integrated learning. The curriculum includes authentic work environment exposure components such as company visits, mentorship programs, industry-led project competitions, and internships. This paper is a case study presenting detailed information on the program’s model of work-integrated learning as. well as its evaluation. It explains the different roles of secondary schools, higher education institutes, and industry partners. To assess the impact of the program, three rounds of surveys were conducted among students taking the course and a control group over a three-year period. The theoretical framework of work integrated learning and mentoring was reviewed. Survey results and additional qualitative data are presented. Feedback from secondary school teachers and mentors from the industry is analyzed. Challenges for the future development of the Tech Basics course are discussed. Copyright ©2024 Springer.

This introductory article for the special issue of “The International Journal of Diversity in Education” weaves the research interests and histories of members of the local organizing committee for the Fifteenth International Conference on Diversity in Organizations, Communities & Nations held at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) in July 2015. These members share a common research context—diversity and education in Hong Kong and the article aims to reflect that, although from diverse disciplinary backgrounds and concerns with different sectors and approaches to education, our collective interest centers on education and social justice in Hong Kong. Issues explored in K-12 schooling range across: inclusive education, Chinese language support for special education needs children and non-Chinese speaking (NCS) learners, and multicultural education. Issues explored in higher education focus on the academic workforce in Hong Kong, both in terms of internationalization policy and academic mobility in professional education, and with regard to gender equity and the role of women in the academy. Copyright © 2016 Common Ground Publishing, Susan M. Bridges, Liz Jackson, Patcy Yeung, Kit Chan, Ida A. C. Mok, Sarah Jane Aiston, All Rights Reserved

The conflicting education values in Hong Kong kindergartens and primary schools pose various challenges to kindergarten teachers in providing pupils with a smooth transition to primary school which requires collaboration from schools and families. This study explored these challenges as well as the benefits of a professional teacher training programme. In-service teachers (N = 35) and tutors (N = 2) engaged in the module ‘The Social and Emotional Aspects of Teaching and Learning’ participated in this study. The trainees’ weekly reflective journals throughout the 22-week module were subjected to documentation analysis. Group interviews with the in-service teachers and individual interviews with the tutors were conducted on completion of the module. Findings reveal a gap between teacher training and providing pastoral care for pupils through supporting the social and emotional aspects of their families in Hong Kong, and indicated that traditional beliefs associated with the teaching profession should be widened. Meanwhile, counselling knowledge and skills should be contextualised and integrated into teacher training programmes.
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This study examined the relationships between teachers' perceptions of faculty trust, professional learning communities, and their professional learning among a sample of 2106 Hong Kong kindergarten teachers. It analysed the differences between the effects of faculty trust in various stakeholders (i.e., colleagues, parents, and the principal). The results show that while trust in colleagues exerted a positive effect on teacher professional learning, the direct effects of trust in the principal and trust in parents were non-significant. Meanwhile, professional learning communities positively mediated the effects of teachers' perceived faculty trust on their learning. Implications for teacher learning in kindergartens are presented.
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In this article, factors contributing to the poor perceptions and inferior status of vocational education in Hong Kong are discussed. Critical discourse analysis (CDA) is employed as the methodology in examining the discursive construction of vocational education in the policy context. A total of five policy documents published between 1970 and 2015 are included. Our findings show that the socioeconomic transformation of Hong Kong in recent decades, massification of higher education, and cultural factors such as parental expectations are pertinent to the stigmatization observed in vocational education. This article discusses the implications from the findings and concludes with possible solutions for the future development of vocational education in Hong Kong under the novel vocational and professional education and training (VPET) initiative launched by the government.
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Despite considerable research in the higher education literature exploring the substantial values of eLearning and collaborative learning as distinct practices, few empirical studies have yet addressed the need for an integrated approach toward implementing eLearning and collaborative learning practices in a professional education development context. This paper documents a successful three-year project case entitled, Corpcommsynergy, which integrates eLearning and collaborative approaches in an e-platform implemented in undergraduate and postgraduate corporate communication courses at a Hong Kong university. The study employed both qualitative and quantitative content analysis methods to investigate how learners perceive this integrated approach and identified significant factors influencing their learning experience. Results suggested high feasibility and effectiveness of designing and implementing Corpcommsynergy and identified two significant factors: (1) design and facilitation of online courses; and (2) perception and participation of students affecting the effectiveness of collaborative eLearning.
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Teacher well-being is a critical factor affecting job performance and thus, significant for enhancing quality teaching. Based on the job demands-resources model, this study examines the mediating effects of teachers' self-monitoring and self-efficacy on the relationships between the emotional job demands of teaching and trust in colleagues and teacher well-being. A questionnaire was administered to 1115 primary school teachers in Hong Kong. The results highlight the maladaptive role of self-monitoring as a personal demand and the adaptive role of self-efficacy as a personal resource: self-monitoring is positively related to anxiety and depression; self-efficacy is positively related to enthusiasm and contentment and negatively related to anxiety and depression. The results not only support the beneficial role of trust in colleagues, which is positively associated with teacher self-efficacy and well-being, but also reveal the rewarding side of emotional job demands in enhancing teacher self-efficacy. Theoretical contributions and practical implications are discussed.
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Following years of pre-service teacher education, novice teachers are often enthusiastic about embarking on the journey in the teaching profession. However, they may not always possess the internal capacity and institutional support to take effective control of their teaching. This paper reports on a case study of the teaching lives of two novice secondary school ESL (English as a second language) teachers in Hong Kong, drawing on qualitative data gathered through individual face-to-face interviews, and supplemented by email exchanges and telephone conversations, over a one-year period. The study investigates how novice English teachers develop their teacher autonomy, and what factors contribute to their development as autonomous English teachers. The paper concludes that novice English teachers in Hong Kong possess the capacity and are also ready for autonomy, and that an invitational, supportive and collaborative school environment plays a decisive role in affording ample opportunities for novices to develop their autonomy in language teaching. The study suggests that novice teachers should become critically aware of the affordances (opportunities, possibilities, invitations, enablements) in their working conditions, and should meanwhile exercise their teacher agency to act on these affordances to pursue their personal-professional development.
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Teachers' instructional practices surrounding written assignments have been little researched, despite writing remaining the primary means of assessment in higher education, including postgraduate professional development programmes. In this paper, we report a study that explored what a sample of lecturers in a Master of Education programme at an English-medium university in Hong Kong did to support students' assignment writing. We integrate perspectives provided by the relevant higher education literature, the academic literacies approach and North American rhetorical genre studies to shed light on the findings derived from our analyses of interview and documentary data. We showed that our lecturer participants both engaged in direct instruction on assignment writing and provided indirect support. Our study contributed to the existing literature and raised questions for future research.
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