Abstract

Changes in primary and secondary science education curriculum and the overall education policy in Hong Kong over the years have directed the way researchers conducted local science education research. Due to the large amount of academic publications related to science education in Hong Kong, research works reviewed in this article are identified from main local, Asia-pacific and international science-education related journals, and also by authors from the websites of all science-education related faculties or departments of local universities and teacher education institutes. This article aims to give an overview of what has been done to support science education at the primary and secondary level in Hong Kong in the past few decades and to provide researchers with a foundation on which future research studies can be built.

Keywords: primary science; secondary science; science teacher education

Abstract

The learning of Chinese has experienced great changes over recent decades and, as a school subject, has dramatically increased in importance both in Hong Kong and around the world. This paper reviews a number of key educational research topics and issues in Chinese language education in Hong Kong, the focus being on processes of teaching and learning Chinese language as a school subject and across the curriculum, the reading and writing of Chinese characters, spoken communication and comprehension of oral Chinese, mechanisms and standards of assessment, the place of information and communication technology (ICT) in the teaching and learning of Chinese, and the use of Chinese as the medium of instruction in the classroom. The review is by no means comprehensive and, for the sake of brevity, some of the details offered about research into Chinese language education in Hong Kong are rather concise. It is hoped that this paper will highlight useful instructional implications for curriculum planners and front-line practitioners, as well as pointers for the direction of future research.

Keywords: Chinese language education; Hong Kong; review

Abstract

This paper is a review of academic literature on research in civic education of Hong Kong covering period 1980s to 2000s. It reports only peer-reviewed journal articles, research-based books, and chapters in edited refereed volumes by academics who were engaged full-time when the work was published. It covers 73 refereed journal articles, 2 authored books and 31 chapters in edited refereed books: a total of 106 publications. The following areas of concern were included: (1) concepts of citizenship; (2) concepts and policies of civic education; (3) curriculum, textbooks and implementation of civic education; (4) themes of civic education, including political education, national education, global education, and human rights education; and (5) the influence of Asian values. Given its limitation, this review has revealed some under-developed and under-researched areas and themes which deserve attention and research and has suggested some concrete agenda for research in the future.

Keywords: Hong Kong civic education; review of civic education; development of civic education

Abstract

In this paper an overview of the psychological concepts of morality is presented and the aims of moral education based on these concepts are delineated in details. The affective and cognitive aspects of moral development are integrated in the construction of a holistic moral education program for primary school, secondary school and university students. Four domains of moral education are proposed as follows: human relationships and altruism, moral feeling and psychological needs, moral judgment, and citizenship. In addition, there are ten primary moral characters that we need to help children to develop. These moral characters are: (1) Humanity, (2) Intelligence, (3) Courage, (4) Conscience, (5) Autonomy, (6) Respect, (7) Responsibility, (8) Naturalness, (9) Loyalty, and (10) Humility. Chinese and Western perspectives are employed to elaborate the details of the proposed moral education program as well as the features of the ten primary moral characters. It is claimed that the proposed moral education program and the ten primary moral characters are universal for all cultures.

Keywords: moral development; moral education; moral character education

Abstract

Current international studies have shown that students in East Asian societies outperformed their Western counterparts. Evidence from both the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) have suggested that East Asian Learners did much better in Mathematics and Science than their counterparts in North American and European countries (Martin et al., 2000, Mullis, et al., 2000; Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2003, 2004). A number of scholars attempted to attribute the remarkable educational achievement of students to the Asian model of learners, with particular focus on the Chinese ways of learning and teaching (e.g., Li, 2004; Schneider & Lee, 1990; Stevenson and Stigler, 1992; Watkins & Biggs, 1996, 2001; Wong, 2004). Yet, previous studies have usually treated (East) Asian students as one general category and not differentiated between different groups of Asians. Using data from PISA2000+ and PISA2003, this study found that there are certain convergences in the East Asian societies which might be seen as the primary cognitive habitus that are shared by the Confucian Heritage Culture (CHC) societies. However, both divergence and convergence were found which gave us a new understanding of the characteristics of East Asian learners, their learning strategies and learning environment.

Keywords: East Asian learners; Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA); learning strategies; school climate; self-related cognition