Curriculum Development and Identity in Hong Kong Education
Summary
Curriculum development in Hong Kong has long been shaped by the city’s unique colonial legacy, its return to Chinese sovereignty, and ongoing debates over local and national identity. From the syllabus revisions of the 1990s to the introduction of Moral and National Education and the recent focus on civic awareness, policymakers and educators have negotiated complex tensions between globalisation, cultural heritage and political imperatives. Central to this process is a commitment to bilingual literacy in Cantonese and English alongside growing emphasis on Putonghua, the mother tongue of mainland China. Across disciplines—especially in humanities, social sciences and citizenship education—curricular content has been a site for articulating notions of local distinctiveness, national belonging and global citizenship. Teachers navigate shifting policy frameworks while students negotiate their own identities in an education system that must reconcile international competitiveness with a sense of place. Recent reforms have sought to integrate critical thinking and inquiry-based learning, foster greater student agency and balance local history with national narratives. This evolving curriculum landscape both reflects and shapes how young people in Hong Kong understand their past, engage with current social changes and envisage their roles in a broader Chinese polity and the global community.
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Technical terms
Curriculum development: The systematic design, implementation and evaluation of educational programmes and materials.
Identity formation: The process by which students develop a sense of personal, cultural and civic self under educational influences.
Moral and National Education (MNE): A policy initiative aimed at fostering ethical reasoning, national awareness and civic responsibility among students.
Bilingual education: Instructional models in which two languages—commonly Cantonese and English, with increasing Putonghua—are used as media of teaching and learning.
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