This study explores how students in Hong Kong perceive the influence of parental support and parental cultural capital on their participation in musical activities. A survey questionnaire was distributed to students attending grades seven to nine at eight Hong Kong secondary schools in the early summer of 2015. The findings from that survey, based on the 1,433 valid questionnaires that were returned, show that parents' cultural background informed their support of their children's musical activities, and could, in turn, enhance cultivation of students' cultural capital. Students in the study also perceived parental encouragement to be more important to their musical activities than the possession of musical competence and knowledge. This study provides a nuanced perspective on the interplay between parental cultural capital and parental support, and students' perception of the influence of parental support on their participation in musical activities in the Hong Kong context. Copyright © 2016 The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups.

Triarchic model of grit (TMG) has conceptualized grit as individuals’ tendency to demonstrate perseverance of effort, consistency of interests, and adaptability to situations. Past studies demonstrated that TMG dimensions predict positive outcomes such as well-being and academic success. However, there is limited research demonstrating the role of social factors in TMG. The current study explored the associations of parenting styles and perceived filial piety with dimensions of grit in Hong Kong undergraduate students. Results showed that only authoritative parenting style positively predicted adaptability to situations. This study underscores the role that parenting plays in sustained motivation to accomplish long-term goals. Copyright © 2022 Informa UK Limited.

Childcare centers are increasingly recognized as education agents, and school-based parent activities are part of home-school partnerships. Based on a survey of 265 parents, this study examined: (1) What made school-based parent activities useful? (2) What factors facilitated or inhibited parents’ participation? (3) What topics interested parents the most? Results showed that both structured activities (e.g., training workshops) and unstructured activities (e.g., parent-child tours) could meet parents’ needs. Parents were more likely to participate in activities that they perceived useful and allowed them to cope with the restrictions imposed by their work and family demands. Parents were most interested in activities that taught them how to deal with their children’s emotions. Finally, parents’ interests and participation varied by demographics. Copyright © 2022 AERA.

Despite its continuing rise, homeschooling in Hong Kong and many other Chinese cities is under-studied in academic research, underrepresented in society, invisible in public policy, and even marginalized within parent communities. Unlike many cases in Western societies, homeschooling in Hong Kong appears to be largely a ‘middle-class phenomenon’—better-off Chinese parents in Hong Kong can draw on their resources and navigate opportunities in the existing legal framework so that homeschooling is a viable option for their children’s education. Putting this phenomenon into a wider context of stratification and inequality, alternative middle-class choice and practice that ‘opt out’ of a traditional school system to homeschool their children problematizes our common sense understanding of middle-class trajectories. For instance, would these middle-class parents fear any loss of educational privilege that they would otherwise have in a traditional school system? Or, conversely, would these parents think that homeschooling is ideally suited for their children, who, in turn, may gain even more ‘home advantage’ over their schooled peers? Or would these parents pursue alternative forms of aspiration and privilege for their children? With these questions in mind, this study explores how Chinese homeschooling parents perceive and make sense of their homeschooling choice, with emphasis on the relation to social class. Data were drawn from in-depth interviews with 15 homeschooling families in Hong Kong. We will discuss the preliminary findings of this study and the theoretical implications for how Chinese homeschooling phenomenon constitutes the analytical leverage for theorizing a relatively unexplored area of middle-class reproduction processes. Copyright © 2022 British Sociological Association.

Over the past decades, growing attention has been paid to how the home and school environment contributes to early mathematical development. Nevertheless, many studies focused on the nature and frequency of the learning activities. The potential influences of parent-child and teacher-child relationships are still underexplored. In view that parents and teachers play vital roles in early language development, and language and mathematical skills are interrelated, we investigated: (1) whether different aspects of parent-child and teacher-child relationships were related to very young children’s mathematical abilities; and (2) whether these relations, if any, were mediated by children’s receptive vocabulary. To achieve our study aims, 124 children were recruited from pre-nursery classes in Hong Kong and were administered vocabulary and mathematical tests. Their parents and class teachers also completed a questionnaire relating to their relationships with the children. Results of path analysis showed that after controlling for children’s age, parent-child closeness, parent-child conflict and teacher-child closeness were associated with children’s mathematical abilities through their receptive vocabulary. There were also direct links from parent-child closeness and teacher-child closeness to children’s mathematical abilities. Teacher-child conflict was neither correlated with children’s receptive vocabulary nor mathematical abilities. Our findings suggest that it is important to provide support to parents and teachers on how to build up close and affectionate relationships with very young children. In particular, they should be coached on how to have quality verbal interactions with children, as it may benefit not only children’s early language development, but also their early mathematical development. Copyright © 2021 HKERA-APERA International Conference.

Research Findings: This study examined whether physical coercion and psychological control by mothers and fathers can influence preschoolers’ use of physical and relational aggression, and whether the relations are moderated by children’s effortful control in a Hong Kong Chinese sample. Data were collected from a sample of 168 children (88 girls; M = 60.97 months, SD = 5.51 months) and their parents twice, six months apart. At Time 1, mothers and fathers reported on their spouse’s, as well as their own use of physical coercion and psychological control, and a puzzle box task was administered to assess child effortful control. At Time 2, mothers, fathers, and teachers completed questionnaires to assess child physical and relational aggression. Results show that mothers’ physical coercion was associated with child physical and relational aggression. In contrast, fathers’ physical coercion was significantly related to child physical aggression but its relation with child relational aggression was not statistically significant, and both these two associations were moderated by effortful control. Practice or Policy: These results suggest that general intervention efforts are needed to prevent aggression among children of physically coercive parents, and particularly among children with low effortful control and physically coercive fathers. Copyright © 2022 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

This edited book highlights the identities and practices of ethnically diverse families and schools in contexts where multicultural policies are not always a priority. In an era of globalization and ensuing population mobility, it places a focus on Asia-Pacific, a continent with diverse customs, populations, and languages, but grapples with what it might mean to be multicultural.The book features studies and frameworks that illustrate how minoritized communities engage with the diversity they live in and strategies in adjusting and adapting to their sociocultural environments, including practices that might support these efforts. This book represents initiatives and interdisciplinary scholarship from Japan, Hong Kong, mainland China, Australia, South Korea, Thailand, and Taiwan, which underscore the intersection of identities, cultural values, efforts, conflicts, and religions in making diversity work in their contexts. Collectively, these works make a unique contribution by invigorating debates on the flows and evolvement of cultural values and practices within and across families and institutions.This book will appeal to researchers, practitioners, and readers with interest in the current state of cultural diversity among minoritized families in Asia-Pacific and beyond. Copyright © 2022 selection and editorial matter, Jan Gube, Fang Gao and Miron Bhowmik; individual chapters, the contributors.