Trees are living organisms that are subject to attack by decay or disease-causing natural enemies as well as weather adversities and long-term climate change in the course of their life span. When they suffer from these intrusions or extensive damage by typhoons, they often express visible symptoms, which may be structural or physiological. Initiated by a group of scholars at The Education University of Hong Kong, with the involvement of student-teachers as well as teachers and students in primary and secondary schools, a project, “Life Education and Citizen Science through Tree Protection and Conservation”, was launched with the objectives of caring, respecting and acting for our nature from preserving trees and enhancing citizens’ contribution to protecting the environment. The initial project experiences revealed that students acquired knowledge and skills in tree assessment and also cultivated positive attitudes towards tree conservation, which are relevant to the balanced development of knowledge, skills, values and attitudes in this new century. Copyright © 2023 selection and editorial matter, Kerry J. Kennedy, Margarita Pavlova and John Chi-Kin Lee; individual chapters, the contributors.

Life education, originating in the West, has been an increasingly important source of moral and values education in the Greater China region. Life education, to some extent, is linked with different kinds of values education that encompasses moral and citizenship education, environmental education as well as religious and spiritual education. In the 21st century, life education could also be complementary to positive education that is related to the development of positive (life) values and the pursuit of well-being. Life education also echoes with health education under the impact of COVID-19 along with life and planning education including life-long learning perspectives. This chapter explores the theoretical and practical connections between life education, positive education and other values education and proposes an integrated and holistic approach to curriculum development for the context of Hong Kong. Copyright © 2023 selection and editorial matter, Kerry J. Kennedy, Margarita Pavlova and John Chi-Kin Lee; individual chapters, the contributors.

Unprecedented developments in communication and technology have resulted in numerous opportunities for personal and professional contact. The emerging trend of actual and virtual spaces for professional engagement demands that younger generations be equipped with values and skills that govern their everyday interactions with people from diverse backgrounds. Although determining the role of education in preparing future generations should be straightforward, devising inclusive education and supporting students with diverse educational needs in schools is demanding. This chapter investigates the intersection of inclusive education, soft skills and hard values and situates the discussion in the educational context of Hong Kong. It identifies the issues and challenges of inclusion in Hong Kong’s education system and underscores the lack of focus on soft skills and values in education. It then proposes ways to cultivate soft skills and values among students and teachers to promote inclusive education in the city. In addition, this chapter highlights possible ways that schools can prepare students with special educational needs for a competitive working environment and offer equal learning opportunities for all students. Copyright © 2023 selection and editorial matter, Kerry J. Kennedy, Margarita Pavlova and John Chi-Kin Lee; individual chapters, the contributors.

This paper draws on Marcia and Porfeli's identity status models to examine the relationship between adolescent career identity formation and its contextual aspects. Focus group interviews were conducted with 26 students at two Hong Kong senior secondary schools. It was found that most participants exhibited the career identity statuses of achievement, searching moratorium, or moratorium towards the end of school. Influences that were identified from family, school, and social culture varied across individuals with different career identity statuses. By reporting the findings from an East Asian school setting, the paper provides theoretical and practical implications for career development for senior secondary school students.
[Copyright of Journal of Career Development is the property of SAGE Publications.]

To tackle the serious problems caused by plastic wastes, it is critical to develop new plastic recycling beliefs and behavior, together with recycling skills (4 important steps of recycling: cleanliness, separation, compression, and sorting) of the plastic wastes in environmental education (EE). The study revealed the effectiveness of a plastic waste recycling program adopting an action competence approach with educational interventions using a new plastic waste recycling bin (PRB). The PRB allows further classification of plastic waste types. Seven primary schools in Hong Kong participated in the program. A total of 313 questionnaires which assessed pupils’ classification knowledge, behaviours of plastic waste recycling, and their pro-environmental attitudes in terms of New Environmental Paradigm were received. Semi-structured interview with 27 pupils from the schools were also conducted. Recycling performance (actual behaviour) of using the brown bins (general plastic recycling bin) and the PRBs in the schools was assessed as the evidence of action competence in plastic waste recycling. Comparing the schools which adopted programmes with a combination of two types of recycling bins (brown bin vs. PRB) and interventions (Poster vs. half/full training courses to teach the recycling knowledge and skill), both quantitative and qualitative results showed that learners of the program enhanced their recycling knowledge (K), attitudes (A), and behaviour (B) concerning plastic waste recycling. The recycling performance proved that there is a statistically significant change in the recycling steps, separation and compression. The study provides insights for environmental educators to develop strategic solutions to ease environmental issues as well as putting these actions into practice in schools. Copyright © 2019 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

This study explored two under-researched areas on students' attitudes towards science, that is, the structural models representing these attitudes and the role played by school bands in moderating the gender differences in such attitudes. The participants were 360 ninth graders in Hong Kong from 3 school bands. The structural equation modelling method was adopted to compare four hypothetical models for students' attitudes towards science. Results reflect that (i) the data supported the three-factor structure of the behavioural domain of students' attitudes towards science; (ii) the four lower level dimensions of the attitudes towards science (i.e. value of science to society, self-concept in science, anxiety towards science and enjoyment of science) could be further integrated into broader categories; (iii) male students demonstrated significantly more positive attitudes towards science in five dimensions (i.e. self-concept in science, enjoyment in science, learning science in and outside the classroom and future participation) and (iv) school bands played a prominent moderating role in gender differences in students' attitudes towards science. Implications for studying and developing students' attitudes towards science are discussed in the paper.