This article argues that the development of civic education in Hong Kong can be divided into three phases chronologically: (1) before 1984: “depoliticization” by the state and the school; (2) 1984-1997: “politicization” of the intended curriculum; and (3) 1997 onwards: “re-depoliticization” of civic education and official confirmation of nationalistic education. In general, for phases one and two, the development is described as moving from de-politicization to politicization, in response to the political development of Hong Kong from a British colony towards the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) of People's Republic of China. The article continues by exploring the third phase in detail with reference to the official document: Learning to Learn: Life-long Learning and Whole-person Development and the official speeches of the Chief Executive, Tung Chee Hwa. A phenomenon of re-depoliticization of civic education is identified, together with a strong upheaval of nationalistic education. This leads civic education “back to square one"—"re-depoliticized”. The article concludes by highlighting that the development of civic education in Hong Kong is a typical example of how civic education reflects the political context of the society.
[Copyright © Nanyang Technological University & National Institute of Education.]

Encouraging parent involvement is one of the prime focuses of promoting home-school cooperation in current education reform in Hong Kong. This paper contains research data collected through qualitative methods aiming at capturing the thoughts and perceptions of twelve parents and twelve teachers in three primary schools in Hong Kong so as to explore whether both parties are ready for parent-school cooperation. Findings indicated that both parents and teachers demonstrated cognitive and affective awareness of parent involvement outside school while teachers were strongly unwilling to see parents being involved in decision making. To promote parent-school collaboration, it is important to consider teacher-parent relationships and the influence of Chinese culture on parent involvement. The paper also serves to provide scholars with academic insights for further investigation and policy makers with practical knowledge in developing appropriate strategies to promote home-school cooperation.
[Copyright © 2002 Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization.]

Promoting home-school relations is one of the aims of education reforms recently in Hong Kong. This paper contains research data collected through qualitative methods aiming at exploring interactive dynamics between parents and teachers in school. Findings demonstrate that parents and teachers are always in conflict with each other and they are not psychologically prepared to be partners due to difference in expectation and backgrounds. The offering of training courses for pre-service and in-service teachers on counseling skills in working with parents is recommended so that teachers are cognitively and affectively prepared to get parents involved in school.

China has already resumed sovereignty of Hong Kong since 1st July, 1997. In the period of British rule, the education of Hong Kong was commented as a tool to develop subject political culture among citizens who are thus becoming apolitical and anational. The Civic Education Guidelines published in 1996 has included nationalistic education as part of the content of citizenship education in both primary and secondary schools. This paper aims at finding out whether primary school teachers are sufficiently equipped with the necessary knowledge of nationalistic education specied in the Guideline through a survey.