The logic of Hong Kong teachers: An exploratory study of their teaching culturally diverse students

Abstract

This study aims to report how Hong Kong teachers handle a seemingly conventional, orderly schooling phenomenon—the teaching of the newly arrived children (NAC) migrated from mainland China. Semi‐structured interviews with ten teachers from nine primary schools were conducted. The principal findings are that the teachers are not prepared for the challenges of teaching NAC, that the traditional approaches adopted by many teachers are ineffective, that subtle transformation of the pupil population due to the everlasting influx of NAC has yet to be appreciated by the teachers, and that teachers' logic—their worldview, mindset and conceptualisation of forces at work in Hong Kong schooling—remains unchanged. This paper highlights the various issues of monoculturalisation. Implications are discussed.

Acknowledgement

The author wishes to thank the anonymous reviewers of Teaching Education and Dr King W. Chow for their critical comments given in 2004 and 2005 respectively, as well as the Hong Kong Institute of Education for its partial financial support to the study.

Notes

* Department of Educational Psychology, Counseling and Learning Needs, The Hong Kong Institute of Education, 10 Lo Ping Road, D1‐2/F‐19, Tai Po, NT, Hong Kong. Email: [email protected]

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Stella Chong *

* Department of Educational Psychology, Counseling and Learning Needs, The Hong Kong Institute of Education, 10 Lo Ping Road, D1‐2/F‐19, Tai Po, NT, Hong Kong. Email: [email protected]