Promoting teachers’ multicultural competency and cultural responsiveness in Hong Kong schools

Abstract

Ninety-five per cent of Hong Kong’s population is Chinese, but 1.94% of the school population can be classified as ethnic minorities (School Education Statistics Section, Education Bureau [SESS, EDB], 2012). The percentage has been growing as a result of continuous immigration to Hong Kong. In 2001, there were 11,204 ethnic minority students under 15 years old enrolled in Hong Kong schools; by 2006, the number had grown by 20% or 13,472, and in 2007 there were 28,722 ethnic minority students studying full-time in educational institutions in Hong Kong (Census and Statistics Department, 2007). Between 2007 and 2012, the number of non-Chinese speaking students in secondary schools increased by 94.77%, from 3,272 to 6,373 (SESS, EDB, 2012). The majority of these students are among the lowest-achievers academically, come from low socio-economic backgrounds, and experience learning difficulties in the second languages of Chinese and English. In response to these changes, teachers in Hong Kong schools are increasingly concerned about issues of diversity and how to enhance their multicultural competency so as to better refine their skills and knowledge in creating culturally responsive classrooms and schools, although they recognize that the Chinese traditions and values of the macro-culture are the dominant influence on the education system. In the context of Hong Kong, little is known about how cultural responsiveness could be implemented in the classroom; and how teachers’ multicultural competency can be enhanced, though many studies into this area have been conducted in western societies. Specifically, it is unclear how local Chinese teachers made sense of cultural responsiveness and multicultural competency in the context of Hong Kong schools, and what practice they adopted for this purpose. This is the focus of this paper. It reported interview study in which 20 teachers from the schools where a large number of students with ethnic minority background are accommodated, with the use of narrative and personal experience approaches. It aims to examine how practicing teachers modify their teaching strategies to make their classroom responsive to students’ diverse needs, and what strategies they adopt to create a culturally responsive environment for students’ learning. The implication for the creation of culturally responsive classroom and the promotion of teachers’ multicultural responsiveness will be given.