Many social issues exist for marginalized youth in the New Territories of Hong Kong, despite Hong Kong's high standard of living. Increasingly, attention is being paid to social mobility of Hong Kong's younger generations. Youth in the New Territories face academic, economic, social and cultural barriers, in part due to tracking into low-ranked Band 3 schools. In order to better understand these barriers, this study took a phenomenological approach to understanding selected youth's perceptions and perspectives on these barriers. This qualitative case study, being both exploratory and descriptive, developed thematic findings across interviews, field observations and document analysis in order to understand disadvantaged youth's personal perceptions and attitudes of youth social mobility. Youth and teacher interview participants also took part, to varying degrees, in the programs provided by Hong Kong-based NGO, Project Share. The study attempts to further our understanding of the lived experiences and perceived social mobility barriers unique to these marginalized youth. Findings illustrate issues that NGOs, practitioners, school officials and policy makers may want to consider when approaching work with disadvantaged youth and attempting to understanding youth issues in Hong Kong from the youth perspective.
The purpose of this eight-week research study was to examine the effects of the post-it note intervention on achievement, attitudes, and engagement towards reading comprehension among eighth-grade students with learning disabilities.The participants (N=12) were enrolled in special education, reading class based on their Individualized Education Plans. The students engaged in the think-aloud strategy the first four weeks of the study, and they engaged in the post-it note intervention the second four weeks. Data were collected throughout the study on academic achievement, attitudes toward reading, and engagement. Field notes were collected to analyze major themes of the study. When the data were analyzed, the mean increase from the post-it note intervention was higher than the think-aloud strategy at a statistically significant level (t (11)= -8.44, p<.001). Data showed the students' attitudes toward reading and engagement improved when 2 Deese et al.
The Hong Kong education system is at a crucial point in its trajectory, and changes to public education also reflect broader social, economic and political changes within Hong Kong and globally. Since the 1997 handover of Hong Kong from British control to China, Hong Kong has struggled to develop its own identity under the One Country, Two Systems premise. One of the compulsory courses in the Hong Kong curriculum known as liberal studies, introduced in 2009, provided a useful departure point for exploring many social tensions occurring in Hong Kong. Exploring education reform through liberal studies explains how these social tensions manifest within education, and how these educational tensions manifest within the broader society. Contemporary trends in Hong Kong's education were examined, including the public exams, the proliferation of shadow education and the expansion of self-financed tertiary education options for Hong Kong students. Tensions in Hong Kong are further explained through the notions of post-colonialism. The liberal studies debate mirror aspects of the broader economic, political, and social tensions as they relate to Hong Kong youth, and Hong Kong society at-large, and this article endeavors to explore these tensions through the lens of liberal studies as it relates to education discourse in Hong Kong. Through a combination of literature review from academic and mainstream sources, the article establishes the groundwork for further empirical work in order to gain a more in-depth understanding of the issues and tensions in Hong Kong.
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