This paper offers a qualitative analysis of decisions of 64 community-college students in seeking a transfer in Hong Kong. In weighing a number of educational options and then offers, with a similar level of desirability in some cases, in order to achieve their transfers, advantaged-class and disadvantaged-class respondents struggled with different logics of reasoning and negotiated anxiously with their changing structural realities. This qualitative analysis addresses the contextual, processual and emotional aspects of their decision making and provides a more convincing illustration of how the secondary effect of social stratification operates against a changing landscape of higher education. Copyright © 2023 SAGE Publications.

This study analyzed the variation in teachers’ mathematical educational values between distance and traditional face-to-face teaching. Enabled by the unique circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, the research explored the impact of remote teaching on primary and secondary mathematics education in Hong Kong. An online survey, completed by 109 practicing mathematics teachers, assessed their pre-existing educational values and their adaptability to the shift towards distance teaching, as well as their teaching practices. Findings indicated that despite the multitude of digital teaching tools, the implementation of most mathematical educational values was more restricted in distance teaching. Rationalism and Control were prioritized, reflecting the challenges of assessing student progress remotely. Among the 13 values identified, Fun and Engagement, along with Thinking and Problem-solving, Achievement, and Reasoning, were significantly diminished, highlighting the shortcomings of one-way and superficial concept-based teaching. The study concludes that distance teaching, when completely isolated from traditional methods, may not offer the benefits suggested in the literature, impacting student engagement, motivation, and higher-order thinking. This necessitates a unique curriculum development model to effectively incorporate blended and self-directed learning. Copyright © 2023 Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia, Inc.

隨著二零一五年《施政報告》發佈，香港教育業界開始關注STEM（科學、科技、工程及數學）教育﹔然而，業界的討論主要聚焦於中小學教育，尚未觸及幼稚園處境。事實上，數學與自然科學是本地幼兒教育不可或缺的學習範疇，個別辦學團體及幼稚園已試行STEM教育活動，以培育幼兒的探索與科學精神。為了探討STEM在香港學前教育的出路，本文將運用質性研究方式，以五位幼兒教育工作者的個案訪談為基礎，透視在本地幼稚園推行STEM教育活動時的挑戰，並探討當中給予業界的啟示。 Copyright © 2018 香港教師中心.

This study contributes to the Western-normed whole-day versus half-day kindergarten debate with Asian-focused evidence from a longitudinal study on parental perceptions, needs, and decisions in the privatised kindergarten marketplace in Hong Kong. The parents of children attending the whole-day and half-day programmes were surveyed in the first two years of kindergarten. Both programmes were perceived to possess distinctive qualities and parents reflected an effortful quest for an optimal home–work–life balance. Two-step cluster analysis identified three parent profiles – the Slightest Needs, the Moderate Needs, and the Urgent Needs – differentiated by family income, parents' occupation and education, and residence ownership. Finally, logistic regression analyses predicting parental decisions found a shift from a socioeconomic orientation to an educational orientation. The findings indicate that the ‘either or’ thinking in this debate is problematic as what parents need is not the ‘best’ programme but the best ‘fit’. The 4As approach – allocation, affordability, availability, and accessibility, was proposed for policy refinement to cater for evolving societal, familial, and educational dynamics.

This paper reports the initial findings of a study about the learning process of 17 pre-service kindergarten teachers in a higher diploma programme at a vocational training institute in Hong Kong. The existing literature regards experiential learning as a reflective process that allows student teachers to make new meaning from learning experiences gained during their training. However, these reflective processes lack commonality, and the findings are rarely situated in the context of vocational education. In this regard, empirical data were gathered as evidence of how student teachers develop their ideas of competence in a vocational training programme based on the perspective of Kolb’s experiential learning model. This paper addresses the further implications for programme administrators, institutional fieldwork supervisors and researchers. Copyright © 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Decades of research in the West cannot determine whether the whole-day or half-day kindergarten program is more beneficial to children's development. In Hong Kong, despite strong public demand for the whole-day program, mixed research findings have led the government to support the half-day program only. As a supplement to a large-scale 2-year longitudinal study, this mixed methods study adopted Donabedian's (2003) approach to explore this complex social-educational issue with reference to Hong Kong-Chinese educators’ perceptions of the whole-day kindergarten program. The authors surveyed 180 kindergarten educators from 15 randomly sampled kindergartens and conducted interviews with 30 of these educators one year later. The results showed that the whole-day program allowed for structural, curricular, and pedagogical improvement, enhanced children's development, and eased families’ childcare concerns. The disadvantages, however, were reduced parent–child time and heavier tuition fees. The findings imply that no “best” program exists, only a better program “fit.” Program selection should reflect family preferences and needs while ensuring high-quality learning opportunities and active parental involvement. The whole-day program is recommended for families that lack a stimulating home environment and childcare resources; the half-day program might be a better fit for financially able families with adequate childcare resources. The authors argue that the supply and affordability of the free whole-day program should better match the needs of families. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Using a qualitative descriptive design, researchers describe andidentify similarities and differences in the professional preparation of infant-toddler care and education (ITCE) teachers at university based teacher education programmes in Hong Kong China, Aotearoa New Zealand, and the USA. Researchers overview the ITCE landscape, describe statutory regulations, and consider major documents and prevalent ideas influencing ITCE teacher education in their respective countries. Key findings are presented from each researcher’s analysis of the teacher education programmes at their own institutions and then summarised in descriptive narratives around four major themes: (1) country-specific values, (2) pedagogical elements, (3) curriculum focus, and (4) teaching practicum expectations. On the basis of a dialogic deliberative process, the three researchers then discuss the findings together by deliberating upon how culture in the forms of norms, values, prevailing beliefs, and expectations, appeared to–intentionally or unintentionally–shape the three different approaches to preparing students to become fully-qualified teachers of infants and toddlers. Copyright © 2023 TACTYC.

This chapter aims to briefly review the recent developments in early childhood education in Chinese societies such as the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan. Varying greatly in political and economic contexts, these societies share some common patterns and face similar challenges in their development. First, this chapter analyzes the shifting landscape in Chinese economies and societies with a focus on the changes in education systems and policies and the associated impact. Second, it evaluates all the efforts that these societies have made to promote the accessibility, affordability, and accountability of early childhood education in the past decades. Third, it critically reflects on the early childhood curriculum reforms and pedagogical changes in these societies. Last, this chapter summarizes the challenges in defining culturally appropriate early childhood education in a globalized world as well as the lessons that we could learn from these Chinese societies.