Multiculltural education in Hong Kong primary schools : promoting equitable learning opportunities

Abstract

University of Technology, Sydney. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.

The thesis investigates how one local mainstream primary school in Hong Kong is
 making multicultural education possible. Learner and learning diversity is an 
 increasingly complex issue in schools world-wide. In Hong Kong, the current education
 policy has as a core value that all students have the right to learn. Yet finding effective
 ways to manage students with diverse educational needs is problematic for local schools.
 This research is a case study of one primary school that is trying to implement 
 multicultural educationto improve equitable learning opportunities for all their students.
 The current research topic emerged following findings from a previous project in which
 one hundred local Hong Kong teachers were found to have negative perceptions
 regarding catering for student diversity in their teaching (Yeung, 2005, 2006). The 
 teachers' perceptions of students' abilities were influenced by students' test scores or
 socio-cultural backgrounds. The local teachers are trained to work effectively with only
 one dominant culture and they are unprepared to acknowledge the cultural differences in
 schools. Teaching students from a range of backgrounds with diverse needs brings
 about feelings of anxiety in schools.
 In the current study, I emply a constructivist approach, that is, I discuss how
 teachers re-shaped their perceptions, beliefs and behaviours as they developed and
 implemented a school-based multicultural education project. I sought to understand and
 examine how multicultural education was socially constructed and enacted by teachers
 in one school. The two major research questions are: Firstly, how is multicultural
 education socially constructed and enacted by teachers in mainstream school through 
 the integration of organizational, collegial and student-teacher factors? Secondly, if
 there are any barriers, what are appropriate strategies or supportive measures that foster
 implementation of multicultural education in a local school?
 This is qualitative study that uses ethnographically-oriented methods comprising
 document analysis, observations, semi-structured interviews and focus group meetings.
 I examine Hong Kong education policies and multicultural education theories and
 develop a transformative and holistic approach to achieving multicultural change in a 
 whole school.
 In conclusion, it is expected that the study findings all assist educators in Hong
 Kong to further understand present challenges in the school system regarding managing
 diversity and attaining multicultural education goals. In particular, the study provides
 positive teaching and learning strategies that could be implemented to address problems
 of diverse learning needs, and to promote or develop equitable opportunities for all
 students.