Cultural Issues of School Dropouts in Hong Kong

Despite the 150 years of British colonial governance in Hong Kong, Chinese collectivist culture continues to be a dominant source of influence in the learning context of students (Cheng, 1998; Salili, Lai and Leung, 2004; Tao and Hong, 2000), placing a great emphasis on education and effort (Salili and Lai, 2003). Education is viewed as the foremost means of socialization, by which children learn to adapt themselves to the expectations of the larger community (Cheng, 1998). The cultural value of expecting individuals to submit themselves to the collective explains the uniformity and conformity that characterize the family system and the education system of Hong Kong (Cheng, 1998; Liu, 2003). In this qualitative research-based paper, the authors will highlight how the cultural values of conformity and submission to parents and teachers play an important role in the school dropout phenomenon in Hong Kong. Findings indicate varying degrees of school disaffection among all the participating students. Conformity to normative values is shown to be an important cultural resource that facilitates the students' accommodation of the school system, including school attendance, in the face of the boring and stressful education system in Hong Kong. On the other end of the spectrum, students who don't conform to those values, often because of having diverse learning needs or values, are marginalized and socially excluded. The emphasis on uniformity and conformity maintains the status quo and dwarfs students' assertiveness in striving for a better system.