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

Since the resumption of sovereignty by China in 1997, national identification with China has been a priority in Hong Kong SAR government’s education policy agenda. Hong Kong has seen an increase of National Education programmes which aim at cultivating a Chinese national identity based on ethnic and cultural terms. This qualitative multiple-case study research attempts to explore the perceptions and teachings of national identity and National Education of 10 purposive samples of Hong Kong secondary school teachers. The findings reveal that underlying an increasing trend of Chinese national identification, there are different emphases in teachers’ perceptions on national identity in terms of ethnic, geographical, cultural, legal and civic terms. Furthermore, perceptions of teaching National Education exhibited different meanings, aims, contents, pedagogies and evaluation methods. Thus, this study argues for more relevant empirical studies on the complex, integrated and multi-layered conceptualization of perceptions and meanings on national identity and National Education by teachers. This study aims at contributing to scholarly understanding about perceptions of national identity and National Education of Hong Kong within citizenship education.