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21 – 30 of 129The purpose of this paper is to analyse the major development of global citizenship education (GCE) as part of Hong Kong’s secondary school curriculum guidelines, which reveals…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the major development of global citizenship education (GCE) as part of Hong Kong’s secondary school curriculum guidelines, which reveals how it has developed from, first, asking students to understand their responsibilities as citizens to now challenging injustice and inequality in the world. Hong Kong’s curriculum guidelines started to teach GCE as a result of the last civic education guideline issued just before the return of sovereignty to China in 1997. Through documentary analysis, this paper examines how GCE has developed against the backdrop of globalization in Hong Kong’s various secondary school curriculum guidelines.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used documentary analysis to examine the developments in the teaching of GCE via Hong Kong’s official secondary school curriculum guidelines. It has studied the aims, knowledge and concepts that are related to GCE by coding the GCE literature and categorizing the findings from the curriculum guidelines.
Findings
From the coding and categorizing processes employed, it has been found that GCE in Hong Kong’s official curriculum guidelines has evolved from learning about rights and responsibilities in the 1990s to challenging injustice, discrimination, exclusion and inequality since the late 1990s. Indeed, understanding the world and especially globalization, in terms of comprehending the processes and phenomena through which people around the globe become more connected, has presented challenges for the teaching of civic education. For example, categories of GCE have developed from the simpler expression of concerns about the world to encompass moral obligations and taking action. Similarly, the concerns for the maintenance of peace that were studied initially have since grown and now include work about challenging inequalities and taking action on human rights violations.
Originality/value
This study would have implications for the understanding of GCE in Hong Kong as well as other fast-changing societies in this age of globalization, as civic education curricula need to respond to the impacts of globalization. GCE is an under-researched area, but topics concerning world/international/global affairs have been covered in Hong Kong secondary school curriculum guidelines for several decades.
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To fill the gap in the existing literature on the 20th anniversary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), the purpose of this paper is to critically reflect upon…
Abstract
Purpose
To fill the gap in the existing literature on the 20th anniversary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), the purpose of this paper is to critically reflect upon the continuities and changes of the city’s relations with the world.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper has adopted a generic approach to shed light on the factors behind the evolution of the international status of Hong Kong from a by-product of geopolitics to a global city in its own right, to understand how the city has been perceived by traditional western partners after 1997 and to investigate how China has made use Hong Kong’s international status.
Findings
It has shown that Beijing’s strategy toward Hong Kong has been marred by the inherent tensions between “becoming Chinese” and “remaining global.” The official discourse of functionalism, according to which economic and professional ties are both the most acceptable and therefore the least resisted pathways available for the development of Hong Kong’s external relations, has the opposite effect of expanding Beijing’s control over the city.
Originality/value
In contrast to the HKSAR Government’s belief that Hong Kong will certainly benefit from the emergence of China, the city has found itself on a shorter leash than ever. It has therefore pinpointed the pitfalls of the logic of functionalism which has dominated the existing literature as much as the policy-making process.
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This paper aims to analyse the general trend of a funding scheme of civic education over the past 30 years in terms of the number of projects and the amount of their subsidies…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to analyse the general trend of a funding scheme of civic education over the past 30 years in terms of the number of projects and the amount of their subsidies, the targeted groups, the content of the activities and the nature of the grantees.
Design/methodology/approach
Using statistical data of sponsored projects over three decades and interviews with ten informants.
Findings
There has been a shift in the concerns and priorities of these projects. Through the incentives and by setting the themes for funding, the government has regulated the civil society’s involvement with civic education and helped to fashion the officially endorsed values. But it is no longer effective to mediate state–civil society relationship and to cope with the new political scenario.
Originality/value
This paper demonstrates the changing state–civic society relationship over the years with a solid large-scale database. This study advances the knowledge about public funding projects related to citizenship education in particular and sponsorship as a means of governance in general.
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Yudan Shi, Eric King Man Chong and Baihe Li
The purpose of this paper is to compare the curriculum developments of civic education in three emerging Chinese societies: China and two Special Administrative Regions of Hong…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to compare the curriculum developments of civic education in three emerging Chinese societies: China and two Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macao, which are increasingly under the impacts of globalisation in this information world.
Design/methodology/approach
The analytical method is used and the following are identified: active and global civic education-related learning units and key themes and main contents in official curriculum guidelines and updated textbooks related to civic education.
Findings
A major finding is that elements of both active and global citizenship, such as participation in the community and understanding about the world and thus forming multiple identities, can be found alongside their emphasis on enhancing national citizenship. Thus, ideas of global citizenship and multiple levels of citizenship from local, national to global start to develop in these three Chinese societies.
Social implications
The implications of such findings of both active and global citizenship, as well as multiple identities, found in these three Chinese societies could be huge for informing civic literature and sociological point of views, in particular, pointing to the next generations receiving a broadened and transcended notion of multiple levels of citizenship, apart from local and national citizenship.
Originality/value
The significance of this paper is that it argues that ideas of active citizenship in terms of community participation and global citizenship have been found in China, Hong Kong and Macao civic education curriculum and textbooks because of the expectations placed on students to compete in a globalized world, though national citizenship and patriotic concerns have been primary concerns. Globalisation makes the world society by impacting on these three Chinese societies for active and global citizenship, though they still retain their particular curricular focusses.
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– This study aims to identify a set of external organisational environments that have different degrees of impact on property development firms in Hong Kong.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to identify a set of external organisational environments that have different degrees of impact on property development firms in Hong Kong.
Design/methodology/approach
Organisational environments were operationalised into 40 independent variables. Data were collected using Web-based questionnaires. Further, 150 senior executives working in property development firms rated the identified variables and successfully completed the questionnaire. Exploratory factor analysis was used to simplify the correlations among variables by identifying a smaller number of shared factors that accounted for the observed correlations.
Findings
This study identified six major environmental factors, namely, (1) property market environment, (2) property development environment, (3) general political and economic environment, (4) property price environment, (5) general property development industry environment and (6) residual environment. If the property development process is viewed as an input–transformation–output open system, Factor 2 significantly affected the transformation process, Factors 3 and 5 affected both the transformation process and its final output, and Factors 1 and 4 affected the final output. Other factors did not appear to be significant.
Research limitations/implications
Because organisational environments may change from place-to-place and time-to-time, the data may vary accordingly.
Practical implications
Traditional management systems cannot cope with current environmental changes. The performance of developers depends on their ability to respond to the issues that arise from increasingly unpredictable, novel and turbulent environments. Developers must continuously scan, monitor, forecast and assess their external environments.
Originality/value
This study contributes to a better understanding of the environmental sectors that significantly influence property development firms.
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Yim King Penny Wan and Lai Har Rebecca Chiu
This paper seeks to examine changing plan‐making governance processes in Hong Kong and identifies factors leading to the changes.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to examine changing plan‐making governance processes in Hong Kong and identifies factors leading to the changes.
Design/methodology/approach
Both primary and secondary sources of data were collected. Various stakeholders were interviewed and analysis of Hong Kong planning policies, ordinances and guidelines was undertaken.
Findings
Since the late 1990s, plan‐making in Hong Kong has undergone a major shift in governance from that of an elitist‐led pro‐growth mode to one with more community engagement, environmental consciousness and sustainability. The Southeast Kowloon development scheme played a crucial role in triggering this shift.
Research limitations/implications
The paper focuses solely on one of the three planning systems in Hong Kong, plan‐making.
Practical implications
This paper provides a comprehensive discussion of the changing governing processes of Hong Kong's plan‐making and will be useful for policy‐makers when examining whether ruling strategies are responding well to changing circumstances. It also contributes to the existing governance literature by offering some insights into the nature of governance and the methodologies for studying it.
Originality/value
There is little literature linking governance and urban planning in Hong Kong. The paper offers a useful background and a framework for future studies.
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In the light of intensifying academic discourses on contemporary religious education in Hong Kong, this paper aims to examine how the interreligious model (i.e. that features…
Abstract
Purpose
In the light of intensifying academic discourses on contemporary religious education in Hong Kong, this paper aims to examine how the interreligious model (i.e. that features teaching religious variety rather than a particular faith) is consistent with Hong Kong’s social context. It begins with a theoretical conceptualization that interreligious education originates from certain preconditions and is only understood contextually. Next, the analysis identifies the preconditions within Hong Kong milieus: sociodemographic, sociocultural and legal.
Design/methodology/approach
Theoretically driven case study. The paper analyses Hong Kong's development toward interreligious education.
Findings
Albeit most conceptualizing of interreligious education has been conducted in Europe, the study finds the model functional to Hong Kong. Moreover, these preconditions-religious heterogeneity, freedom of religion and secularity – are met, although with their specifics. These preconditions, however, do not imply imperativeness yet rather feasibility if the interreligious model adheres to Hong Kong’s educational aims.
Originality/value
This study develops theoretical lenses for interreligious education in Hong Kong. First, it analyzes religious heterogeneity, freedom of religion and secularity within the Hong Kong milieus and reveals Hong Kong’s capacity to implement the interreligious model. It also advances scholarship on interreligious education in relatively underexplored settings (referring not simply to Hong Kong but to Chinese societies and contemporary Asia).
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Yui-yip Lau, Lok Ming Eric Cheung, Eve Man Hin Chan and Stephanie Wing Lee
The present study adopts the analytical framework of new managerialism (NM) to explore the progress, challenges and outlook of self-financing post-secondary institutions in Hong…
Abstract
Purpose
The present study adopts the analytical framework of new managerialism (NM) to explore the progress, challenges and outlook of self-financing post-secondary institutions in Hong Kong since 2000. This study also identified issues and related managerial implications for developing this niche form of higher education in Hong Kong.
Design/methodology/approach
This study conducted a critical review of self-financing post-secondary institutions in Hong Kong, including the sub-degree and degree sectors, via collecting a series of policy documents and archives from the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, the Public Records Office and other government bodies. To supplement the findings, semi-structured in-depth interviews of 18 academic staff of Hong Kong's self-financing post-secondary institutions were carried out.
Findings
The study shows that self-financing post-secondary institutions not only encounter challenges related to insufficient resources but also face pressure from accreditation requirements of various international organisations. The study also suggests that massification and privatisation of self-financing post-secondary institutions, and embracing a managerial approach for operation and governance will induce a new wave of self-financing post-secondary institutions in the near future.
Originality/value
This study offers insights for self-financing post-secondary institutions into implementing appropriate strategies to maintain competitiveness and retain talents in the coming years.
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Kerry J. Kennedy, Lijuan Joanna Li and Hoi Yu Ng
The recent mobilization of many Hong Kong youth to engage in what are regarded as radical political activities is not a new area of investigation. Much has been discussed about…
Abstract
Purpose
The recent mobilization of many Hong Kong youth to engage in what are regarded as radical political activities is not a new area of investigation. Much has been discussed about this growing political activism and localism often giving an impression that Hong Kong youth are radical and disengaged from China as a nation. Yet little is known about the possible antecedents of such disengagement. The purpose of this paper is to identify whether there is empirical evidence of growth or decline in civic trust and national attitudes amongst Hong Kong young adolescents over the ten-year period from 1999 to 2009.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study latent profile analyses were used to classify cohorts of Hong Kong secondary students according to the levels of their self-reported trust in civic institutions and attitudes toward the nation. The cohorts were separated by a ten-year gap. Comparisons were made across groups and across the ten-year time span, in order to trace changes in civic attitudes of young adolescents following the return of Hong Kong to China in 1997.
Findings
Three distinct groups were identified in both cohorts – Activists, who had negative attitudes to trust and toward the nation, Nationalists who had positive attitudes toward trust and the nation and Moderates who endorsed average responses to the, two variables. The gaps between the groups tended to be greater in the 2009 group compared to the 1999 groups suggesting greater polarization amongst adolescents on these measures.
Originality/value
Young adolescents cannot be assumed to be politically neutral or lacking social values. Citizenship education needs to take this into account so that values can be clarified and major issues can be discussed in a safe and supportive environment.
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