Education And Society In Hong Kong And Macao

Hong Kong and Macao have much in common. The dominant populations in both territories are Cantonese-speaking Chinese; both are small in area; both are urban societies; both have been colonies of European powers; and both have undergone political transition to reunification with China. Yet in education, for reasons that are analysed in this book, they are very different. The patters of similarities and differences in the two territories make a fascinating basis for comparative study. The overarching theme of the book, on continuity and change is particularly pertinent following the transition of the two societies of the postcolonial era. This thoroughly-revised and expanded second edition builds on the widely-acclaimed first edition. The work has been recognised as a significant contribution to the broad field of comparative education as well as to study of the specific societies which are its main focus.

Hong Kong and Macau have much in common. Yet in education, for reasons which are analysed in this book, they are very different. The over-arching theme of the book, on continuity and change, is particularly pertinent following the transition of the two societies to the post-colonial era.

The overarching theme of the book, on continuity and change, is particularly pertinent following the transition of the two societies to the postcolonial era.

This title was first published in 1992: Explores the implications of the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997 to the People's Republic of China and the political, economic and cultural impact of the social transition on education.

To reflect the development and history of education in Hong Kong, the author has collected a wide range of fascinating and illuminating material from different sources, and, wherever appropriate, has included his own commentaries. The book will be a valuable source of reference for educationalists and others who are interested in the development of education in Hong Kong.

This book examines the role of English within education and society in the quickly changing city of Macau. Macau’s multilingual language ecology offers the unique opportunity to examine language planning and policy issues within a small speech community. The languages within the ecology include several Chinese varieties, such as Cantonese, Putonghua and Hokkien, European languages like Portuguese and English, and a number of Asian languages that include, among others, Burmese, Filipino languages, Japanese, Timorese, etc. As the smallest city in South China's Pearl River Delta, Macau has sought to maintain cultural and linguistic independence from its larger neighbours, and independence has been built upon an historic commitment to multilingualism and cultural plurality. As economic development and globalisation offer new opportunities to a growing middle class, the sociolinguistics of a small society constrain and influence the language policies that the territory seeks to implement. Macau's multilingual and pluralistic response to language needs within the territory echoes historical responses to similar challenges and suggests that small communities function sociolinguistically in ways that differ from larger communities.

This book brings together and compares the teacher education policies and practices of eight high-achieving countries to consider what creates high-quality teachers in today's world.

Globalisation processes are currently having a powerful and far-reaching influence upon all societies worldwide. At the same time, many communities are ever more forcefully acknowledging their distinctive characteristics and celebrating their cultural differences. In this turbulent era, societies that have undergone particularly rapid political, economic and social change have a collective experience from which others have much to learn. The analysis of such ‘societies in transition’, and their efforts to transform educational policy and practice, is one focus for this volume. The collective studies are also concerned with the impact of the processes of globalisation and geopolitical change upon the related transitions of post-colonial societies; and upon the implications of the analysis for international agency policy and practice throughout the developing world. Contributors are drawn from a wide range of professional and academic backgrounds representing national governments, international agencies, research bodies, policy makers, researchers and practitioners. All have extensive first-hand experience of the issues and contexts that they deal with. Together they report upon original field research, theoretically informed analyses, political perspectives and recent professional and practical experience. Specific national contexts considered in depth include the European states of Estonia, Poland and Germany, the new Republic of South Africa, contemporary Brazil, the transitional phases of Hong Kong and Macau as ‘remnants of empire’, and the small states of Eritrea and Belize. In broad scope the volume highlights the tensions that exist between powerful global agendas and efforts to improve the quality and relevance of educational provision in vastly different sociocultural contexts. As such, the book will be of direct interest to a wide range of researchers, students, policy makers, consultants and development agency personnel involved with comparative and international studies in education and across the social sciences.

India has one of the largest student populations in the world; the quality of teaching is blamed for the poor performance by Indian students on internationally-comparative assessments. By analyzing various measures of teacher quality, this book provides a framework for policymakers to further improve teacher quality in India.