Perceptions and meanings of national identity and national education: Case studies of Hong Kong secondary school teachers

This study is about the perceptions of national identity of Hong Kong's secondary school teachers and their meanings of teaching of national education to their students. It analyzes in particular how do secondary school teachers perceive their national identity now, how did their perceptions on their national identity have developed since 1997, and how do they teach national education with regard to its aims, contents, teaching strategies and evaluation. The descriptions of perceptions and meanings of national identity and national education are investigated and analyzed. This research aims at enhancing original research by contributing to the understanding about perceptions of national identity and meanings of teaching of national education in Hong Kong. It also deepens academic understanding about the field of citizenship education in general, and the pedagogical practices of national education in particular. Using targets sampling with ten Hong Kong secondary school's civic or national education teachers, this study has employed multicase study research method (Stake, 2006) to yield qualitative findings on their perceptions of national identity and how do they teach national education, together with observations of school's national education programmes and analyzes on relevant school documents on national education. It is intended that this study will be of value to teachers, teachers' trainers, education policy makers, and researchers in education.