The attitudes of Hong Kong’s minoritized communities to the recent social movement and the implications for education

Hong Kong (HK) experienced both peaceful and violent protests since June 2019 due to a proposed extradition bill which would have allowed transfer of suspected criminals to the jurisdictions including Mainland China, with which HK does not have an extradition arrangement. In the face of strong social movements, the bill was withdrawn. This paper investigates the attitudes of minoritized communities towards the social movements in HK where they constitute 8% of total population. The implications of their attitudes for citizenship education are also explored given that citizenship education emphasizes a need for integrating different perspectives together in meeting the challenges of today’s globalized world which is characterized by many tensions between freedom and order, diversity and uniformity, localization and globalization. Drawing on ‘critical discourse analysis (CDA)’ as an analytical framework, this qualitative research conducted in-depth interviews with minoritised community leaders and individuals. A total of 25 participants from five minority ethnic groups including Bangladeshis, Filipinos, Indians, Nepalese, and Pakistanis participated in the study. The study found multiple views towards the protests within the minoritised communities, participants’ changing attitudes, and intergenerational differences in attitudes. The findings suggest several priorities for citizenship education including developing students’ understanding of civic institutions to make judgments about disagreement and contestations in the community; developing students’ critical thinking skills to understand conflicting points of views and how to respond to them; and making students aware of civic values such as tolerance, respect for others’ opinions, constructive discussion and engagement etc. Copyright © 2021 ACEC.