CERCular: No.2 of 1997

CERC News


The 1996 Gideon Hawley Award For Best Article

CERC's Director, Prof. Mark Bray, has been awarded the 1996 Gideon Hawley Award for the best article in The International Journal of Educational Reform. Prof. Bray's article, entitled "Educational Reform in a Small State: Bhutan's New Approach to Primary Education," appeared in the January 1996 issue of the journal. The article, in addition to providing background information on Bhu tan and its education system, outlines the creation and implementation of the New Approach to Primary Education (NAPE), and discusses the significance of this reform effort in the context of conceptual literature on educational reform in small states.

Report from Harvard

Cheng Kai Ming

During the 1996/97 academic year, I was on leave from the University of Hong Kong as a Visiting Professor at Harvard. Teaching in the Harvard Graduate School of Education was very demanding, but enjoyable and rewarding. It was beyond my expectation that a research school would place such emphasis on teaching. The school's unfailing support for teaching and the extent of students' help in shaping good teaching are perhaps the two major elements for success in teaching. With these two in place, any managerial, theory-X driven control has become unnecessary. What is unusual at the Harvard School of Education is the international student body. I found myself teaching students from over 40 countries. The diversity in cultural values and the multiplicity in perspectives all make the classes the best place to study cultural differences. That explains why I was not able to resist the temptation of teaching again (though in an intensive mode) at Harvard in the 1997/98 academic year.

Fifth Conference on Chinese Education Towards the 21st Century

The fifth in a series of conferences on "Chinese Education Towards the 21st Century" was held in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), People's Republic of China (PRC) from 14-19 August 1997. Building on the previous conference held in Shanghai in 1994, the major goal of the conference was to give academics and researchers who study issues in China's education a forum for scholarly interchange. The major conference themes were: higher education and the market economy; reform of basic education; language education; moral education; and curriculum reform.

Participants, including scholars who presented over 100 papers, came from the PRC (40), the SAR (40) and various overseas countries and territories (30). CERC members played an integral role in the planning and running of the conference. Lee Wing On and Gerard Postiglione served on the Conference Planning Committee; a Keynote Speech was delivered by Cheng Kai Ming; Winnie Lai, Lee Wing On, and Gerard Postiglione delivered addresses at plenary sessions; and papers were presented by Li Yancheng, Greg Fairbrother, Law Yin Kum, Shum Shiu Kee, Ma Man Kit, and Shing Tsz Yuen.

Visit by Philip Altbach

Philip Altbach is one of our three distinguished Associate Members. We greatly benefit from the contact we have with him, and are pleased to know that he will again come to CERC early in 1998. We look forward to further collaboration with him on projects concerning higher education and other topics.

Comparative Special Education

Several CERC members have a strong interest in comparative studies of special education, and the BEd programme at the University of Hong Kong has a module with that explicit focus.

The specialism is gaining impetus in 1997/98 through inputs from Professor Peter Mittler. He has worked for many years at the University of Manchester, but is spending the current academic year at the University of Hong Kong. Professor Mittler has very wide international experience, in countries as diverse as Brazil, Lesotho and Nepal. He has also acted as consultant to UNESCO, most recently in Ghana and Bosnia, and has undertaken a range of studies for the United Nations, World Health Organisation and International Labour Organisation. CERC is delighted to welcome Professor Mittler to its membership, and is already seeing fruits from the expertise that he brings.

Comparisons of Hong Kong and Macau

Now that sovereignty over Hong Kong has reverted to China, in many quarters attention is switching to Macau, which will similarly be reunited with China on 20 December 1999.

Hong Kong and Macau make a fascinating pair for comparison because they have many similarities but also striking differences. The similarities include their small size, the fact that they have both been colonies of European powers, and the fact that they are mostly populated by Cantonese-speaking Chinese. The differences include major dissimilarities in their education systems. Whereas Hong Kong has a long tradition of government centralisation, Macau's system is dominated by the private sector and is fragmented. Also, while Hong Kong has eight tertiary institutions funded by the government, Macau has only two.

Ramsey Koo, who is currently employed by the Hong Kong Institute of Education and formerly worked at the University of Macau, is collaborating with Mark Bray in co-ordination of a collection of studies focusing on education in the two places. In December 1997, CERC will host a workshop on this theme, and plans to publish a book on the subject in 1998.

Other New Publications

Schooling in Hong Kong: Organization, Teaching and Social Context

Edited by G.A. Postiglione & W.O. Lee
Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 1997, 204pp,
ISBN 962 209 438 2; HK$140/US$21.80

This volume presents readers with background material for understanding more about the characteristics of Hong Kong education, as well as social and organizational perspectives that will contribute to informed discussion about key educational issues facing Hong Kong educators.

The book has three parts. The first part introduces the Hong Kong education system, and its relationship to the labour market, manpower planning and the policymaking pro- cess. The second part introduces the organizational and managerial aspects of schools. The third part examines social factors as they affect educational attainment. Here attention is focused upon social stratification, language of instruction and special education.

Table of Contents:
  1. Schooling and the Changing Socio-Political Setting: An Introduction, by G. A. Postiglione & W. O. Lee

    Part I: The Education System, Labour and Policymaking

  2. The Education System, by K. M. Cheng
  3. Education and the Labour Market, by M. Bray
  4. The Policymaking Process, by K. M. Cheng

    Part II: Schools, Teachers and Curriculum

  5. Organizing and Managing Schools, by K. C. Wong
  6. Teachers and Teaching, by H. O. Brown
  7. Curriculum as a Form of Social Practice, by K. W. Cheung

    Part III: Social Factors Affecting Educational Attainment

  8. Schooling and Social Stratification,by G. A. Postiglione
  9. Social Class, Language and Achievement, by W. O. Lee
  10. Enabling or Disabling Policies for Children and Young People, by N. Crawford

CERC has received

CERC is always pleased to receive donations of relevant materials. During the period since publication of the last newsletter, donations which are on display and for public use have included the following:

  • Altbach, Philip G. (1996): The International Academic Profession: Portraits of Fourteen Countries. Princeton: Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

  • Asian Development Bank (1997): Emerging Asia: Changes and Challenges. Manila: Asian Development Bank.

  • Bi Shuzhi & Si Yinzhen (eds.) (1996): Comparative Adult Education. Beijing: Beijing Normal University Press. [in Chinese]

  • Cao Da Wei (1996): Ancient Female Education in China. Beijing: Beijing Normal University Press. [in Chinese]

  • Chi En Lian & Qu Heng Chang (eds.) (1996): Guidelines and Strategies for Educational Reform in China and Foreign Countries. Beijing: Beijing Normal University Press. [in Chinese]

  • Cummings, William K. & Altbach, Philip G. (eds.) (1997): The Challenge of Eastern Asian Education: Implications for America. Albany: State University of New York Press.

  • Hao Keming (Chief Editor) (1995): Educational Atlas of China. Shanghai: Science and Technology Publishing Society.

  • Li Shou Fu (1996): Vocational Education in Rural Areas. Beijing: Beijing Normal University Press. [in Chinese]

  • Su Zhen, Xing Ke Chao and Li Chun Sheng (eds.) (1996): Comparative Teacher Education. Beijing: Beijing Normal University Press. [in Chinese]

  • UNICEF (1996): Atlas of South Asian Children and Women. Kathmandu: UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia.

  • World Bank, The (1997): China: Higher Education Reform. Washington DC: The World Bank.

Teacher Education in the Asian Region

From 26 to 30 April 1998, the Faculty of Education at the University of Hong Kong will collaborate with the PRC State Education Commission and with East China Normal University to organise a conference on teacher education. The conference will be held on the campus of East China Normal University, in Shanghai.

The conference theme is 'Teacher Education in the Asian Region: Policy and Practice'. It will examine the trends visible throughout the region to make teacher education more responsive and responsible. These trends include efforts to decrease the distance between professional and academic studies, and to establish teacher education securely within the mainstream of tertiary education.

The conference will conducted in both Putonghua and English. Participants are expected from countries as diverse as Pakistan, Singapore and Thailand - as well as China, of course. And juxtaposition of models and developments in Hong Kong and mainland China will give insights into the operation and future of 'One Country, Two Systems'. The conference will also show ways in which teacher educators in the Asian region can learn more from each other about desirable policies and practices.

The Early Bird registration fee before 15 January 1998 is US$80 or HK$600. The fee after 15 January is US$100 or HK$780.

The organising committee will welcome proposals for papers, and will also be pleased to provide information on the conference, including accomodation details. Contact Ms Rita Yeung. E-mail itec@hkucc.hku.hk; fax (852)2547-1924; web site: http://www.hku.hk/curric/itec98.htm.

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