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Minority Education Programme
Our research and development work in the Minority Education programme seeks to inform education policies, which, if implemented effectively, can enable minority groups to engage fully in the social and political life of mainstream society and enjoy the opportunities for personal and career development. Work in Hong Kong will focus on education for minority language, in particular secondary school students whose first language is not Cantonese. In China a major project on trilinguilism in ethnic minority areas has been running for many years.
Specific Objectives:
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to maintain and build on the workshop series for stakeholders in education for students whose first language is not Chinese. These workshops aim to encourage dialogue between students, parents, NGOs, teachers and principals to understand the needs of students and ultimately to assist with education policy development in this area;
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develop practical community engagement projects to assist teachers and students who are not using Chinese as the main medium of instruction. This will include building of partnerships with organizations working in disadvantaged areas of Hong Kong;
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to maintain the network of trilingual partners that has been built up over the last 10 years concerned with teaching in a trilingual enviroethnic minority teachers in rural areas of China and carrying out related research; and
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to strengthen our research projects and knowledge transfer in minority language rights and issues in education in the region, in partnership with other key stakeholders.
Core Project(s)
Forum series on education for minority language students
Minority students in Hong Kong face a number of challenges from the current education system, including access and language barriers. Whilst the number of minority students has increased since 1997, the number of schools offering an alternative to Chinese as a medium of instruction has reduced. Despite the introduction of the “Chinese Language Curriculum Second Language Learning Framework” by the Education Bureau in 2014, there are still concerns over how this framework is implemented and uncertainty over how this leads to entry into tertiary institutions.
The UNESCO Chair is hosting a series of forums on Inclusive and Equitable education for all. These bring together about 20 participants each time, including scholars, minority group representatives, education practitioners and students, to exchange views on priority areas in education for language minority students. The purpose of the forum was to discuss the key issues affecting language minority students in the school system and look to prioritize these for further focused discussions and concerted action.
Topics of discussion focus around language policies in Hong Kong, the need for a policy on multiculturalism by the government, teacher training and sensitivity, and recognition of children’s right to education. Areas of consensus amongst the participants include the importance of involving the community, embedding diversity within the curriculum, the need for positive student role models, and for greater attention to be paid to inclusion for all students.
Responding to Minority Language Students' Needs in the Hong Kong Education System
Prof Bob Adamson, Mr Chura Thapa, Mr Will Douglas
Minority language students in Hong Kong face a number of challenges within the current education system, including access and language barriers. Students who do not have the socioeconomic means to attend private international schools can either attend government schools where Cantonese is the medium of instruction, or schools (formerly known as “designated” schools) where they are streamed into separate English-speaking classes with other minority language students. Many students sit alternative assessments to the HKDSE such as GCSE and GCE Chinese, which do not equate to local Chinese proficiency requirements. This places minority language students at a disadvantage when applying for jobs and higher education. According to a recent statement from Government, there are approximately 17,000 minority language students in the mainstream school system.
As part of the ongoing Core Project work of the UNESCO Chair in minority language student education, we have undertaken a project to develop teaching materials for a lesson that can be incorporated into IELL's Minor in Key Issues and Changing Values in Education and/or the course Philosophical and Socio-Cultural Issues in Education. The lesson will provide student teachers with information on the situation facing minority language students, how teaching methods may need to be changed and provide practical advice from case studies and HK classroom experience. The intention is to broaden the international and inter-cultural mindset of up-coming HK teachers with a view to benefitting the 17,000 minority language students in terms of assisting them in successfully completing school, gaining the best qualifications possible hence increasing their life-chances.
The materials developed are extensive and comprehensive, and have content for students’ use beyond the actual classroom time. The lesson will provide a hook for the resources, as there is little curricular space elsewhere,
There are background materials, setting the context of minorities in Hong Kong and the challenges facing them in accessing education here. There are discussion materials and advice on how they can be supported. We have developed sufficient materials to enable the tutors to select information of interest to them, for example we have provided research and provided a number of case studies, and developed student exercises so that there is flexibility that the lecture is not totally prescribed. A seminar will be organized to course tutors to explain what is availablefor their use.
In addition to these teaching materials we have also developed materials for teaching basic Cantonese to newcomers. This was specifically designed for refugees and an acknowledgement is given to Ms Lee Suet Ching for her work on this project.
Video Series with Minority Stakeholder in the Education System
Mr Will Douglas, Ms Lucinda Pike
A series of video interviews were conducted with stakeholders in the minority education sector. This included representatives from NGOs, teachers, academics and students. These can be viewed by visiting www.eduhk.hk/skillsforlife and typing "minorities" in the search box. There are currently 2 interviews with EdUHK students talking about their experiences at the University. These can be located by typing "life at EdUHK" in the search box (without quotes).
Trilingual Education in China Project
PrincipaI Investigators: Prof. Bob Adamson, Prof. Anwei FENG (University of Nottingham-Ningbo)
This research project offers a holistic and descriptive account of trilingualism and trilingual education in China. Policy changes have led to the introduction of English language teaching and learning in primary schools. These reforms pose particular challenges to communities in ethnic minority areas, where Putonghua often competes with the minority language, and English is often taught in under-resourced schools with teachers with the requisite training in short supply.
The project involves extensive and intensive research comprising investigations into school- and community-level practices, policies and perceptions relating to trilingualism in such key regions as Xinjiang, Yunnan, Inner Mongolia, Sichuan, Gansu, Guizhou, Guangxi, Qinghai, Jilin, Tibet and Guangdong. Using first-hand data collected from each region, the researchers examine language policies and curricula, as well as language allocation in the classroom and in the community, and analyse them in their specific historical, socio-political, demographical, economic, geographical and cultural contexts.
A distinctive feature of the project is its presentation of a new methodology and approach to researching such phenomena. This methodology encompasses policy analysis, community language profiles, as well as school-based field work in order to provide rich data that facilitates multilevel analysis of policy-in-context.
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