依西方早期對宗教（Religion）一詞的常見定義，乃是：「對超乎人類控制力量的信仰與崇拜，尤其指涉位格神或諸神」。然而，作為宗教的定義，則此種定義方式，明顯與世界的宗教現況不合。因之，美國的神學家與哲學家保羅．田立克（Paul Tillich）與牟宗三先生，均提出以「終極關懷」（ultimate concern）來重新定義信仰。筆者必須指出，依這種對「終極關心」對宗教作重新的定義。我們可以借用中國傳統的一句老話──「開宗立教」，來描述宗教（尤其東方宗教）的展示模式。中國宗教的最基本模態，乃是以下兩方面構成的：其一、關懷宇宙終極的意義──開宗；其二、建立種種教法以引導人生歸於價值之正趨──立教。對於中國長期強勢的教育傳統而言，則立教的意意，可能不止於「日常生活之軌道」，同時必須把這種價值觀傳遍整個社群。是以，星雲法師指出：「由於宗教的生命都有傳燈，都是代代傳承，燈續常明。」佛教的教義最能貼近「生命教育」的意涵。佛家這種立教／成教的傾向，表現在香港社會中，即依本港「家庭與學校合作事宜委員會」於網上的《小學概覽》，在全港513家小學中，有314家小學的辦學團體是宗教團體，已佔全港小學的61.2％。由是觀之，在香港不同宗教團體，均重視以辦學來立教／成教。此亦是本文所以作之因緣，即以全港最大佛教辦學團體──香港佛教聯合會，屬下七家小學，作為觀察對象，以見出「香港小學校佛化生命教育」的情狀，並提供可能提昇的方向。Referring to the Western world's earlier definition, the word "religion" is defined as "the belief and worship towards superhuman power, especially involving a hypostatic god or gods". However, serving as the definition of a religion, this approach is clearly not applicable to the modern religious scene. Accordingly, Paul Tillich, American theologian and philosopher, and Mou Tsungsan have both suggested redefining religions with "ultimate concern". It must be pointed out that, according to the new definition of religions as "ultimate concern", we can refer to an old Chinese saying - set up a sect and then establish a religion (開宗立教) - to describe the presentation of religions, particularly oriental ones. The basic module of Chinese religions consists of two aspects: 1) concerns on the ultimate meaning of the universe (a sect ); 2) establishment of dogmas to lead lives onto the right track (a religion). To the long-established and strong tradition of religious education in China, the meaning of a religion might be beyond "daily life tracks"; its value has to be spread among the entire community. Master Hsing Yun has thus pointed out "because the life of a religion works with passing down its values, the Buddhist dogmas come the closest with the true meaning of Life Education". The Buddhist tendency of religion establishment presents itself in the Hong Kong society, with

Life education has recently attracted quite a lot of attention and some education researchers hope to enhance the students’ awareness and the value of their life, students’ self-protection ability, respecting life through education. There is an urgent need to assess and nurture the life education of primary school students in Hong Kong and Jiangsu. This study employs the case study method to assess and compare the life education of two Hong Kong primary schools with and without life education as a subject with two Jiangsu primary schools with and without life education as a subject. The principals, teachers and students were interviewed for the life education situation in their schools. Life education curriculums were classified by Transcendent, Community, Nature and Self. The practice and implementation of life education were evaluated by Intellectual, Emotional, Volitional and Practical. Results revealed that life education has been carried out in Hong Kong primary schools whether or not they set life education as an individual subject. However, compared with the life education in Hong Kong, the development of life education in Jiangsu is lagging far behind. Because life education in Mainland China is considered as a part of moral education which is highly political aspect, it is hard to claim that life education has no political. Although almost all principals and teachers in Jiangsu schools stated verbally that life education was very important to students, there is no impetus for them to take the initiative to push the development of life education. After all, life education, unlike other subjects, is a thankless and time consuming task. Compared with Jiangsu, life education in Hong Kong has made great progress which is being driven by some educators and some religious groups. However, there is also some limitation of life education in Hong Kong because there are not much resources and leadership from the Hong Kong government. Moreover, there are also some factors

The aim of the study is to explore preschool teachers’ folk pedagogy as reflected in music education in Hong Kong by examining how Hong Kong teachers act, think and interact with their students when teaching music, and their response when stimulated by Japanese preschool culture. To illuminate the concept of folk pedagogy, the study investigates the tacit norms, views and values of selected Hong Kong and Japanese music teachers. This research is a multi-case study with an ethnographic design for cultural observation. A meta-aspect of this study is to provide a venue for teachers’ professional development, which consists of sharing videos from other countries, discussing their values and allowing these discussions to enlarge their sense of teachers. Through individual and group discussions and the teachers’ beliefs construction one year later, the teachers’ beliefs, teaching pedagogies and implicit behaviours are identified and analysed. The implications of the study will strengthen music teachers’ evaluations of Hong Kong’s folk pedagogy. All rights reserved.

Background: Schools around the world are increasingly diverse in ethnicity. Given the importance of peer acceptance in children’s well-being and development, it is a pressing concern for educators to promote intergroup acceptance in schools. Aims: First, to examine the developmental trends of acceptance of outgroup members in both the ethnic minority and majority students. Second, to investigate how outgroup acceptance is subject to the interplay between perceived norm of prejudice, a risk factor in the macrosystem, and teacher support, a protective factor in the microsystem. Sample: The participants were 3,723 students (ethnic majority: 61%; boys: 51.9%; mean age: 13.7) at Grade 2, 5, 8, and 11 from 24 schools in Hong Kong. Methods: The students were asked to complete a battery of questionnaires regarding their willingness to accept outgroup members in schools, perceived societal norm of prejudice against ethnic minority group, and teacher support they received in schools. Results: It was found that ethnic minority students accepted outgroup members more than ethnic majority students accepted them. The difference was primarily driven by the low outgroup acceptance of ethnic majority students in Grades 2 and 5. The results of multi-level analysis revealed that outgroup acceptance was associated negatively with perceived norm of prejudice but positively with teacher support. The negative association between outgroup acceptance and perceived norm of prejudice was attenuated in schools with supportive culture. Conclusions: The results point to the need of early intervention and the importance of cultivating school culture with strong social emotional support. Copyright © 2020 The British Psychological Society.

This study examined the relations between majority/minority group membership and cross-cultural acceptance, and their linkage to school adjustment. A total of 2,016 students (ethnic minority [EM]: 51%; boys: 50%) at Grades 2, 5, 8, and 11 from 15 schools in Hong Kong participated in the study. These schools were either of low (below 30%) or high EM concentrations (over 70%). EM students at low-EM-concentration schools and Chinese students at high-EM-concentration schools both belonged to the minority groups in their respective schools. Moderated mediation analyses showed that being the numerical minority in school predicted higher school engagement and more positive affect. The associations between numerical group membership and adjustment outcomes were each mediated by the intention to accept outgroup members. In other words, higher cross-cultural acceptance was found among students who were themselves the minority in school, and stronger outgroup acceptance, in turn, predicted better adjustment. Copyright © 2020 The Author(s).

This paper examines contested meanings of international student mobility in Hong Kong and Taiwan. The study tries to understand why policy makers and university managers find it difficult to diversify student bodies in these jurisdictions. In particular, problems with the conceptualisation of international student mobility are discussed. In practical terms, the paper delineates key boosters and barriers for inbound flows which received little attention in the previous literature that primarily focused on the outbound mobility. Finally, the researchers discuss important policy leverages that could enhance the value of engagement of international students in transcultural learning. Copyright © 2019 James Nicholas Publishers.

Studies have shown that the School Kindness Scale (SKS) has adequate psychometric properties in different societies such as Canada, Turkey, and the Philippines. However, there is scarce evidence on the psychometric validity of this scale across multiple societies and educational contexts. This study explores the cross-national invariance of the SKS among high school students in the Philippines, Hong Kong, and mainland China. Results showed that the modified unidimensional model of school kindness with correlated error terms on item number 2 and 3 had the most optimal fit. There was evidence supporting partial invariance of the modified unidimensional model of school kindness across setting and year level, and full invariance across gender. Whereas school kindness also demonstrated positive correlations with perceived academic performance in Hong Kong and mainland China, this construct was linked to higher emotional and social engagement in math in all contexts. Copyright © 2022 Wiley Periodicals LLC.

This article examines nine secondary school teachers’ narratives and perspectives about the determinants of their ethnic minority students’ sense of belonging in Hong Kong. The thematic analysis of their in-depth interviews reveals three sets of determinants of belonging, including demographic, personal, and intercultural factors. The study findings underscore the importance of students’ socialisation contexts and the critical role of the Chinese language curriculum and the social reception towards non-European immigrants in Hong Kong. The paper discusses the potential avenues of educational policy and practice interventions for developing a stronger sense of belonging among young people with immigrant and ethnic minority backgrounds in the multicultural societies of settlement. Copyright © 2022 Informa UK Limited.

The sexual prejudice faced by sexual minorities or lesbian, gay, bisexual, and questioning/queer (LGBQ) students has been studied extensively around the world in the last two decades; however, it has only recently received attention from Hong Kong Chinese society, specifically in relation to this subtle form of prejudice. In the last decade, there has been an increase in the amount of literature examining the experiences of individuals encountering sexual orientation microaggressions, which are defined as discrimination or sexual prejudices manifested in subtle forms, particularly when directed toward socially marginalized groups, such as sexual minority students. The current study used a qualitative descriptive approach and semi-structured interviews to explore the themes of sexual orientation microaggressions experienced by Chinese sexual minority students. Several contextual themes to categorize microaggressions emerged: (1) the approval of heteronormative culture; (2) the use of heterosexist languages; (3) the assumption of sexual abnormality; and (4) the allowing of institutionally endorsed microaggressions. The results suggest that sexual minority students in Hong Kong experience diverse forms of microaggression in schools. The implications for the need to support LGBQ students are discussed, especially in addressing sexuality education in schools and the training of school professionals. Copyright © 2022 by the authors.

Regional innovation is increasingly dependent on learning from modernization-driven jurisdictions (Caniëls and van den Bosch, Pap Reg Sci 90:271–285, 2011; Schulte, Nordic J Stud Educ Policy:1–13, 2018), and the Province of Guangdong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and Macau Special Administrative Region of China in various ways succeeded to employ experiences and links from advanced economic and education agencies across the globe (Fu, Oxf Dev Stud 36:89–110, 2008; Henning and Ulrike, Asian J Technol Innov 17:101–128, 2009; Cai and Liu, Sci Public Policy 42:1–15, 2014). In this chapter, we are examining how policy alignments oriented at globally-competitive performers have been contributing to innovation and how alignment of economic and education agendas has been driving the emergence of a Greater Bay Area of China (GBAC). In particular, we analyse cross-jurisdictional dynamics seeking to reinforce cumulative advantages for universities in the region. Concurrently, we outline a range of challenges faced by political, economic and education stakeholders in various jurisdictions at times when they are forced for harmonization of policies and agendas. Copyright © 2021 Springer Nature Switzerland AG.