Life Planning Vocational and Technical Educations and Secondary Schooling in the Context of Educational Reform and Socioeconomic Changes in Hong Kong

Chapter
First Online:
Part of the Education in the Asia-Pacific Region: Issues, Concerns and Prospects book series (EDAP, volume 41)

Abstract

Hong Kong has successfully implemented various education and curriculum reforms since 2000. Starting from 2009, the New Academic Structure with a new 6-year secondary (3-year junior secondary and 3-year senior secondary) curriculum and 4 years of undergraduate education has been launched. There was a review of the progress of senior secondary curriculum implementation which showed good progress and a gradual realization of the seven learning goals related to healthy lifestyle, breadth of knowledge, learning and language skills, reading habit, and national identity and responsibility. In May 2014, the Education Bureau (EDB) issued the document “Guide on Life Planning Education and Career Guidance for Secondary Schools” emphasizing that under holistic learning and lifelong education perspectives, students’ motivation on pursuing their career/academic pathway should be cultivated.

Concomitant with the education reform, there was a decline or ignorance of vocational and technical education in Hong Kong in past years, but recently the government established a “Task Force on Promotion of Vocational Education” to map out a strategy to raise the awareness and promote vocational education and training in Hong Kong.

Against this background, this chapter discusses how education reform has embedded and contextualized life planning and vocational and technical educations with the emerging socioeconomic changes in Hong Kong. It is argued that in senior secondary education, life planning education should not only focus on career planning and guidance but also embrace a comprehensive perspective linking life education and future-oriented approach promoting entrepreneurship and innovative spirit. For vocational and technical education, it needs to be repositioned not only focusing on vocational training but also highlighting the development of students’ generic and employment skills in knowledge-based society like Hong Kong.

Keywords

Life planning education Vocational and technical education Secondary schooling Hong Kong 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

The work described in this paper was supported by a grant from the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (Project No. HKIEd 843212), and the Education University of Hong Kong (the then Hong Kong Institute of Education). The authors thank Mr. Derek Chun and the Department of Curriculum and Instruction and the Education University of Hong Kong (the then Hong Kong Institute of Education) for supporting the preparation of this manuscript.

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Copyright information

© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2018

Authors and Affiliations

  • John Chi-Kin Lee
    • 1
  • Rupert Maclean
    • 2
  • Yang Lan Joy
    • 1
  1. 1.Department of Curriculum and InstructionThe Education University of Hong KongTai PoHong Kong SAR
  2. 2.Office of Applied Research and InnovationCollege of the North AtlanticDohaQatar

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