Minoritised students with dis/abilities in Hong Kong may face aggregated challenges. As a minoritised student with dis/ability or impairment, they may be doubly marginalised or triply marginalised, as in the case of a female or poor minoritised student with dis/ability or impairment. Little is known, however, about these students or about the underpinning philosophies of existing support. Adopting an intersectionality approach and dis/ability critical race theory (DisCrit), this paper explores the educational provision and existing support measures for minoritised students with dis/abilities and the issues and challenges faced by them. It draws on various policy documents from related government departments and others. The paper presents three theoretical arguments: (1) that dis/ability discourse needs to be more inclusive; (2) that the medical model currently provides limited support for minoritised students with dis/abilities in Hong Kong; and (3) that a social model, rather than the current medical model would provide inclusive support. Copyright © 2022 Routledge.

Improving mainstream perceptions of diversity in Hong Kong is fundamental to enhancing equality and human rights in the society in the future. The importance of mainstream members of society learning to recognize diversity with less prejudice undergirds many of the aims of a recent educational reform, Liberal Studies. This paper evaluates the capacity of Liberal Studies to educate for multicultural understanding of cultural difference. Its primary data source is Liberal Studies textbooks, and it employs a qualitative content analysis to consider how diversity and ethnic, cultural, and religious differences are represented in the texts. The analysis is complemented by an examination of related resources teachers may use in the classroom (and are encouraged to use by the Hong Kong Curriculum Development Council): mainstream news articles and resources from the (government-provided) Web-based Resource Platform for Liberal Studies. The voices and views of some practicing teachers and pre-service teacher education students related to multicultural Liberal Studies resources are also included to provide a balanced picture. Based on this analysis, multicultural education as provided in major resources within the Liberal Studies curriculum appears inadequate. As diversity is reflected upon in resources analyzed here most often as problematic and stereotypical, interventions are needed if Liberal Studies is to enable multicultural appreciation and understanding among students in Hong Kong in the future. Copyright © 2016 De La Salle University.

Although multiculturalism in education has become dominant in many societies, Hong Kong does not have a tradition of multicultural education. This paper asks whether and how multicultural education, or a new variant, “interculturalism,” might be usefully employed in considering diversity and inequality in Hong Kong education. After giving a brief overview of multiculturalism and interculturalism in education, the paper examines the needs of Newly Arrived Students (NAS) from mainland China and ethnic minorities to receive greater educational representation through content integration, and interventions to increase student empowerment and reduce prejudice (in line with a multicultural approach). However, students can also benefit from programs labeled as “intercultural” today: linguistic interventions that assimilate students to dominant languages used for work and equal opportunity in society. The paper compares Hong Kong’s challenges with those of other countries that employ multicultural and/or intercultural education programs, Canada, the United States, France, Japan, and South Africa, and also considers educational implications of the latest Moral and National Education controversy, to argue for the need for a more active role for multiculturalism and interculturalism in Hong Kong education today. Copyright © 2013 Comparative Education Society of Hong Kong.

This introductory article for the special issue of “The International Journal of Diversity in Education” weaves the research interests and histories of members of the local organizing committee for the Fifteenth International Conference on Diversity in Organizations, Communities & Nations held at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) in July 2015. These members share a common research context—diversity and education in Hong Kong and the article aims to reflect that, although from diverse disciplinary backgrounds and concerns with different sectors and approaches to education, our collective interest centers on education and social justice in Hong Kong. Issues explored in K-12 schooling range across: inclusive education, Chinese language support for special education needs children and non-Chinese speaking (NCS) learners, and multicultural education. Issues explored in higher education focus on the academic workforce in Hong Kong, both in terms of internationalization policy and academic mobility in professional education, and with regard to gender equity and the role of women in the academy. Copyright © 2016 Common Ground Publishing, Susan M. Bridges, Liz Jackson, Patcy Yeung, Kit Chan, Ida A. C. Mok, Sarah Jane Aiston, All Rights Reserved

This paper discusses whether practitioners' gender subjectivities influence pedagogies and practices in early years education and care (EYEC) settings and whether an increase of men's participation can improve gender diversity in EYEC. It draws on poststructuralist theories, understanding gender as the product/outcome of the social formation of subjects and the process of subjectification. This is illustrated through accounts for how individual practitioners from Scotland, Hong Kong, and Mainland China discursively construct their gender subjectivities, in accordance with the respective cultural discourses that shape work with young children in EYEC in the three contexts. Thirty-four practitioners from 17 EYEC settings (1 male and 1 female practitioner from each setting) in the cities of Edinburgh, Hong Kong, and Tianjin were interviewed. The study finds that participant practitioners' constructions of gender subjectivities vary within and across contexts, and gender-binary discourses are to different extents prevalent in all three contexts. This paper argues for a cross-cultural approach to gender-sensitive teacher training, to interrogate popular discourses that advocate for men to fulfil complementary roles in EYEC to women and to challenge gender binary thinking that persists in EYEC and beyond.
[Copyright of Early Years is the property of Routledge.]

This paper looks at the evolving trend of government influence on schools and education across the world, and asks what is happening in Hong Kong in both mainstream and special education. Recent evidence would suggest that in many countries governments are starting to question the efficacy of current policies and practices. The challenge is for the Hong Kong government to reduce its quasi influence, and for teachers to begin to self-examine the efficacy of their teaching practices in terms of meeting the needs of each and every student in their classroom. There appears to be a conflict of interest between the needs of the state and the needs of the classroom. If teachers were to be given more responsib1ility for the learning progress of each student, rather than simply the overall progress of groups of students, current pedagogical practices would require a major paradigm shift. 本文就全球不斷進展的趨勢,檢視各國政府政策對學校及教育的影響,並探討香港主流教育與特殊教育的現況。最新資料顯示,不少國家的政府已開始懐疑現行政策及實踐的成效,香港政府要面對的挑戰,是如何減少它在形式上的影響及如何令老師開始自我審視在處理個別學生需要教學方法的效益。事實上,國家所認同的需要與課堂裹所期望的需要,像各有分歧。作者指出,如果老師要為每一個學生學習進展負責而不是為一群學生的整體進步為目標,則現行的教學實踐需經歷一次重大的範式轉移。
[Copyright of Hong Kong Journal of Special Education is the property of Special Education Society of Hong Kong Ltd.. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
https://sites.google.com/a/seshk.org.hk/seshk-org-hk/c_publication]

Purpose: Empirical research on leadership for social justice is in progress in many parts of the world. The purpose of this paper is to explore principals' school-leadership journeys in response to social-justice issues caused by specific contextual changes at times of uncertainty. It seeks to answer the following key questions: What social-justice issues do principals identify as arising from their schools' transformation due to contextual changes? How do principals practise leadership for social justice in response to these contextual changes at different levels? Design/methodology/approach: This paper is based on qualitative data from a cross-case study of two principals' school-leadership journeys. The authors pay particular attention to the understanding of leadership for social justice grounded in principals' efforts to foster equality in learning development for a diverse student population. Findings: Timely adverse conditions may be required to foster leadership for social justice in schools. The principals reacted to contextual changes at several levels, planning and implementing innovative and flexible interventions to ensure equality in students' learning development. These findings contribute to international accounts of educational leadership. Research limitations/implications: This study of leadership for social justice in schools is contextually specific. Therefore, more empirical comparisons of school leadership are required in future studies, as principals' practices vary between education settings. Originality/value: This paper offers insights into the evolution of leadership for social justice in schools in response to contextual changes. Principals' leadership strategies can be reoriented and their actions reshaped to overcome threats to social justice in schools. Accordingly, although leadership for social justice in school communities is culturally and pedagogically inclusive, it is also socially distinctive.
[Copyright © 2017 Emerald Publishing

Increasingly, the importance of reflexivity has been acknowledged in higher education research. In this paper, I reflect on my experience of researching lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) university students in Hong Kong. The focus is not on the findings that emerge from the in-depth interviews conducted per se, but on the methodological reflections of the research process itself. Particularly, I focus on the notion of ‘vulnerability’ in the qualitative research literature which suggests that some study topics are particularly sensitive and some interviewees are especially vulnerable. I argue that because LGBT students in Hong Kong live under the governance of family biopolitics and the colonial legacy of religious dominance in secondary education, they are subjected to enormous social pressure to reject or conceal their LGBT identities. In that sense, they can be conceived as vulnerable interview subjects. However, LGBT students, especially those who are in the closet, redefined the interview as an occasion to ponder their identity struggles, and to release problems and worries that in everyday life they can share with no one. For some LGBT students, knowing of the very existence of the research itself and participating in the research were empowering. The LGBT students had the capacity to shape the meanings of the interview, thus, they were far from being completely vulnerable. Quite unexpectedly, I found myself as a researcher in a relatively vulnerable position, feeling emotionally overwhelmed by the research and feeling guilty of not doing ‘enough’ for the LGBT students. This paper argues that although researchers need to continue to pay attention to the ethics of conducting culturally sensitive research, the vulnerability of some interview subjects should not be overestimated. Otherwise researchers risk further silencing the voices of those who are already socially marginalized. I also contend that qualitative research should acknowledge researchers’

Many Hong Kong schools are concerned about how diverse learning needs of ethnic minority students could be better fulfilled. This study examines local teachers’ constructs of assessment classroom environments. Using qualitative data collected from semi-structured interviews with 32 teachers from three secondary schools, this study shows ways in which summative assessment influences teachers’ formative assessment practices. Cultural responsiveness in this study is not limited to the notion of multiculturalism. It can be constructed under the ethos of respect, care and equality. The culturally responsive approach to assessment described in this study foregrounds considerations of cultural influence in teachers’ beliefs regarding assessment. Principles of culturally responsive assessment identified include: (i) integrating the ‘part’ of assessment with the ‘whole’ of teaching, (ii) managing the diverse learning needs of students, (iii) removing language barriers from the assessment process and (iv) examining the influence of the public examination on teachers’ classroom assessment practice.
[Copyright © 2014 Taylor & Francis.]

Drawing on data gathered from British Council seminars in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Dubai on Absent Talent: Women in Research and Academic Leadership (2012-2013), this paper discusses academic women's experiences and explanations for women's under-representation as knowledge leaders and producers in the global academy. Participants from South and East Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, Australasia and Europe shared experiences and identified desires for future action in the form of a Manifesto for Change. The paper combines empirical data on enablers, impediments and attractions with consideration of debates on women's exclusions and disqualifications from academic leadership and knowledge production. A key question is whether women are desiring, dismissing or being disqualified from senior leadership positions in the global academy.
[Copyright of Higher Education Research & Development is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2013.864611]