In search of a politics of hope in the context of the education reform : from cultural critiques to critical pragmatics
Organizer
Department of Cultural Studies, Lingnan University; Kwan Fong Cultural Research and Development Programme, Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences, Lingnan University
Event Title
KFCRD Cultural Studies Seminar & Cultural Magazine Series, 2005-06
Document Type
Public Seminar
Date
2-20-2006
Time
5:30 p.m. -- 7:00 p.m.
Venue
GE321, General Education Building, Lingnan University
Description
Fanny Law's comments on the suicides of teachers have provoked a new wave against the education reform. Yet neither the pro-reform camp nor the anti-reform faction has offered a historical and contextual analysis of the education reform and the education system, not to mention a feasible and constructive solution to existing problems. As a result, the current confrontation seems to lead us nowhere, or perhaps to a state of despair and nihilism. While sharing with the critics of the education reform that the government has to be blamed for its irresponsibility In the planning and implementing processes of the education reform, this presentation argues that the critics, to a significant extent, has to share the blame.
in order to overcome the predomination of nihilism and despair in the contemporary educational field, this presentation, drawing on my earlier experiences in participating in cultural critiques, and later engagements in the curriculum development of secondary school Integrated Humanities and Liberal Studies subjects and related teacher training projects, attempts to think through the limits and opportunities of the current education reform, as well as the effectivity of cultural critique and doing cultural studies in a critically pragmatic way in the context of Hong Kong’s educational settings.
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Hui, P.-k. (2006, February 20). In search of a politics of hope in the context of the education reform: From cultural critiques to critical pragmatics [Video podcast]. Retrieved from http://commons.ln.edu.hk/videos/413
Additional Information
Speaker
Dr. HUI Po-keung received his PhD in Sociology from the State University of New York at Binghamton in 1995. He is now teaching at the Cultural Studies Department of Lingnan University in Hong Kong and is the Programme Director of the newly launched Postgraduate Diploma in Liberal Studies at Lingnan University. His main research interests are education and cultural studies, cultural economy, history of capitalism, and alternative development. He has co-edited the 7 volumes of Cultural and Social Studies Translation Series (文化社會研究繹叢), jointly published by Oxford University Press (Hong Kong) and Bianyi Chubanshe (Beijing). He is the author of What Capitalism is Not 資本主義不是什麼 (Hong Kong Oxford University Press, 2002) .and is now working on several research and development projects on education reform in Hong Kong.
Cultural Studies Seminar Series, 2005-06
The public seminar was part of the Cultural Studies Seminar Series, an ongoing series of informal talks, jointly organized by the Department of Cultural Studies and Kwan Fong Cultural Research and Development Programme (KFCRD), Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences, in which researchers in dialogue with leading cultural critics, designers, producers and entrepreneurs working in and around Hong Kong. Aimed at an undergraduate audience, the Seminar used a “chat show” format to encourage students to join in the discussion of new cultural research and development projects.