Power Struggles in Hong Kong Schools Changing Technologies

Power Struggles in Hong Kong Schools Changing Technologies, Changing Teaching Practices? Lau Fai Kim Faculty of Education The University of Hong Kong

Background Information • CITE archival studies on using ICT in Hong Kong schools – Changing school culture: Using IT to cope with individual learning differences in schools (Dr. Lee Kar Tin, 28 March 2003) – Exploring teacher acceptance of e-learning technology (Dr. Allan Yuen, 16 June 2004)

Changing School Culture • It focuses on the use of information technology (IT) resources to explore and establish learning and teaching strategies for coping with individual differences in primary classrooms.

Overview of Curriculum Reform & Roles of IT in the Reform • A composite model including five constructs, namely, intention to use, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, subjective norm, and computer selfefficacy, were formed and tested in the empirical field environment. It was found that subjective norm and computer selfefficacy serve as the two significant perception anchors of the fundamental constructs, perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness in the TAM (Technology Acceptance Theory ).

Changing Technologies, Changing Teaching Practices? Power Struggles in Hong Kong Schools Bob Fox, James Henri, Lau Fai Kim Faculty of Education The University of Hong Kong

Changing Teachers Changing Times Starting points Technology is “a powerful educational tool that can play a catalyst role in the transformation of school education” (EMB, 1998, p. 1) A complex task – Australian experiences

Changing Teachers Changing Times Perceived roles • Knowledge providers not facilitators that can help students to become life-long learners • Teachers identified themselves as “small potatoes” not leaders - leadership - the role of the principal only • Teacher roles - “It is up to the principal to define the school’s vision and mission and to tell us of what direction he wants us to go” • Few felt they had ‘leaders’ who had a clear vision and understanding how to integrate IT into the curriculum

Michael Fullan’s inspiration • Fullan has been a prolific researcher about, and implementer of, change. We felt that his recent work (2001): Leading in a culture of change had the potential to provide us with a framework that might enable us to better understand our data.

Enthusiasm, Hope, Energy • Participants had enthusiasm and energy. • Evidence of hope was more problematic. • A minority indicated that principals understood the need for change, realized that harnessing new pedagogies to technology was important, and were moving forward. • The majority saw the inability of the principal to grapple with the change issues coupled with his/her big potato status to be critical impediments to change. • Hope was invested in the unlikely possibility that a new, enlightened principal could lead change.

What does this mean? • Framework provides lenses to better understand the obstacles that confront reformers and the diffusion of innovations in Hong Kong schools. • What becomes apparent - the world of the Hong Kong teacher is full of contradictions. • The reform movement is about matching the world trend to identify school as a place that equips students to learn how to learn and where students are equipped as life-long problem solvers. • But the reform has been top-down and has ignored the possibility that teachers themselves may not be equipped as independent decision makers. • Or perhaps the reform is only seen as possible if teachers are unquestioning of the reforms and adopt them because they are required so to do?

What does this mean? • The evidence from this study - these teachers, despite technical competence, are not equipped to lead. • They do not hold a consistent view about what it means to be a teacher, nor do they have the means to judge whether or not a new innovation compliments the existing culture. • Indeed teachers are aloof from such matters seeing them as the principal’s province. • Teachers do not therefore exhibit personal ownership of what happens at school or where school is going; that is someone else’s problem. • Teachers are very much orientated towards student success (as measured by examination results) and they will therefore rather blindly adopt any gimmick that may increase student motivation, and consequently, student success-even if only in the short term.

Main Concern • What are the underlying causes that makes teachers in Hong Kong less willing to change their teaching practices?

Power Struggle • Change of teaching practice and paradigm shift implies change of values. • The struggle between the principal and teachers • The struggle between existing values and the value of change

A Cultural Perspective POLITICAL – View of power View of leader EDUCATIONAL – Mission PSYCHOLOGICAL – Teacher Nation character CULTURE HISTORICAL – Fate of the nation PHILOSOPHICAL – Concept of Change

Philosophical Aspect • Idea of Change Ø Yi Jing [易經 ] Ø Buddhist Teachings • Relation with Hope Ø Change and Constant Ø Change brings Hope • Reality Ø Intended to keep constant Ø Less flexible when facing change Ø Expect leaders bring change and hope

Political Aspect • Concept of Power Ø Power helps you achieve whatever you like • Expectation of Leaders Ø Leaders should have some sort of charisma to lead the followers and are responsible for all aspects • The relationship Ø Teachers are looking for a [politically] charismatic leader, i. e. a principal with very clear vision and well-established abilities in all aspects

Historical Aspect • Fate of Nation Ø From “Dynasty of Haven” to sub-colony of other Western Powers • Introduction of Science and Democracy Ø Science and Technology – tools to rescue Ch’ing Dynasty and the whole nation Ø Such concept and attitude not weaker even in nowadays’ Hong Kong

Psychological Aspect • Impact of politics Ø Subordinates should looking for superiors’ instructions and guidance Ø Less involvement, less errors • Impact of historical development Ø Reject of Chinese culture – Strong sense of inferiority Ø Weak sense of history

Educational Aspect • Missions of Education Ø Change and improve current situations Ø Transmission of culture and nurture cultural identity Ø Long before the Era of Confucius • Two Streams Ø Official Education [官學] Ø Private Education [私學] • Teacher Ø Ø Should have the mission Should be highly respected Not fulfilling the role assigned Have been getting dim

Suggestion • Demand expect too much of teachers and principals because of the hidden forces (or drives) inside them. • We are undergoing a process of cultural disintegration and reorganization. • The fundamental task, perhaps the most difficult one, is to re-cultivate our cultural entity, mission of education, and the sense of history. • One of suggested research area is the relationship between Chinese officialdom (bureaucratic) culture and the idea and adoption of technology in education.

References • Bianco, L. (1967). Origins of the Chinese revolution 1915 -1949 [Translated from the French by Muriel Bell]. CA: Stanford University Press. • Elvin, M. (1973). The pattern of the Chinese past. CA: Stanford University Press. • Wright, M. C. (1957). The last stand of Chinese conservationism: The T’ung-Chich Restoration, 1862 -1874. CA: Stanford University Press.