Discourses of Gender in Hong Kong New Senior Secondary Liberal Studies: Implications for Policy Makers

• In Event: Roundtable Session 47
  In Roundtable Session: Liberal Studies and Citizenship Education: Hong Kong, Guatemala, New Zealand, and the United States

Abstract

This paper examines the gender components in the Hong Kong New Senior Secondary Liberal Studies (NSSLS) and evaluates whether the various discursive construction of gender converge to education of gender equity. Using Reisigl and Wodak (2009)’s discourse-historical approach to critical discourse analysis, the study analyzes the gender discourses in the Liberal Studies Curriculum and Assessment Guide (secondary 4-6) (2007). It is found that inconsistent and contradictory conceptions of gender are existent in the curriculum document. I therefore call upon policy makers to warn against the nuanced ways in which gender inequality can be implicitly embedded in curriculum documents. The study is the first empirical study that examines gender politics in secondary general education in Hong Kong.

Author

• Yiqi Liu, The University of Hong Kong