One hundred and eighty ethnic minority students studying in Hong Kong mainstream schools were found to value knowledge, activities, practice, product, inquiry, process, feedback, and technology in their mathematics learning. To identify these values, a mixed methods approach was adopted, using a values questionnaire as a lens to identify what students find important in mathematics learning, and followed by semi-structured focus group interviews for details and verification. The data also revealed that ethnic minority students valued activities and practice more than their ethnic Chinese peers. Implications for research and instructional practice are offered. Copyright © 2022 Routledge.

This chapter introduces the reader to the What I Find Important (in my mathematics learning) study (WIFI), conducted by a consortium of 21 research teams from 18 economies. It uses the same questionnaire to assess what students value in their respective mathematics education experiences. Two case economies, Hong Kong and Japan, provide the context for the discussion. This provides a reference point for analyzing four significant themes: the affordance to identify and define cultures and subcultures, the documenting and comparing of espoused and enacted valuing, the triangulation of survey responses, and the culturally situated labelling of values and valuing. Copyright © 2017 Springer International Publishing AG.

It has become increasingly recognized that what teachers and students value affect teaching and learning in general and in the area of mathematics in particular. Yet, the extent to which this is so varies across cultural regions. In recent years, how the ethnic Chinese teach and learn mathematics has attracted much attention worldwide. It is precisely the purpose of the present study to investigate the value structures of three Chinese regions. Using a recently developed and validated questionnaire, students’ values in mathematics learning in the Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan are delineated. In the first place, the results reveal that there are six dimensions in the students’ value structure, namely achievement, relevance, practice, communication, information and communications technology as well as feedback. However, in each of the six value components derived from the principal components analysis, statistically significant differences between the regions were found. Copyright © 2015 Springer Science + Business Media B.V.

The multidimensional PERMA-H positive education model provided evaluation and education framework for the theoretical and practice development of positive psychology in schools. Character strengths use mediates the association of strength knowledge and well-being. Using the Assessment Program for Affective and Social Outcomes (2nd Version) (APASO-II), the Subjective Happiness Scale, and the Physical Health Subscale of the PERMA-profiler, a multidimensional measure of PERMA-H was validated using confirmatory factor analysis in the context of a positive education program evaluation in senior primary school students. The association of PERMA-H measurements with school well-being as measured by general satisfaction of school life, and levels of depression and anxiety, and the mediation mechanism of character strengths use in such association were studied using path analysis. A cross-sectional sample of 726 senior primary school students (i.e., grade 4-6) aged 8-13 from the two primary schools completed a baseline evaluation questionnaire of a positive education program. Satisfactory internal reliability of the scales was obtained with Cronbach's alpha coefficients <0.70. The scales were generally positively and moderately inter-correlated, except for level of anxiety and depression symptoms which was negative. Good psychometric properties of APASO-II were evidenced from the factor structure of sub-scale scores conforming to six factors of the PERMA-H model by confirmatory factor analysis. Path analyses showed that the APASO-II factors together with measures of subject happiness and positive health as the multidimensional PERMA-H model of positive education differentially predicted general satisfaction of school life, level of anxiety and depression, and character strengths use. Character strengths use mediated the relationship of Positive Engagement with general satisfaction of school life. Positive education utilizes knowledge and research findings from positive psychology

The beliefs teachers have about assessment influence classroom practices and reflect cultural and societal differences. This paper reports the development of a new self-report inventory to examine beliefs teachers in Hong Kong and southern China contexts have about the nature and purpose of assessment. A statistically equivalent model for Hong Kong and southern China teachers had three factors (i.e., improvement, accountability, and irrelevance). The Chinese teachers very strongly associated accountability with improvement (r = .80). This is consistent with the Chinese tradition and policy of using examinations to drive teaching quality and student learning and as a force for merit based decisions. Small differences between the two groups of teachers are consistent with assessment policy differences in the two jurisdictions.
[Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.]

Empirical evidence of Asian students' traditional citizenship values was provided in the Asian Regional Module (ARM) of the International Civic and Citizenship Study. This paper is based on a secondary analysis of the ARM data. Three issues are addressed. First, a theoretical analysis of the ARM constructs contributes to their construct validity. Second, the endorsement of these constructs by students from five Asian societies is compared indicating that some of the differences between societies were statistically significant, although effect sizes were generally weak or moderate. Third, the predictive validity of the constructs was examined. They had a small but differential effect on students' civic knowledge and a generally negligible effect on school participation. Variance at school and individual level accounted for by the ARM constructs differed across societies. The implications of these results for civic education and future research in the field are discussed.
[Copyright of Educational Psychology is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01443410.2013.775003]

This article investigates the perceptions of English headteachers and Hong Kong principals on the kinds of pressures that they believed affected the way they did their job, and in particular the degree to which they felt their governments were affecting their leadership role. The research utilised semi-structured interviews to generate written 'portraits' of these individuals, which were then examined to answer questions about current pressures. The findings suggested that (1) there was considerable variation in the manner these individuals responded to key issues; (2) all individuals prioritised local concerns, and particularly with consideration to the children in their care; (3) there was a greater sense of embattlement from the English headteachers and a more critical approach to legislation, than from the Hong Kong principals, though with considerable individual variation in the degree of overt resistance shown; (4) whilst current educational reforms in Hong Kong seemed to favour the development of creativity more than those in England, there was within both national contexts evidence of the damaging effects of the pace and quantity of reforms.
[Copyright of School Leadership and Management is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2012.740798]