Partnership and Collaboration

Hong Kong

Forging an Alliance for Education Advancement

With its full range of support, the Institute had attracted world-renowned cycling medallists Mr Wong Kam-po and Miss Sarah Lee Wai-sze to its Bachelor of Health Education programme. Learning at HKIEd provides these elite athletes with a sustainable career development model that they can put to use upon retirement. To extend similar access to university education for other talented sportsmen, the Institute sealed a collaborative agreement with the Hong Kong Sports Institute (HKSI) on 17 April 2014. Under the agreement, retiring and current elite athletes and coaches recommended by the HKSI can apply for admission to HKIEd. Through a flexible learning mode, they can continue their intensive training and participation in competitions both locally and abroad, and at the same time fulfill their aspiration of achieving a degree qualification, giving them a dual career pathway.

Further expanding its partnerships, the Institute joined forces with eight major school sponsoring bodies, bolstering a network that covers around 33 per cent of the schools in Hong Kong. These organisations include the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui, the Hong Kong Council of the Church of Christ in China, the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals, Po Leung Kuk, the Hong Kong Buddhist Association, the Methodist Church, Hong Kong, and Yan Oi Tong. Under the new collaborative framework, the Institute will provide professional development programmes for in-service teachers, joint efforts will be made in organising major events and conferences, and some school sponsoring bodies will support their students who wish to pursue careers in education with special scholarships. The Institute envisages that these arrangements will enhance the quality of teacher education in Hong Kong.

Community Support for Education Cause

In recent years, various philanthropic foundations, large corporations and the wider community have given us persistent support. Their donations, big and small, are tantamount to recognising our contribution to education. We are deeply grateful and pleased to report that the Institute had raised an accumulative total of over $60 million at the time of preparing this Report, to be matched dollar-for-dollar under the sixth round of the Matching Grants Scheme.

This is a record for the Institute since the launch of the Scheme in 2003. Some of the most significant donations are highlighted below.

Known for its niche in special education, the Institute has been supported with three sizeable donations, from the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust ($10.5 million), Lee Hysan Foundation ($3 million) and Tin Ka Ping Foundation ($2.5 million). With these generous donations, the Institute will be strengthened in its inclusive education capacity in school consultancy, research and pre-service teacher training, which will prepare our students seeking careers in special education with the necessary service and learning exposure to meet future challenges.

Learning through direct experience beyond the classroom is recognised as the best way to hone the holistic development of future teachers. With a $5 million donation, the Wofoo Whole Person Development Centre will be founded, empowering students in whole-person education through a range of leadership training and service learning opportunities in various locations.

Acknowledging the Institute’s achievement in music education, the Parsons Music Foundation donated close to HK$1.9 million for the setting up of entrance scholarships, which will benefit 45 students.

The Institute is pleased to have the renewed support of the Joseph Lau Luen Hung Charitable Trust. A $10.55 million donation from the Trust will strengthen the capacity of the Asia Pacific Centre for Leadership and Change to deliver cutting-edge research and support knowledge transfer, enhancing its international status as one of the most influential centres for educational leadership and change.

Aside from devoting his time and energy to the Institute, Mr Pang Yiu-kai, Chairman of the Council, has personally donated $5 million for the establishment of the HKIEd Christian Faith and Development Centre. The Centre will facilitate a better understanding of the Christian faith and its values and principles among students and faculty members, through learning, experience sharing, research, lectures and engagement activities that support Christian spirituality education in schools.

Symbolising wisdom, the Dr T mascot was specially created for the “To Teachers with Love – Dr T Design Competition cum Fundraising Campaign”. The competition received an overwhelming response from local schools, with 680 high-quality entries and 10,000 on-line votes for best-liked design. In total, the campaign successfully raised $850,000.

Since it was established in 2009, the Hong Kong Museum of Education, located on the Institute’s Tai Po campus, has attracted scores of visitors. To reach out to the community, an HKIEd Arts Bus sponsored by New World First Bus and Citybus has been transformed into a mobile museum where members of the public can revisit the education heritage dating back to the early 20th century.

Beyond Hong Kong’s Borders

Collaboration and Partnerships

The Institute has become increasingly visible through its collaboration with regional and international partners. During the year, ties were fostered with close to 160 institutions in the Greater China region and various countries in the Asia-Pacific region (Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam), Europe (Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom) and North America (Canada and the United States).

These partnerships have facilitated academic exchange in conjunction with the Institute’s role as the organiser and host of many high-level regional and international conferences. Some of these academic activities are highlighted below.

The Global Curriculum and Instruction Network (GCIN) Conference 2014, held on 19-20 June 2014, saw leading scholars and higher education institutes from the Asia-Pacific region exchanging ideas on and practices related to curriculum and instruction, and exploring new research initiatives that will inform quality teacher education and student learning. There were ten keynotes addresses and invited symposia, and over 70 paper/poster presentations. The Conference was organised by the Institute’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction, and co-organised by the Faculty of Education, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (Malaysia), Faculty of Education, Universitas Siswa Bangsa Internasional (Indonesia), and Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning, National Institute of Education (Singapore).

Hosted by the Institute’s Centre for Greater China Studies, the 4th Symposium on Comparative Social Policy Studies in the Greater China Region was held on 14 April 2014, with the Centre for Mainland China Studies at the National Taiwan University, the Social Policy Research Centre at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the Centre for Social Policy Research at Peking University, the Huamin Research Center at Rutgers University and the Hong Kong Sociological Association as co-organisers. The Symposium was also supported by the Hong Kong APEC Study Centre currently based at the Institute and the Journal of Asian Public Policy (London: Routledge). Preeminent scholars from the institutions shared insights into the social issues arising from urbanisation and their impacts on population policy, public health, poverty, migration and social care.

The 10th East Asian Conference on Modern Literature in Chinese, “Literature in Circulation” was held at HKIEd on 25 and 26 October 2013. The Conference was co-organised by the Research Centre for Chinese Literature and Literary Culture and the Department of Literature and Cultural Studies at the Faculty of Humanities, with co-sponsorship from the Centre for Humanities Research at Lingnan University. Around 20 renowned scholars from Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, mainland China and Hong Kong gathered to share insights into the meaning and significance of the circulation of Chinese literature in East Asia and around the world, and the transformation of individual works across different media and texts.

At the Third Forum for Presidents of Normal Universities in the Greater China Region held on 9 October 2014, the presidents of close to 30 key normal universities in mainland China, Taiwan and beyond engaged in institution-level exchange under the theme of “Educators for the 21st Century”.