Teachers' stories of children coping with complex family situations when globalization and localization enmeshed

This presentation examines primary school children’s coping with difficult family situations in Hong Kong from the perspectives of teachers. How are children in Hong Kong coping with difficult familial situations such as divorce, remarriage, or family separation, which can induce discontinuities in their lives? Using four stories of children experiencing family change, as told by their primary school teachers/personnel, this presentation argues for employing the concept of hybridities (Bhabha 1994) in understanding the experiences of children in Hong Kong – a place where East meets West in culture and family relationships. The data in this study show that students from alternative family situations are facing new kinds of difficulties from the mixing of modern family forms and traditional family values. Children’s problems are hidden because of traditional stigma related to non-traditional families. Teachers tend to use traditional methods in the modern school system, such as feeding students out of their own pockets rather than securing sustained help from the school guidance system. Though teachers deeply care about their students, they are overloaded and overwhelmed. Implications of this study to teacher education, policy and counselling practice are discussed, together with the implications for other countries with similar issues and settings.