Education reform in Hong Kong : the "through-road" model and its societal consequences

Document Type

Journal article

Source Publication

International Review of Education

Publication Date

1-1-2008

Volume

54

Issue

1

First Page

33

Last Page

55

Publisher

Springer Netherlands

Abstract

Although Hong Kong's education system has long been criticized as lacking in creativity and over-emphasising rote learning, on the whole it has served Hong Kong well in the past years, breeding outstanding business, academic and political leaders who continue to maintain Hong Kong's competitive edge. The traditional elite schools have played a crucial role in the process. The education reform, which is still on-going, aims to overhaul the entire system by introducing the "through-road" model. To accomplish this, some mechanisms need to be changed. J.P. Farrell's concepts of equality and equity, C.W. Mills' concept of elitism, and P. Bourdieu and J. Coleman's concepts of cultural and social capital will be applied to analyse the consequences of the reform. The paper argues that the education reform may be well-intentioned in eliminating some elements of inequality and inequity in education, but that this comes at the expense of Hong Kong's cultural and social capital and leads to the development of new forms of inequality.

DOI

10.1007/s11159-007-9073-9

Print ISSN

00208566

E-ISSN

15730638

Publisher Statement

Copyright © Springer 2007

Access to external full text or publisher's version may require subscription.

Full-text Version

Publisher’s Version

Language

English

Recommended Citation

Poon, A. Y. K., & Wong, Y.-C. (2008). Education reform in Hong Kong: The "through-road" model and its societal consequences. International Review of Education, 54(1), 33-55. doi: 10.1007/s11159-007-9073-9

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