Religion in Hong Kong education: representation in liberal studies textbooks

Abstract

Hong Kong's Liberal Studies curriculum (implemented in 2009) aims in part to teach young people about diversity in society, including cultural, ethnic, and religious diversity. This essay considers how religions and religious diversity are represented in Liberal Studies, analyzing how minority forms of religion are visible and invisible in the four most popular Liberal Studies textbook sets. The analysis will answer the questions of (1) how Hong Kong's religious diversity is expressed in the textbooks and (2) how different religions are depicted in relation to the society overall. Textbooks are the primary source material teachers use, particularly in new subjects, as reflections of prevalent attitudes, beliefs, and norms, and as formal sources of curriculum content. This essay therefore provides a glimpse of the latent knowledge about religious diversity in the educational publishing and decision-making community of Hong Kong, relating gaps in text coverage to the subject's aim of developing student understanding and appreciation of diversity.

Keywords::

• curriculum
• religion
• education
• Hong Kong
• Islam

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to thank Shao Yanju for research, translation and transcription assistance. This work was supported by the University of Hong Kong University Research Committee Seed Funding for Basic Research Scheme [201211159020] and the Research Grants Council of the University Grants Committee of Hong Kong Early Career Scheme [758713].

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Liz Jackson

Liz Jackson is Assistant Professor of Curriculum and Policy Studies in the Faculty of Education at the University of Hong Kong. She has published in the areas of religious education, philosophy of education, and moral education. Her new text is Muslims and Islam in U.S. Education: Reconsidering Multiculturalism (Routledge 2014).