HKIEd - Press Release

Over two thousand local Form Three students will be surveyed this fall to gauge how Hong Kong youngsters rate in conceptual understanding and competencies related to civic and citizenship education. A total of 39 countries and regions will be involved in the study.

In this International Civic and Citizenship Education Study, students will be asked questions regarding their civic knowledge, participation and attitudes. Teachers and schools will also be asked about teaching and class management practices, school governance and climate.

Data collected will then be analysed across countries and regions to provide insight into the civic understandings of young people in Hong Kong and how these compare with students in other parts of the world. A special module specifically related to Hong Kong will ask local students about issues such as national identity and citizenship.

Findings of a previous study conducted in 1999 showed that Hong Kong students did well in terms of civic knowledge. While they were proud of Hong Kong at that time, they were not quite satisfied at the situation as it was. Students also expressed the desire for civic participation, in social and environmental issues rather than in political matters.

The 2008 Study, commissioned by the Education Bureau, will be jointly conducted by The Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd) and the Faculty of Education at The University of Hong Kong (HKU).

Project Leader, Prof Lee Wing On, HKIEd’s Vice President (Academic) and Deputy to the President, was also the project leader for the 1999 study. Other members on the team include Prof Trevor Bond, Dr Gregory Fairbrother, Prof Kerry Kennedy and Mr Boby Ching Ho-hong from HKIEd. HKU team members include Dr Cheung Chi-kim, Dr Eadaoin Hui, Dr Law Wing-wah and Dr Kanya Ngai.

Prof Lee said: “The conditions relevant to civic and citizenship have undergone considerable change across the globe since the last survey was conducted in 1999. We hope that the findings from our 2008 survey in Hong Kong would help educators in general, and Hong Kong teachers in particular, to fine-tune the approach to civic, citizenship and national education, with an emphasis on active and experiential teaching and learning.

HKIEd is very pleased to partner with The University of Hong Kong in undertaking a study with immense implications for educating our future generations in realizing their roles in the local, national and global contexts, he added.

“Through this collaborative study we wish to gauge the performance of students in civic and citizenship education on an international scale, identify the gap between the effectiveness and the objectives set out in citizenship education curriculum, and be able to highlight the factors and conditions that support effective citizenship education within a changing globalization context,” Dr Law Wing-wah of HKU said.

The survey will be administered in October 2008. The final report will be submitted to the Education Bureau in 2009.

For details of the international study, please visit http://www.iea.nl/.

Please contact Mr Boby Ching, HKIEd at 2948 8487 or Ms Queenie Wong, Development and Communications Officer, Faculty of Education, HKU at 2219 4270 on details of the joint project.

The list of countries to be surveyed include:
Austria, Belgium (Flemish), Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Chinese Taipei, Colombia, Cyprus, Denmark, Domincan Republic, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Guatemala, Hong Kong SAR, Ireland, Indonesia, Italy, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Norway, Paraguay, Poland, Russian Federation, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand.