Cultural and arts education policies in Hong Kong: Two wings of the same bird?

Research output: ThesisDoctoral Theses

Abstract

Hong Kong has publicly declared its intention, via its cultural policy, of becoming an international cultural metropolis. This has been matched, on the part of its educational reforms, by a commitment aimed at ensuring that students are fully prepared to meet the multifarious work and life challenges of the future. Forming a potential bridge between the two sectors is arts education, formally recognised as fostering the necessary skills of appreciation, creativity and expression and of enriching the cultural literacy of individuals and society, thereby providing the soil, nutrition and impetus for cultural development. This study adopted the analogy of cultural policy and arts education policy as the two wings of the same bird which, when working in unison, have the power to yield rewards at both a sectoral and at a stakeholder level through the occurrence of mutually-beneficial synergies, in order to investigate the degree to which this was presently taking place. Via an ecological research perspective characterised by a focus on the layers of interconnectedness and interrelatedness among the various stakeholders within and across Hong Kong’s cultural and arts education sectors, the methodology drew on the salient features of both the “ecological worldview” and the “interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary” types to more fully understand perceptions as they related to the policies’ fundamental elements of “conceptualisation”, “communication” and “operationalisation”. As a means of answering the three research questions guiding the study, the data gathering and analysis stage was concerned with the collection of the relevant policy documentation, an online cultural and arts education policy questionnaire, and a series of semi-structured, in-depth interviews. The findings revealed that while evidence exists of a variety of intra- and inter-sectoral partnerships, this is not being matched by a strategic vision at a policymaking level that clearly demonstrates how such collaborations might lead to a fully developed, manageable and sustainable ecology. All rights reserved.
Original languageEnglish
QualificationDoctor of Education
Awarding Institution
  • The Education University of Hong Kong
Supervisors/Advisors
  • MATSUNOBU, Koji 松信浩二, Supervisor
  • LEUNG, Bo Wah 梁寶華, Supervisor
Award date19 Sept 2016
Publication statusPublished - 2016

Keywords

  • Culture -- Study and teaching -- Hong Kong
  • Arts -- Study and teaching -- Hong Kong
  • Cultural policy
  • Arts education policy
  • Synergies
  • Ecological research
  • Sustainability
  • Theses and Dissertations
  • Thesis (Ed.D.)--The Education University of Hong Kong, 2016

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