Restructuring Hong Kong's Schools

Abstract

Hong Kong, like many societies, is undertaking major restructuring of its school system. A close examination of the three main policies forming the backbone of the reform reveals a remarkable similarity to those introduced in the United States, Britain and Australia. Implementation of policy in this fashion raises important questions about its appropriateness to indigenous cultures. Even so, researchers working in the field of educational management have, to date, given relatively little attention to detailed analyses of the cultural matching of educational policy. This paper seeks to explore the appropriateness and synchrony between the policy reforms imported into Hong Kong and central features of its host culture. It draws upon Hofstede's cultural dimensions to provide a framework for identifying and matching the culture of Hong Kong in juxtaposition with other cultures.