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Volume 17, Issue 3
  • ISSN: 1751-1917
  • E-ISSN: 1751-1925

Abstract

This article investigates types of citizenship education in selected schools in Hong Kong with different overarching affiliations (pro-China vs. pro-democracy). After examining schools’ policies (e.g., sister school of China school), we selected four pro-China and two pro-democracy schools. As a highly diverse society, citizenship education in Hong Kong is key to the formation of a ‘good citizen’. To better understand what a ‘good citizen’ means in this context, we interviewed ten teachers, four principals and four vice-principals at six secondary schools. We focused our interviews on key themes around citizenship, schools influence and media influence. These interviews showed that school staff reported acting as facilitators who emphasized knowledge, social concerns and norms of ‘good citizens’ to their students. staff reported helping students integrate different perspectives. staff reported supporting student engagement via citizen responsibilities and political processes; while pro-China schools emphasized a national China identity, pro-democracy schools emphasized an international view. Staff from all of these schools reported that media negatively influenced students’ values and perspectives. To reduce students’ confirmation bias (only seeking evidence to support the pre-existing views), teachers in all schools taught critical thinking skills and media literacy. The data showed that understanding how schools can nurture student-citizens amid teachers’ concerns around negative media influence can help inform instruction and policies in schools regardless of their affiliation.

Funding
This study was supported by the:
  • Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (Award 28608318)
© 2022 Intellect Ltd
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2022-09-01
2024-09-13
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/content/journals/10.1386/ctl_00101_1
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Perceived school and media influences on civic/citizenship education: Views of secondary school principals and teachers in Hong Kong
Citizenship Teaching & Learning 17, 415 (2022); https://doi.org/10.1386/ctl_00101_1
/content/journals/10.1386/ctl_00101_1
/content/journals/10.1386/ctl_00101_1
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  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): citizenship; civic education; media; media literacy; school role; student attitudes

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