This paper argues that in the new landscape of a postmodernist world, civic education would need to nurture national identity and promote intercultural outlook hand in hand. This article reviews development of Hong Kong’s civic education development in this light. In the case of post-colonial Hong Kong, a sensible balance is most needed as the city is to continue as an international city that functions as one of China’s windows to the world.
[Copyright © 2007 Biblioteca Virtuală ASE.]

This article discusses how a newly established senior secondary school in Hong Kong tried to actively engage students in the school decision-making process. It first explains how democratization could come about, the actual measures adopted, and the initial success achieved. Then the article proceeds to explain how challenges, such as conflicting interests of the students and tension between students and the administration, surfaced when the school became more established, grew in size, took in more students, moved into a bigger campus, and subsequently needed to face the public examinations. In conclusion, the article discusses changes in school governance that could be helpful in meeting the challenges. Institutionalising student participation, such as forming a student council, is discussed together with other useful changes. It is hoped that this article can be useful to people interested in the democratization of school governance, and the impact on school democratization of such factors as institutionalisation and increasing school size.
[Copyright © 2010 Commonwealth Council for Educational Administration & Management (CCEAM).]

Purpose – This paper aims to review and analyze the functions, strategies and related issues of developing a regional education hub in the trends of education development in China as well as the Asian Pacific region. Design/methodology/approach – Taking Hong Kong as an emerging case, it examines through literature and international comparison the relationship between education hub development and higher education development as well as the strategic functions of an education hub to the future development of Hong Kong. Findings – The development of an education hub was found closely linked to the demand for higher education in the Asian Pacific region as well as the internal dynamic of higher education and society in Hong Kong. The mode of education hub development in Hong Kong should be driven by soft-power building instead of industrialization. The requirements for successful implementation include the huge demands for higher education in the region, the strengths of the higher education sector, the supporting policies and measures for international students and education service providers, and the leadership and support of central agencies. Originality/value – This paper provides a new typology of higher education developments and a new mode of education hub development to analyze the strategic functions and requirements of developing education hub in the context of Asia-Pacific Region. The discussion and analysis in this paper will contribute to the related literature, policy development and initiative implementation in the areas of education hub and higher education not only in Hong Kong but also other parts of the world.
[Copyright © 2011 Emerald Group Publishing Limited.]

This article discusses the influence of Confucianism on civic education, focusing on Hong Kong as a particular case of concern. The development of Hong Kong’s civic education is sketched, highlighting the competitions between the politicized and depoliticized versions of the civic education curriculum. The notion that a depoliticized civic education, supported by Confucian ideals, is necessarily a distinctive feature of Asian civic education, is then critiqued. Finally, the article argues that an eclectic version of civic education, comprising both political and moral components, is warranted. This is what Confucian tenets really mean. It is hoped that the discussion here will help reflect whether Confucian tenets justify depoliticization of education and civic education. This is important given the growing aspiration for democracy and citizens’ participation in civil societies, particularly those whose cultural roots are in the Confucian tradition. Moreover, the authors hope that the dialogues between Confucian traditions and the Western traditions discussed in the article can shed light on some thought-provoking issues of interest to an international readership, particularly as China is becoming more influential globally.
[Copyright © Symposium Journals Ltd 2012.]

Choosing two schools as a case study, the article reports how teaching approaches can differ and explains how teacher style, school ethos, and student expectation can shape pedagogical choice. Impact of the teaching and the difficulties teachers encountered are also reported. Whilst this article is probably one of the first to explore the issue of human rights and rule of law teaching in Hong Kong, the fact that it is a small case study needs to be noted when reviewing the outcomes and conclusions of the study. The writing of this article was supported by the findings obtained from a Quality Education Fund project which aimed at assisting Hong Kong teachers to teach human rights and rule of law as part of Liberal Studies, which is a new senior secondary subject.
[Copyright © Symposium Journals Ltd 2012.]

This article argues for reconstructing Hong Kong’s civic education in the post-national education era, and puts forward some rethinking on conceptual, curricular and pedagogical matters. This article starts with a brief critical review of the development of school civic education in Hong Kong to set the context. This is followed by a discussion of the MNE controversy. It points out that the shelving of the mandatory subject and reversion to depoliticized school-based civic education is inadequate to address the needs of civic education in Hong Kong. Finally, this article argues in favour of the type of civic education that aims at cultivating politically literate, critically thinking and actively participating citizens, with particular reference to the Civic Education Guidelines from Civil Society. This set of unofficial Guidelines proposes that Hong Kong’s civic education has to be reconstructed both in conceptual, curricular and pedagogical terms accordingly. Hopefully, this article will shed light on the development of civic education in societies that are facing similar challenges in the process of democratization and an upheaval of civic consciousness of the citizenry.
[Copyright © 2015 Intellect Ltd Article.]

From 2009 to 2011, the authors launched the Basic Law Education Project: Education for Human Rights and the Rule of Law in Hong Kong. This article focuses on a subset of the overarching data-set and discusses the findings that resulted from a comparative analysis of two participating schools. A survey was deployed to assess the extent to which a human rights friendly ethos existed in several institutions. Randomly selected students and all teachers from both schools were invited to participate. The collected data revealed noteworthy trends in mean scores between teachers and students in areas such as equal and fair treatment; protection of and appeal for rights; and feelings of being loved, respected, and blessed. School mission and leadership style appeared to account for significant differences. Additionally, we offer recommendations for practices that may improve human rights ethos in schools.
[Copyright © 2015 Taylor & Francis.]

The purpose of this paper was to examine the motives, the educational experiences, and the plan after graduation of a particular group of mainland Chinese students pursuing teacher education in Hong Kong by using a modified two-way push-and-pull model as our analytical framework. The study employed both quantitative and qualitative methods. Participants were 130 prospective student teachers from The Hong Kong Institute of Education, the largest teacher training provider in Hong Kong. The findings confirm a long-standing concern regarding the lack of an English environment and internationalization in universities in mainland China. In addition, the majority of the participants were satisfied with the overall quality of the teacher education programs in Hong Kong. Finally, our participants were a very special group of mainland Chinese students because, unlike those on other academic programs such as business or computing, the graduates from teacher education programs do not have much transferable academic capital. When they decide to pursue their teacher training degrees in Hong Kong, they have already made up their mind to stay in Hong Kong after graduation. Thus, we extend the threefold classifications of mainland Chinese students studying overseas, as defined by Dimmock and Leong, by adding a new category—labeled ‘settlers’—in their classification.
[Copyright © 2015 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.]

This paper provides an overview of the considerable turmoil that erupted in Hong Kong following attempts to impose a form of national education in schools. From mid July to September 2012, mass gatherings and street demonstrations occurred in Hong Kong in response to the decision by the government to introduce a compulsory school subject titled Moral and National Education. A teaching kit titled the 'China Model National Conditions Teaching Manuel' prompted a public outcry for its approach to embedding a particular version of national identity and citizenship in the curriculum which was considered by many citizens in Hong Kong to be extremely biased. Parents and students in Hong Kong were alarmed when they discovered that many supporting teaching materials, suggested teaching plans, and even organised visits to the Mainland were biased, aiming only at presenting a positive picture of China to the students. This approach to developing a national identity was regarded by many protestors as not representative of the freedom of opinion and association that citizens in Hong Kong regarded as essential for citizenship and as part of understanding their rights in China under 'One Country, Two Systems'. The introduction of this program led to debates about the nature and purposes of civics and citizenship education and whether efforts to secure a national approach to education are in fact a form of indoctrination. This paper outlines the context for these questions about embedding a form of national identity and citizenship in the curriculum in Hong Kong and discusses the purposes of civic education. It concludes that students should have access to effective civics and citizenship education that allows them to develop their own sense of identity and opinions about their community as 'critical patriots'.
[Copyright © 2014 Informit]

In accordance with the Education Commission's consultation paper "Learning for Life", life-long learning is the hinge of HKSAR's educational development in the new millenium. In the ever-changing world life-long learning is essential to keeping oneself competitive and employable. Teachers need to exemplify and cultivate the ethos of life-long learning among the students. Continuous teacher education is important as it helps reorientate Hong Kong's teachers to embrace a life-long learning attitude. In schools, adjustments and arrangements need to be worked out for continuous teacher education to be fruitful.