Beyond the classroom: Connecting home and school for ethnic minority students

Many schools are concerned with the growing number of ethnic minority students in Hong Kong. It is asserted that they have academic, personal and social difficulties. When such students are enrolled into Hong Kong schools, how the school caters for the diversity of students' needs becomes very critical. The paper examines how teachers and students construct the identity and learning needs of ethnic minority students, who came from India, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Thailand. The qualitative data were collected from interview, through which the views of twenty-four students and twenty-four teachers from three secondary schools were explored. Also, three focus group interviews for 15 parents were conducted. It showed that the behaviour and needs of Chinese and non-Chinese students and their parents were constructed differently, in terms of social behaviour, cultural practices, gender identities, languages, and educational aspiration, and that the school, home and community were disconnected. This paper argues that to implement the ethos of caring, it is not only necessary for the school and government to develop culturally responsive approaches to catering for the needs of students, but equally important to develop a connected schooling ecology where ethnic minority students and parents can be consistently supported in classroom, in school, at home and in community.