This article analyses the youth social movements in Hong Kong employing 'conscientisation' popularized by Paulo Freire. It is argued that the youth, as historical beings, promote humanisation by seeking to effect structural changes with the help of the social media. However, the youth-led movements in Hong Kong differ from Freire's ideas in two…

This article discusses the use of critical and sociocultural approaches to more dynamically 'internationalise' higher education in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China. The article explores the integration of critical pedagogy and sociocultural learning theory in developing more engaging and rigorous education practices for…

We approach Hong Kong's Umbrella Movement, also known as Occupy Central, encountered in 2 days in November 2014 as an exemplar of literacy as placemaking. As a contemporary city-based resistance movement, the creation and subsequent resemiotisation of literacy artefacts were an important element of spatialised practice in asserting a new and…

This article presents classroom discourse analysis as a tool for critical teacher education. It argues that such analysis can raise awareness of how teachers live out their ethical commitments in classroom-level interactions, but needs to be carefully situated. Drawing on the author's research conducted while teaching junior secondary students in…

The global Occupy! actions gave some pause for thought. At first, some thought that this was a global movement that could change the way politics was conducted and maybe see the end of capitalism as we knew it. The hopes for Occupy! were high, but the highest hopes for the movement were short lived. This paper examines Occupy!'s legacy; what…

From the Americas to Asia, neoliberal policy restructuring continues to present major challenges to educational equity. In Hong Kong, teacher educators grapple with training students in pedagogy they believe in, versus the daily status quo of high-stakes exam prep, privatized "shadow education," and a system seemingly pushed to the brink…

Agency, understood as the capacity to act independently and to make one's own choices, is considered central to children's development. Thus, education, and hence education curricula, have a role in the development of learner agency. While curriculum development is a key focus for educational theory, research, policy, and classroom practice, the…

This research critically analyzes the study abroad experience of preservice teachers to better understand the potential as well as the challenges of preparing teachers for a diverse, global society. Drawing on critical analysis of both study abroad and preservice teacher education, and incorporating theories of globalization, we interrogate the…

As more media organizations have engaged in media education, this paper investigates the goals and practices of these activities. This article coins media education initiatives by media organizations with the term "media-organization media literac"y (MOML). Four MOML projects in Hong Kong were selected for examination. Built on critical…

This article presents a principal's story of social justice practice in a Hong Kong primary school. The narration accounts for the notion of social justice through his practice in various ways. Studying in a "rooftop" primary school located in a public housing area in Hong Kong was the principal's salient memory of his first year of…

Adopting Cummins' model of intervention for collaborative empowerment, this study reports on a transnational project that examines (1) the effectiveness of enhancing critical cultural awareness by engaging culturally diverse university students in online discussions and (2) students' perspectives on understanding different cultures through mass…

Drawing on insights from Communities of Practice and critical discourse theory, this study investigates how teacher identities are discursively constructed in course of teacher education and under the influence of social structure. The participants were seven Hong Kong and nine mainland Chinese pre-service teachers. Two focus group interviews and…

In this study, the voices of academics who use critical pedagogy in English language teaching have been brought together to shed light on how this practice transforms teaching and learning. Data were collected through semistructured interviews with academics from Canada, Hong Kong, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, United States, and…

In today's post-modern world of difference, and amidst globalising forces of insidious convergence, this paper explores how far the concepts of lifelong learning and learning society embrace international worldviews. It conducts a brief excursion into literature that has explored learning society models. It also looks at an increasing number of…

Describes the present adult education landscape in Hong Kong. Explores four scenarios for Hong Kong's future arising from positive and negative outcomes in the economy and human rights. Suggests that, ironically, returning Hong Kong to a Marxist state will jeopardize neo-Marxist (critical, emancipatory) approaches to adult education because of…