Dr Linnie Wong Koon-lin, Assistant Professor at the Department of Education Policy and Leadership, The Education University of Hong Kong, received the Best Publication Award 2020 from the Children’s Identity and Citizenship European Association (CiCea) in 2021. 

The award-winning article entitled ‘School leadership for civic learning: the case of socio-political turbulence in Hong Kong’, was co-authored with Professor John Lee Chi-kin, Chair Professor of Curriculum and Instruction, and Professor Kerry Kennedy, Advisor (Academic Development) at the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. 

The article looks at how principals negotiate the political context of citizenship education, and how these practices influence the civic learning in schools. Dr Wong reveals that when principals lacked a clear vision of citizenship education, most teachers avoided discussing controversial political topics with their students. 

Dr Wong suggests that principals must reflect on their own understanding of the purposes and perspectives of citizenship education to meet the demands of a changing socio-political environment. 

“Dr Wong’s publication is noteworthy in many categories, but we believe its relevance to issues of civic learning and the role stakeholders play in this process, is important,” the award committee remarked.