The early experience of intercultural teacher education in Hong Kong

This paper draws conclusions from a pioneering project that has offered a systematic institute-school support scheme for the education of newly arrived students from mainland China (NAS) in six Hong Kong primary schools. It begins with an overview of the monocultural nature of Hong Kong education and its early experience in educating the NAS. An analysis of the project is then given, highlighting the way in which the six schools have responded to the challenges and opportunities for managing the diverse learning needs of the NAS, with particular emphasis on professional development for teachers. Finally, the project has served to clarify a future direction for teachers to facilitate their work in the intercultural classroom, with regard to the specific nature of Hong Kong. Copyright © 2004 Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business.