News

A series of three online forums on education in the GBA was organised by the Faculty’s Academic Unit of Social Contexts and Policies of Education (SCAPE) and the Consortium for Higher Education Research in Asia (CHERA) between December 2020 and April 2021. The forums were held to address the increasing interest in how the development of the Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau Greater Bay Area will strengthen innovation and integration for the social and economic development of the region from the educational perspective. All three forums were very well attended, with between 70 and 90 participants at each.

The forums focused on specific subtopics under the umbrella of education in the GBA, and featured academics from our Faculty as chairs and discussants. Researchers from Hong Kong, Macau, Mainland China and Norway shared their findings and insights based on their articles to be published in a Special Issue of Asian Education and Development Studies, guest edited by Professor Gerard Postiglione, Professor Emeritus, and Dr Alice Te, Postdoctoral Research Associate of the Faculty.

The first forum, held on December 15, 2020, shed light on the strategic role which can be played by Hong Kong’s world-class universities and the international academic profession in the regionalisation of innovation systems in the GBA. You can view this forum by clicking https://edutube.edu.hku.hk/public/chera/SCAPE_GBA-1_ET.mp4.html.

The second forum was on the motivations and experiences of students studying cross-border in the GBA and was organised on January 26, 2021. To view the video record, please click https://edutube.edu.hku.hk/public/chera/2021-01-26_Education-in-China%27s-Greater-Bay-Area-ET.mp4.html.

The final forum, held on April 16, 2021, discussed university graduate employability and entrepreneurship in the GBA, given the large number of students graduating and the fierce competition in the graduate labour market. To view the final forum, please visit https://edutube.edu.hku.hk/public/chera/2021-04-16_SCAPE-GBA3.mp4.html.  

For more details of the series, please visit https://www.scapegba2020.edu.hku.hk/home.

We are very pleased to announce that Dr Lisa Yiu, Assistant Professor in the Faculty’s Academic Unit of Social Contexts and Policies of Education, has received the Comparative International Education Society's George Bereday Award for her 2020 article "Educational Injustice in a High-Stakes Testing Context: A Mixed Methods Study on Rural Migrant Children’s Academic Experiences in Shanghai Public Schools".

Dr Yiu’s article was unanimously chosen by all members of the awards committee as the most groundbreaking article published in 2020 by the Comparative Education Review. The article appeared in vol. 64, no. 3 of the journal. It analyses rural migrant children’s academic experiences in two Shanghai public schools when the 2012 PISA scores were administered. It contributes empirical evidence on how hukou status shapes educational inequality in contemporary China.

The George Bereday Award recognises the most outstanding article published in the Comparative Education Review in the preceding calendar year. All published articles are reviewed for their importance in shaping the field, analytic merit, policy implications, concern for theoretical constructs and implications for future research.

Congratulations to Dr Yiu on her accomplishment!

To provide students with a new form of overseas exchange, the Faculty’s School-University Partnerships (SUP) Office has recently launched an initiative for student teachers from the Faculty of Education, HKU and from NIE. The initiative is a virtual collaboration, enabling the student teachers to exchange ideas in spite of the suspension of all inbound and outbound student exchanges between the two institutions.

This student-led collaboration started in early February 2021 with a total of 16 student teachers, eight from each institution. It included a buddy system, movie sharing sessions and student-led webinars in which students were able to share information and observations about each other’s education system, culture, their teacher preparation programmes and so on. To pair up the student teachers and to break the ice, an online orientation was held in late February. Ms Promail Leung, Senior Lecturer and Director of the SUP Office, also gave a speech to welcome the participants.

In addition, two movie review sessions took place in March 2021 to discuss education-related movies chosen by the students from each institution. The student teachers introduced the movie from their region and raised thought-provoking questions on issues such as how to support underprivileged students, corporal punishment and sex education.

The student teachers also organised three webinars in March 2021 to foster mutual understanding of educational issues in Hong Kong and Singapore. In the webinars, they took turns to introduce the education systems, educational reforms and curricula in their respective regions, with lots of interactions between the audience members and the presenters.

To conclude the programme, a fruitful closing session was held on March 28, 2021. The student teachers revisited issues raised in the Webinars, played games, showed vlogs produced by some of them and shared their reflections and feedback on the programme in the two-hour session. Finally, they also exchanged university souvenirs with their buddies by post in early April to commemorate the collaboration.

We are delighted to announce that two of our students have received awards at the 24^th Recognition Ceremony hosted by the Centre of Development and Resources for Students (CEDARS), the University of Hong Kong (HKU) on April 10, 2021. They are Miss Alya Prasad from the Bachelor of Education and Bachelor of Science programme, and Miss Jhalak Rakesh Sheth from the Bachelor of Education and Bachelor of Social Sciences programme. Alya won her award under Category B: Other External Awards and Learning Experience, and Jhalak won a Silver Award under the CEDARS Reward Scheme (Category C).

Alya co-founded Artpeace, an international youth organisation that aims to use art for advocacy and positive social change. It carries out various volunteering activities to help people in need beyond national boundaries.

Jhalak supported programmes, activities or services organised/coordinated by CEDARS, accumulating reward points which qualified her for the Silver Award.

CEDARS hosts the annual Recognition Ceremony for students who have excelled exceptionally in external competitions and endeavours, as well as for those who have made sustained contributions in co-creating a vibrant and impactful student life with CEDARS. Category B recognises future leaders for significant enhancement in their non-academic learning and acquisition of skills and competencies in areas beyond their study programme; while Category C is for eligible students who have supported CEDARS programmes or activities from January to December 2020.

Please visit https://wp2.cedars.hku.hk/prize/ to learn more about the Recognition Ceremony, and visit https://wp2.cedars.hku.hk/prize/2021/03/31/merging-arts-and-education/ to read Alya’s story.

Congratulations to Alya and Jhalak on their wonderful achievements!

We are very pleased to announce that Professor Lee Shulman, the Charles E. Ducommun Emeritus Professor of Education at Stanford University, USA, and a world-renowned educational psychologist, educator and reformer, will receive the degree of Doctor of Social Sciences honoris causa from the University of Hong Kong (HKU) this year. As well as being a celebrated international scholar, Professor Shulman is also a familiar and greatly respected figure in the higher education sector in Hong Kong.

Our Faculty is honoured to have welcomed Professor Shulman as a keynote speaker in the “Reimagining Teacher Education Symposium” in 2018, where he gave a distinguished lecture entitled “Igniting the Imagination of Teacher Education: Learning from Our Own Best Ideas and Practices... and from Our Neighbors”, sponsored by the Tin Ka Ping Foundation. He also contributed expert advice to the Faculty on our teacher education programmes.

The honorary degrees will be conferred at the 204^th Congregation on April 14, 2021 in Loke Yew Hall at HKU. As Professor Shulman and other honorary graduands currently reside outside Hong Kong, they will participate in the ceremony virtually in light of the COVID-19 situation and travel constraints globally.

Honorary Degrees are awarded to individuals in recognition of their distinguished service and commitment to the University, the community, and to academia. They are also conferred on those who have made valuable intellectual, social and cultural contributions to society and the world.

Professor Shulman’s biography can be viewed at

https://www4.hku.hk/hongrads/graduates/honorary-degree-of-doctor-of-social-sciences-lee-s-lee-s-shulman-shulman-lee-s-shulman.

In addition, Prof Shulman’s lecture can be watched at https://youtu.be/Uq9MvYU0vYk. His interview in the Faculty Interview Series is also available online: https://youtu.be/1ReLnozETbE.

Warmest congratulations to Professor Shulman!

We are pleased to share that Professor Jimmy de la Torre, Head of the Academic Unit of Human Communication, Development, and Information Sciences of the Faculty, has been elected Chairperson of the SIG for Cognition and Assessment for a three-year term beginning in April 2021.

The SIG for Cognition and Assessment is to present researchers and practitioners with an opportunity for cross-disciplinary research (or research with cross-disciplinary implications) within education. Their research features different methods, including psychometric simulations, empirical applications, cognitive model development, theoretical rationales, and combinations of all of the above.

The AERA is a research society which was founded in 1916. It aims to improve the educational process by encouraging scholarly inquiry related to education and evaluation, and to promote the dissemination and practical application of research results. Its 25,000 members are faculty, researchers, graduate students, and other distinguished professionals with rich and diverse expertise in education research. Nearly 14% of the members represent over 96 countries, making the society international.

For details of the SIG, please visit https://www.aera.net/SIG167/Cognition-and-Assessment-SIG-167.

Congratulations to Professor de la Torre on his new role!

A virtual press conference on the fifth report from the “eCitizen Education 360” study was held on March 30, 2021. The latest research results focus on parenting practices before and during the pandemic and how different practices affect students’ well-being. In addition, the research explores how these may be correlated with parental background and school factors.

The project team also put forward several recommendations for different stakeholders to better support parents, eventually enhancing students’ learning and socio-emotional well-being.

The research team was led by Professor Nancy Law, Deputy Director of the Centre of Information Technology in Education of the Faculty, and Dr Tan Cheng Yong, Associate Professor, the Faculty’s Academic Unit of Social Contexts and Policies of Education.

For more details of the “eCitizen Education 360” Project, please visit https://ecitizen.hk/360. To review the e-version of the press release and download relevant materials, please visit http://web.edu.hku.hk/press.

The Online Inauguration Ceremony of the Education Mentorship Programme 2020-21 was held via ZOOM on March 5, 2021 with over 40 mentors, mentees and guests attending. The event marked the official commencement of this year’s Programme. With the support of mentors from a wide range of professional areas such as teaching, educational administration, speech therapy and information technology in education, our mentees have the opportunity to gain exposure to professional development and to learn from their assigned mentors.

The Ceremony started with warm welcoming remarks by Professor A. Lin Goodwin, Dean, Faculty of Education, HKU and an opening address by Mr Yick Tak Ming, Luke, President of the Hong Kong University Education Alumni Association. Professor Goodwin gave thanks, on behalf of the Faculty, to all the mentors for their time and the love given to our mentees, and expressed her belief that mentoring would be a wonderful pathway into new experiences and deep learning.

The opening was followed by an inspiring sharing session conducted by Mr Hon Sze Ping, Steven, Principal of Kwok Tak Seng Catholic Secondary School and one of the mentors of the Programme. He shared his insights on mentorship, expressing the view that it represented a learning opportunity for both mentors and mentees. As a mentor, he enjoyed helping the mentees see different opportunities in career development and empowering them. He advised mentees to be open to growth and to receive feedback with an open mind.

After Mr Hon’s sharing, the mentors greeted their mentees, and all the participants joined an online ice-breaking game to learn more about each other. At the end of the Ceremony, some mentors and mentees shared their expectations of the Programme. One mentee mentioned that she looked forward to learning from her mentor’s life story and getting a better idea of potential pathways after graduation, while another mentee was hoping for valuable advice on future career development. We hope this Programme will bring meaningful exchanges for both our mentees and mentors!

A virtual press conference on the joint-university research project entitled “Strengthening the Alignment of Residential Education and University Educational Aims” was held on January 29, 2021. The project is funded by the University Grants Committee and is the first in Hong Kong on the aims of university residential education.

The research team is led by Dr Samuel Chu, Associate Professor, Academic Unit of Teacher Education and Learning Leadership, Faculty of Education, HKU, and joined by representatives from the Education University of Hong Kong, City University of Hong Kong and Hong Kong Baptist University as co-investigators.

The findings reveal that residential experience has positive impact on the participants’ academic, social and individual development. Based on the findings, the project team also provided several suggestions on multiple levels for moving residential education in Hong Kong forward.

The three-year project started in 2017 with around 1,700 local and non-local students and alumni from four universities participating each year. The research team also organised numerous study tours for hall residents and hall education personnel to visit top universities in the world to share good practices of hall experience.

To review the e-version of the press release and download relevant materials, please visit http://web.edu.hku.hk/press.

A virtual press conference on the fourth report from the “eCitizen Education 360” study was held on January 19, 2021 and was attended by more than 150 participants. The latest research results focus on how specific school leadership practices impact teachers’ preparedness for and effectiveness in online T&L.

The findings demonstrate the pivotal role of multi-level school leadership in fostering a culture of trust, collaboration and openness for pedagogical innovation, an indispensable quality of effective schools under the New Normal.

The project team also put forward several recommendations for schools to be better prepared under the New Normal, including external support for teacher professional learning and leadership development, participation in joint-school student-centred innovation projects, and the support to middle-level leaders in solving actual problems in the innovation process.  

The research team was led by Professor Nancy Law, Deputy Director of the Centre of Information Technology in Education of the Faculty, and Dr Tan Cheng Yong, Associate Professor, the Faculty’s Academic Unit of Social Contexts and Policies of Education.

For more details of the “eCitizen Education 360” Project, please visit https://ecitizen.hk/360. To review the e-version of the press release and download relevant materials, please visit http://web.edu.hku.hk/press.