In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the global workforce, including higher-education professionals, experienced substantial changes in their working conditions. Responding to the crisis, universities swiftly adapted their operational modes, thus inevitably impacting the work–life balance (WLB) of their staff. This study examines the WLB factors and their outcomes for higher-education staff, among both teaching and non-teaching staff, in Hong Kong and Thailand, during the initial stages of the pandemic through the lens of the job demands and resources model (JD-R model). The results of 1800 questionnaires completed by respondents from government-funded universities in both locations revealed a significant difference in the WLB between the two cases, with the Hong Kong respondents reporting lower levels of WLB compared with their Thai counterparts. The Hong Kong teaching staff exhibited a higher utilization of family-friendly policies (FFPs), whereas the non-teaching staff reported significantly lower levels of both policy utilization and overall WLB. The results also revealed significant differences in terms of how work, family, and personal-resource and demand factors were correlated to the WLB outcomes. This study advocates for tailored adjustments in university policies, basing the policies on the specific staff category and emphasizing the need for targeted support. In the Hong Kong context, attention should be directed toward enhancing WLB and FFP utilization among non-teaching staff. In contrast, in Thailand, a focus on refining the policies to better support the WLB of teaching staff is recommended. Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Objective: This study examined the views of secondary school students on sexuality and sexual health education in Hong Kong, China. Methods: A total of 818 secondary school students (mean age = 15.3 years, SD = 1.6) participated in this study by completing a questionnaire consisted of items on sociodemographic characteristics, sexual attitudes, and other measuring scales. Results: Students were slightly permissive in sexual attitudes and supported sexual health education. However, students who were male, highly liberal in sexual attitudes, and low in religiosity and spirituality were less supportive. Conclusions: Educators may need to address these deterring factors of sexual health education before teaching specific sexual health topics. Copyright © 2024 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

This chapter examines how a transnational network of European sanitary, medical and educational experts helped define the contour of architectural reform and hygiene curriculum in Hong Kong from 1901 to 1941. Travelling back and forth between Hong Kong and the wider British imperial world, these colonial experts brought new approaches to public health that subsequently shaped practices in Hong Kong schools. As architectural reform, hygiene education and medical inspection were most rigorously carried out in the state-sponsored English schools (English-medium) that educated a multiracial but predominantly Chinese middle-class cohort, this strand of schools became the prime site where sanitary innovations and hygiene curriculum materialised. Just as imperial preoccupation with youth health drew the spaces of the classroom, dormitory, and school playground into the discourse of hygiene to create a new typology of school architecture, it simultaneously stratified a class structure in Chinese society. School health, in turn, functioned as an important means to enact new class and gender dynamics in Hong Kong in the early 20th century, entwining with the rise of Chinese bourgeoisies and female professionals, as well as eugenic thought that reframed the health of Hong Kong youth as directly connected with the future of the British empire. Copyright © 2024 selection and editorial matter, Kellie Burns and Helen Proctor; individual chapters, the contributors.

This chapter examines the focus on life and moral education in the Greater China region, particularly in Hong Kong, in response to global educational changes and talent demands. Emphasizing the cultivation of lifelong learning skills, problem-solving, innovation, conflict resolution, and a sense of responsibility, the Chinese Language curriculum is analyzed for its values elements related to life and moral education. The curriculum in Hong Kong includes learning strands encompassing Chinese culture, morality, and affection, with specific objectives such as moral reasoning, awareness, judgment, sentiment, self-reflection, positive life views, temperament development, and community responsibility. Teaching, learning, and assessment strategies for promoting life and moral education are also explored. Additionally, contemporary and ancient texts, namely “The Back” by Zhu Ziqing and “Love on Lotus Flower” by Zhou Dunyi, are used to illustrate the curriculum's potential for nurturing core competencies, values, and attitudes amidst diverse cultures and ideas. By equipping young individuals with these skills, they are better prepared to navigate future societal challenges and value conflicts. Copyright © 2024 selection and editorial matter, Sin Manw Sophia Lam, John Chi-Kin Lee and Chung Mou Si; individual chapters, the contributors.

There has been global popularity of the Chinese language for the past three decades. With a vast market of 1.4 billion people and enormous business opportunities in China, the Chinese language as a foreign or second language is taught in more than 2,000 universities in over 80 countries and countless primary and secondary schools. Hong Kong as part of China after the handover of sovereignty in 1997, the learning and teaching of the Chinese language as a native language in Hong Kong has experienced remarkable changes throughout the years. Hong Kong used to be a British colony where the East meets the West and played an essential role in bridging the gap between Chinese and Western cultures. For historical reasons, Hong Kong tends to be a bilingual city and advocates trilingual biliterate in education, which means students are encouraged to learn and speak Cantonese (a local dialect), write traditional Chinese characters (versus simplified Chinese characters in Mainland China), Putonghua (Mandarin) and English. In general, English is used in business and public affairs as an official language and Lingua Franca whereas Chinese is another official language used in daily communication. In terms of language education, students learn Chinese because it is their first language and cultural identity while learning English has instrumental values. It is, therefore, Hong Kong society has generally prioritized English over Chinese, and students do not attach much importance to Chinese language learning. This chapter first analyzes the challenges and development of Chinese language learning and teaching in Hong Kong in the past 50 years. It also discusses the controversial issues of language education policies, including the division of Chinese language and literature, the teaching of Classical Chinese, the teaching of Putonghua, medium of instruction (MOI), non-Chinese speaking (NCS) students learning Chinese, aiming to review the Chinese language education in Hong Kong. It is hoped

Developing cultural inclusiveness has been a prominent agenda in European and North American teacher preparation programmes. Beyond these societies, however, discussion on teacher education programme diversity remains tokenistic. Hong Kong, a city often marketed as Asia's World City, is not an exception, given the relatively recent history in the representation of minority groups and the enactment of an anti-racial discrimination ordinance in 2009. This lacuna thus raises questions about teachers’ preparedness to engage with the growing concerns for educational equity for ethnically diverse learners. This chapter describes and reflects on an informal learning programme within a Hong Kong university that has taken up the challenge of engaging pre-service teachers more explicitly about cultural diversity. The informal programme applies a ‘to know, to care, to act’ approach in collaboration with a social enterprise to offer students virtual experiential learning opportunities with ethnically diverse communities. The programme aimed at developing learners’ global competence as aspiring teachers of diverse learners. In doing so, this chapter advances theoretical arguments about merging global and multicultural education frameworks. This is a means to foster contact and learning between pre-service teachers and ethnically diverse learners and provides a pathway for promoting cultural inclusion in schools. Copyright © 2024 selection and editorial matter, Paul Downes, Jim Anderson, Alireza Behtoui and Lore Van Praag; individual chapters, the contributors.

When multilingual learners traverse across cross-border and study-abroad contexts, they enter different sociocultural spaces, negotiate conflicting identities, and may or may not invest in these identities. Addressing the lacuna, this longitudinal case study draws upon the model of investment to conduct a long-term, systematic investigation of the identities and investment of Miranda, a multilingual learner, and a pre-service teacher—as she studied, over seven years, as a university student (B.A.) in mainland China, a taught postgraduate student (M.Ed.) in Hong Kong, and a research student (M.Phil. and Ph.D.) in New Zealand. Findings reveal how Miranda negotiated, constructed, and performed multiple identities in shifting contexts and how the way her capital was valued shaped the way she positioned herself and was positioned by others. Attending to the fluidity and complexity of identities, this study provides educational authorities and teachers with implications for helping to chart the path for empowering students across contexts. Copyright © 2024 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Background: The school is one of the most salient developmental contexts for children. However, little is known about the associations linking the school environment to child adjustment in a non-Western context, not to mention the potential processes that may mediate these associations. Aims: This study examined the associations of school- and classroom-level characteristics with child adjustment and tested whether these associations were mediated by teacher–child relationship qualities. Sample: Cross-sectional data were collected on a representative sample of 1777 children (mean age = 55.14 months; 50% of them were girls) from 100 kindergartens in Hong Kong, China. Methods: Using self-reported questionnaires, teachers rated their school-level environments, their classroom chaos, their closeness and conflict with children and children's socioemotional competence and academic ability. Meanwhile, parents rated children's behavioural problems. Results: Multilevel structural equation modelling revealed that the school-level environment and classroom chaos were uniquely associated with children's socioemotional, behavioural and academic adjustment. Moreover, the associations of the school-level environment and classroom chaos with child socioemotional and academic adjustment were mediated by teacher–child closeness and conflict, whereas the associations of the school-level environment and classroom chaos with child behavioural problems were mediated by teacher–child conflict only. Conclusions: Findings indicated how school- and classroom-level characteristics may be uniquely associated with child adjustment and how teacher–child relationships may be implicated in the underlying mechanism, highlighting the potential utility of targeting school- and classroom-level environments and teacher–child relationships in promoting child development. Copyright © 2024 British Psychological Society.

Internationally, there is a growing concern regarding insufficient preparation of the teachers in mainstream kindergartens to teach for ethnically diverse children. As teacher educators, we are concerned about how to facilitate kindergarten teachers in Hong Kong to improve their teaching. In this study, we adopt the research approach of phenomenography to investigate the research question of: What are the qualitatively different ways teachers experience teaching for ethnically diverse children? We conducted individual semi-structured interviews with 26 in-service kindergarten teachers. Four ways of experiencing were identified. Teaching for ethnically diverse children can be experienced as: adjusting instruction (A), expanding modes of expression (B), exploring new possibilities (C), and embracing inclusion (D). We recommend teacher educators to discuss our results with teachers in professional development programmes, making them aware of alternatives and appropriate more advanced ways of experiencing. Moreover, our results also reveal the benefits ethnically diverse children bring to all children. Copyright © 2023 HKERA-APERA.