21st-Century Skills in Context: The Hong Kong School System

• In Event: 70.056 - Developing 21st-Century Skills for All Students: Results From the International Study of City Youth

Abstract

The objective of the paper is to examine the development of 21st century skills for 15-year-old students in the city of Hong Kong. Hong Kong’s education system has attracted international attention through its strong results in international standardised tests. Its system has also been described as having a relatively high level of equity between students, compared to other OECD countries (Jensen 2012, p. 2).

Hong Kong has undergone major educational reforms, commencing in the early 2000s and continuing to the present day. These reforms recognised that Hong Kong’s education system had become exam driven, with “little room to think, explore and create” (Education Commission 2000, p. 4). The reforms aimed to produce students “capable of life-long learning, critical and exploratory thinking, innovating and adapting to change; filled with self-confidence and a team spirit; willing to put forward continuing effort for the prosperity, progress, freedom and democracy of their society, and contribute to the future well-being of the nation and the world at large” (ibid.). These aims are reflected in the current Hong Kong curriculum, , Learning to Learn, which celebrates whole-child development, and offers “Other Learning Experiences” to develop a range of personal skills and attributes beyond core academic curriculum.

Another major recent reform to the Hong Kong system concerns the structure of senior secondary education. The former structure comprised a five-year junior secondary program (which most students completed) and a two-year senior secondary program (completed by about one-third of students). Changes phased in since 2006 have transformed this to a three-year junior secondary program, and a three-year senior secondary program, which it is expected that all students will complete (Hill & Wan 2006). This change creates new opportunities for schools to prepare students with the skills they need to succeed in their transitions to further study and life beyond school.

In 2013–2014, over 6,000 15-year-old students in 52 Hong Kong secondary schools took part in the International Study of City Youth (ISCY) baseline data collection. The paper will explore these students’ results on measures of 21st century skills within the ISCY Student Survey.

Preliminary analysis of the data using unweighted scales suggests that Hong Kong students scored somewhat lower than other ISCY cities on measures of certain 21st century skills, including problem solving, perspective taking and hope for the future. On the other hand, preliminary findings suggest that Hong Kong students scored more highly than other cities on measures of ethical citizenship, including altruism and a belief in the value of informed citizenship.

In late 2014 to early 2015, more detailed analysis of these results will be undertaken across the ISCY cities, using a range of measures derived from scaled instruments established through international literature. Results from this analysis will be presented in the paper, to shed light on the real achievements of Hong Kong senior secondary students on a range of 21st century skills, and the system-level factors that may contribute to these results in the Hong Kong context.

Author

• John Chi Kin Lee, The Hong Kong Institute of Education