PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to discuss nationalistic education in Hong Kong from a cultural perspective. It highlights the challenges faced by the Hong Kong Government and the growing antagonism and mistrust between the young generation and the government. The paper reviews the cultural policies adopted by the Western Zhou, Han and Tang dynasties in ancient China.Design/methodology/approachThis paper adopts a historical approach by reviewing the policies in music and culture in the Chinese history and argues for the adoption of a soft approach to nationalistic education in Hong Kong.FindingsResults show that being inclusive toward diverse cultures, trusting and valuing people's voices and accepting differences of opinion are effective policies that were adopted by the respective dynasties. The results shed light on the possibility of nurturing nationalism through education in music and culture.Research limitations/implicationsThe historical examples mentioned in this paper are only selected periods of the Chinese history. Thus, the survey could not be taken as a comprehensive review.Practical implicationsThis paper reviews the policies concerning music and culture in ancient China and argues for transferring the soft approach of predecessors toward these subjects as part of the nationalistic education of Hong Kong.Social implicationsThe results shown should be considered seriously by the Hong Kong Government as an effective substitute policy for the past stringent approach of implementing national education in Hong Kong. Nationalistic education focusing on music and culture is a common root for all Chinese and should be used in future to build up trust and common values between China and Hong Kong.Originality/valueThe originality of this research lies in its dealing with nationalism and national education, recommending a soft approach to education viewed through the prisms of music and culture.
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Following the return of Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty in 1997, the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region developed wide-ranging curriculum reforms, including project learning. A recent survey has indicated that over 80% of Hong Kong primary and secondary schools have adopted project learning as a curriculum task. Such an outcome is hard to reconcile both with the culture of Hong Kong schools and the generally bleak picture that pervades the literature on educational change.In seeking an explanation for this apparent success we focus attention on the policy instruments that were used by government agencies to facilitate the process of implementation. Our analysis revealed that teachers were caught in a pincer movement that involved voluntary activities promoting project learning and coercive measures that monitored and evaluated successful implementation. Teachers' views of these policy instruments differed markedly from those of policymakers. This confluence of mixed approaches, while apparently successful, is also shown to be problematic. Finally, the paper is located in a theoretical framework with its origins in recent policy theory that to date has not been applied to educational contexts.
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