Journal of Southeast Asian Education
2002, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 99 - 114
Parents’ Beliefs and Practices in Education in
Confucian Heritage Cultures: The Hong Kong
Case
Chi-Chung LAM, Esther Sui Chu HO, and Ngai-Ying WONG
School of Education, The Chinese University o f Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong
Kong SAR, China.
A BSTR AC T
Since the mid-eighties, the revelation o f the “success” of Confucian
Heritage Culture (CHC) education has shaken the world. The academic
success of CHC students has been attributed, at least partially, to the efforts
parent put into their children’s learning and how much these parents value
education. In this paper, the authors report three studies conducted in Hong
Kong on parental beliefs and practices towards their children’s education.
These studies, in combination, paint a clearer picture o f how parents in
Hong Kong, a CHC area, view formal education and extracurricular
activities, their involvement in learning activities at home, and their
willingness to be involved in extracurricular activities in school. It was
found that (a) schools are respected, (b) parents have a high sense of
responsibility in their children’s education and they are willing to sacrifice
for their children’s education, (c) the success of education is attributed
heavily to their children’s persistence and effort, and (d) parents see a
clear-cut division of responsibility and work between schools and parents.
INTRODUCTION
Enhancing quality o f education is a major concern in many
countries. Researchers in numerous places have shown that
parents’ beliefs and parental involvement in students’ learning
have a significant impact on students’ cognitive, psychological
and social developments (see, for example, Okagaki & Sternberg,
1993). A number of large scale studies from the United States, the
United Kingdom, other European countries, and Hong Kong have
demonstrated that promoting parental involvement at home or in
school has significant benefits in enhancing student achievement,
reducing absenteeism and drop out rates, and improving
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CHI-CHUNG LAM, ESTHER SUI CHU HO, AND NGAI-Y1NG WONG
homework habits (Astone & McLanahan, 1991; Brown, 1995;
Epstein, 1987, Epstein & Lee, 1995; Ho, 2000; Ho & Willms,
1996; Muller, 1993; Stevenson & Baker, 1987; Wolfendale, 1989).
In the mid-eighties, the revelation of the “success” of the
Confucian Heritage Culture (CHC) education shook the world.
The cover story, ‘The New Whiz Kids’ which appeared in Time
magazine (Brand, 1987) could have been the first to bring this
phenomenon to the notice of the public, sociologists and
educationalists. The article also deliberately drew a distinction
between the Confucian and the Buddhist traditions among various
Asian cultures, and argued that “immigrants from Asian countries
with the strongest Confucian influence - Japan, Korea, China and
Vietnam - perform best. By comparison, Laotians and
Cambodians, who do somewhat less well, have a gentler,
Buddhist approach to life” (p. 45).
Academic success among CHC students has been attributed, at
least partially, to efforts parents put into their children’s learning
and how much these parents value education (Coleman, 1987;
Lee, 1996; Stevenson & Stigler, 1992). Social achievement
orientation, diligence and attributing success to effort are often
identified as some o f the cultural traits among CHC learners and
their parents for their excellent performance in schooling (Bond,
1996; Bond & Hwang, 1986; Ho, 1986; Lee, 1996). It has also
been shown that Asian immigrant parents value school education
highly and pay much attention to their children’s education. Some
attribute the better performance o f Asian children in American
schools to this (see, for example, Coleman, 1987; Epstein &
Dauber, 1991).
To date, there have not been any systematic studies of parents’
attitudes towards education in the CHC regions. In this paper, the
authors will report three studies on parental beliefs and practices
towards their children’s education. These studies were conducted
in Hong Kong, a special administration region o f China with over
95% of its population o f Chinese origin and influenced by
Confucian tradition. The three studies reported in this paper, in
combination, paint a clearer picture of how parents in Hong Kong
view formal education and extracurricular activities, their
involvement in learning activities at home, and their willingness
to be involved in extracurricular activities in school.
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CONFUCIAN HERITAGE CULTURES: THE HONG KONG CASE
PARENTAL B ELIEFS A N D IN V O LV EM EN T
The importance o f parental beliefs and involvement in children’s
education has been well documented. In summing up two decades
of social and educational research on parental beliefs and
involvement, Epstein and Dauber (1991) pointed out that “There
is consistent evidence that parents’ encouragement, activities,
interest at home and their participation at school affect their
children’s achievement, even after the students’ ability and family
socioeconomic status is taken into account” (p.262). In addition, a
number of recent studies have found that parental involvement
can improve not only the quality o f student learning at the
individual level, but also reduce the achievement gap between
students from different social origins (Brown, 1995; Ho &
Willms, 1996).
However, the meaning o f parental involvement varies among
researchers and educators. In Western countries, parental
involvement usually entails getting parents involved in school as
custodians or volunteers (Brown, 1995; Michael, 1990; Morrison,
1978). In the CHC regions, the locus of involvement shifts from
volunteering in school to participation at home. Moreover, under
the current global decentralization reform movement, parental
participation in school governance has also been taking hold in
England, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, France, Italy, the
United States, Canada, Singapore and Hong Kong (Beattie, 1985;
Brown, 1995).
In brief, as Ho and Willms (1996) put it, parental involvement
is a multidimensional construct. According to H o’s recent study
(1998), this construct can be subdivided into three dimensions viz.
involvement in (a) school governance and policy setting, (b)
school-based work such as volunteering in school extracurricular
activities and (c) home-based work such as helping children to
finish homework.
The concept of parental beliefs is also multifarious. A review
o f literature (Hess, Chang & McDevitt, 1987; Hoover-Dempsey &
Sandler; 1995, Okagaki & Steinberg, 1993) shows parents’ beliefs
on education include at least the following dimensions:
• Attribution o f success: motivation of children, persistence,
effort
• Willingness to contribute (sacrifice) for children’s
education
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CHI-CHUNG LAM, ESTHER SUI CHU HO, AND NGAI-Y1NG WONG
• Self-efficacy o f one’s effort on helping children to learn
• Sense o f responsibility
• The importance of school education and achievement
In fact, CHC has its particular educational environment quite
different from that of the West. For instance, it was found that
modern Chinese parents place great emphasis on the achievement
o f their children (Ho, 1986). In what follows, we would focus our
attention on parental beliefs in education in CHC regions.
PARENTAL B E LIE FS IN ED U CA TIO N IN CH C REG IO N
It is asserted that “the unifying intellectual philosophy in the
Chinese ‘great tradition’ is Confucianism” (Yu, 1996: 231) and it
is argued that Confucianism is “congruent with the cultural
system o f traditional China, basically an agrarian state (Stover,
1974). This agricultural economy tied the vast majority o f the
population to the land and its constraints, supporting the peasants
at only a subsistence level” (Bond & Hwang, 1986: 215). Thus
Confucian philosophy has shaped the mode of life o f the Chinese
people for over two thousand years and it has been influencing
neighbouring regions such as Japan, Korea and Singapore.
Though there has been ups and downs o f Confucianism across
the dynasties, and also innovations and blending with other
cultures too (such as Taoism and Buddhism - see, for example,
Fromm, 1960), we can still treat the term ‘Confucius Heritage
Culture’ loosely and take it as a connotation describing the
traditional culture which has been largely influenced by the
thinking of Confucius and his disciples (Wong, 1998).
Lee (1996) gave a detailed description of the conception of
education in the Confucian tradition with the following major
themes:
• The significance o f education: “The significance of
education stands out in the Confucian tradition. Education
is perceived as important not only for personal
improvement but also for societal development.” (p. 26)
• Continuous development: Education is seen as the road to
developing one’s fullest potential and also to help construct
a good society.
• Educability fo r all and perfectability fo r all: Confucius
sees all are educable and it is one’s incentive and attitude
PARENTS’ BELIEFS AND PRACTICES IN EDUCATION IN
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CONFUCIAN HERITAGE CULTURES: THE HONG KONG CASE
towards learning rather than prior knowledge which
inhibits learning.
•
Learning effort and will power: Effort and will power are
seen as the most important attributes of successful learning.
He concluded with the words o f Xunzi, a disciple o f Confucius,
that “effort constituted the art to study, and paying effort
manifested the quality of the human.” (Lee, 1996: 32)
LeVine and White (1986: 110-111) also summed up the
characteristics o f educational mobilisation in Japan, another
country strongly influenced by the Confucian culture. These
characteristics include “A high degree of parental involvement
and commitment to the education o f children; a basic eagerness to
learn and positive attitude toward school on the part of children;
high status for teachers and a strong commitment on their part to
teaching and to involvement in their students’ overall
development; the premise of egalitarian access to the rewards of
successful learning; the assumption that it is effort rather than
innate ability which yields rewards in schooling; and the
occupational system values education as appropriate preparation
for work” (Lee, 1996: 39).
The following three empirical studies done by the authors in
Hong Kong provide us with a clearer picture of parents’ beliefs
and practices in education in the CHC context.
T H R E E E M PIR IC A L STU D IES IN TH E H O N G K O N G
CONTEXT
Study 1. Research on parent’s view of their role in children’s
education 1
Data for this study were collected as part o f a larger project, which
studied the homc-school collaboration in Hong Kong’s primary
and secondary schools. The study was conducted in 1997.
Questionnaires were sent to a sample of 18 primary and secondary
schools that were selected to include schools with heterogeneous
student background. A total o f 2437 students and their parents
from Grade 1 to Grade 9 were requested to complete the
questionnaire, which included the dimensions of parent’s role in
1 The research was commissioned to the second author by the Home-School Co­
operation Committee of the Education Department of Hong Kong.
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CHI-CHUNG LAM, ESTHER SUI CHU HO, AND NGAI-YING WONG
school governance, parent’s role in school-based involvement and
parent’s role in home-based involvement.
For the ten questions on school governance (Table 1), parents
tended to take a quite passive role. A majority o f parents preferred
to be informed or only be consulted in most o f the school
governance issues. They tended not to take the role o f ‘decision
m aker’. For school-based involvement, parents took a more
positive attitude towards their rights and responsibilities in joining
school Parents and Teachers Association, volunteering or
participating in school activities.
Table 1. Parents’ expectations of their involvement in school governance
School affairs
Open new subjects
(e.g. sex education,
civic education)
Class allocation (e.g.
streaming or mixed
class)
Medium of
instruction (e.g.
Mother tongue)
Discipline policy
(e.g.
encouragement
and punishment
system)
Appoint teachers and
administrative staff
Join school council
board
Class arrangement
(e.g. full-day or
half-day)
Arrange
extracurricular (e.g.
talks or picnics)
Student affairs (e.g.
snack shop, school
bus)
Parents and Teachers
Association policy
Expected involvement
Mean
SD
Nonparticipati
on
Being
Informed
Consultation
Decision
making
17.5%
37.1%
36.0%
9.4%
2.37
0.88
15.3%
32.2%
38.7%
13.8%
2.51
0.91
14.2%
27.0%
43.9%
14.9%
2.60
0.91
14.4%
40.5%
33.0%
12.1%
2.43
0.88
38.7%
38.7%
16.9%
5.7%
1.90
0.88
50.9%
32.0%
13.6%
3.4%
1.70
0.83
15.5%
34.6%
36.9%
13.0%
2.47
0.91
13.9%
43.2%
30.8%
12.1%
2.41
0.87
21.9%
35.6%
33.1%
9.4%
2.30
0.91
22.1%
33.9%
30.5%
13.5%
2.35
0.97
PARENTS’ BELIEFS AND PRACTICES IN EDUCATION IN
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CONFUCIAN HERITAGE CULTURES: THE HONG KONG CASE
For the home-based involvement issues, as shown in Table 2, a
majority of parents in this study strongly agreed that they should
have the basic rights and responsibilities for their own children.
They agreed that they have the basic obligation to the following:
understand their own children, help their own children in solving
learning, emotional and social problems, communicate with their
children and the children’s school, discuss with their children
about future planning, and provide a quiet environment for
children’s learning.
Table 2. Parents’ beliefs in their involvement in home-based and school based
activities
Know what happens to the child
in school
Help child to solve problems in
studies
Help child to solve problems in
making friends
Help child to solve problems or
emotional disturbances
Sparc time to talk with child
Actively communicate with
school
School should initiate the
communication with parents
School should encourage parents*
participation
Take voluntary duties in school
Has the right to join Parents and
Teachers Association
Has the responsibility to join
Parents and Tcachers
Association
Has right to join activities for
parents
Has responsibility to join
activities for parents
Arrange silent learning
environment for child
Discuss future study plan with
child
Teach child how to face different
people and things in daily life
Response to the question “Do you agree
that parents should have the rights and
responsibilities listed below?”
Strongly Agree Disagree
Strong
agree
Disagree
0.2%
57.4%
40.9%
1.5%
Mean
SD
3.55
0.54
47.3%
49.9%
2.3%
0.5%
3.44
0.57
41.1%
54.3%
4.2%
0.4%
3.36
0.58
44.7%
52.2%
2.8%
0.3%
3.41
0.56
41.4%
27.1%
53.7%
62.9%
4.3%
9.1%
0.7%
1.0%
3.36
3.16
0.60
0.61
38.3%
56.5%
4.6%
0.6%
3.33
0.59
22.3%
67.7%
8.9%
1.0%
3.11
0.58
12.8%
20.3%
61.3%
70.7%
23.9%
8.1%
2.1%
1.0%
2.85
3.10
0.65
0.56
17.6%
67.8%
13.7%
0.8%
3.02
0.59
22.5%
71.7%
5.3%
0.6%
3.16
0.52
20.9%
67.2%
11.2%
0.8%
3.08
0.59
51.2%
47.1%
1.2%
0.5%
3.49
0.55
50.1%
48.2%
1.5%
0.2%
3.48
0.54
58.6%
40.0%
1.1%
0.2%
3.57
0.53
Rated on a 4 point scale (I is strongly disagree; 4 is strongly agree)
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CHI-CHUNG LAM, ESTHER SUI CHU HO, AND NGA1-YING WONG
Study 2. Research on parents’ views of the mathematics
curriculum 2
As in many regions, mathematics constitutes a core part of the
Hong Kong school curriculum. A pass in the public examination
taken at Grade 11 is a prerequisite for entrance to the university.
In order to solicit the parents’ views of the mathematics
curriculum, a questionnaire was administered among 2747, 2687
and 1019 parents o f respectively Grade 3, Grade 6 and Grade 9
students in Hong Kong in 1998. The sample was randomly
selected.
Results revealed that, in general, parents had a high regard for
mathematics. From the results shown in Table 3, it was found that
they strongly agreed that mathematics is significant to their
children’s climbing up the education and social ladder. Their
views on the curriculum were also positive. Parents possessed a
traditional view on the learning o f mathematics. Academic
success is attributed to paying effort, consistent with what is
found in literature (Hau & Salili, 1991; 1996). Parents strongly
thought that practice makes perfect and memorization was seen as
important in their children’s mathematics learning too.
Table 3. Parents’ beliefs in mathematics education
Question
Mathematics is significant to their children’s climbing
up of educational ladder
Academic success is attributed to paying effort
Practice can make perfect
Good memory is important to mathematics learning
Grade 3 Grade 6 Grade 9
Mean score
4.72
4.75
4.69
4.37
5.19
4.96
4.32
5.06
4.67
4.23
4.85
4.37
Rated on a 6 point scale (1 is strongly disagree; 6 is strongly agree)
A considerable proportion o f the parents devoted time in helping
their children at home or referred children to elder siblings when
difficulty was encountered (Table 4). Around 30% o f the parents
referred their children’s problems to their private tutors/tutorial
classes.
2 The
research was commissioned to a research team headed by the third author by
the Education Department of Hong Kong.
PARENTS’ BELIEFS AND PRACTICES IN EDUCATION IN
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CONFUCIAN HERITAGE CULTURES: THE HONG KONG CASE
Table 4. Helping behaviour o f parents
Question
Would devote time in helping their children
W ould refer their children to private tutors
Grade 3
66.1%
23.3%
Grade 6 Grade 9
42.5%
25.3%
33.2% 26.8%
Study 3. Research on parents’ views on extracurricular
activities 3
Extracurricular activities are part o f the school curriculum in
Hong Kong (Hong Kong Education Department, 1996). School
teachers bear the responsibilities o f coordinating extracurricular
activities in schools. In most primary and secondary schools, there
are around 30 extracurricular clubs (Hong Kong Extracurricular
Activities Coordinators Association, 1994; Wong & Fung, 1993).
A questionnaire survey on the parents’ view and attitude was
conducted in 1996 with a random sampling of 40 out o f a
population of 800 primary schools and 60 out of a population o f
400 secondary schools. A total o f 3453 parents comprising 1285
parents o f upper primary school students (Grades 4, 5 and 6), 978
parents o f junior secondary school students (Grades 7, 8 and 9)
and 1190 parents o f secondary school students (Grades 10 and 11)
responded.
Results from the survey consistently showed that the parents
held a very positive view towards extracurricular activities
organised by schools. Parents were satisfied with the
extracurricular activities organised by schools. Over 80% (82.9%,
83.5% and 81.8% for primary, junior secondary and senior
secondary respectively) o f the respondents reflected that the
school provided adequate quantity of activities for their children.
And over 70% (73.1%, 74.7% and 74.6% for primary, junior
secondary and senior secondary respectively) agreed that the
number o f choices was enough.
Parents preferred their children to take part in the
extracurricular activities organised by schools rather than those
organised by outside bodies. Schools outbid youth centres,
charitable organisations and other bodies in earning the trust of
the parents in encouraging their children’s participation in
activities. Furthermore, on the average, most parents (89.4%,
79.4% and 74% for primary, junior secondary and senior
secondary respectively) were willing to pay for their children’s
1 The research was commissioned to the first and third author by the Home-School
Cooperation Committee of the Education Department of Hong Kong.
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CHI-CHUNG LAM, ESTHER SUI CHU HO, AND NGAI-YING WONG
extracurricular activities in schools and among those who were
willing to pay, the majority chose the option of ‘less than HK$50’
while about the same percentage chose ‘HK$50-HK$100\ A
considerable percentage o f parents showed their willingness in
sparing their time to organise extracurricular activities in schools
and the percentage increased from 24.2 % for primary to 50.1%
for senior secondary (44.2% for junior secondary). In sum, parents
generally supported extracurricular activities in schools.
D ISC U SSIO N
If the findings of the three studies reported in this paper are put
together, one can construct a fairly complete picture o f Hong
Kong parents’ beliefs and practices in education. These can be
grouped into the following themes: (a) Schools are respected, (b)
Parents have a high sense o f responsibility in their children’s
education and they are willing to sacrifice for children’s
education, (c) The success of education is attributed heavily to
their children’s persistence and effort, and (d) Parents see a clearcut division of responsibility and work between schools and
parents.
Firstly, schools are respected. All the three studies reported in
this paper indicate that parents were satisfied with the work o f the
schools and they had confidence in the schools. This is
particularly obvious in the area o f extracurricular activities.
Parents had much higher confidence in extracurricular activities
organised by the schools than by external bodies.
Secondly, parents have a high sense of responsibility in their
children’s education and they are willing to sacrifice for their
children’s education. The mathematics and extracurricular studies
reveal clearly that parents were willing to take up the
responsibility of helping their children. Parents, in particular those
o f primary school students, spent much time helping their
children. This figure must be read in the context that a very high
percentage of parents were working parents and many parents
have long working hours. Asking them to spare time to help their
children’s work is a very demanding task indeed. Parents’
commitment to the non-formal curriculum was also high. Though
they were not so willing to spend time to help with the
organisation of extracurricular activities, they were prepared to
pay extra cost for their children’s extracurricular activities.
PARENTS’ BELIEFS AND PRACTICES IN EDUCATION IN
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CONFUCIAN HERITAGE CULTURES: THE HONG KONG CASE
Thirdly, the success o f education is attributed heavily to
children’s persistence and effort. This is reflected in parents’ view
on why students failed in mathematics and the strategies that they
adopted to help children to improve.
Finally, parents see a clear-cut division of responsibility and
work between schools and parents. Although parents were willing
and did take up the responsibility o f helping children to do homebased activities, parents in Flong Kong preferred leaving the
school-based activities and the school administration to the
teachers and the school administrators.
As Coleman (1987) argues, parents’ positive attitudes towards
education and school could be a very strong asset. The studies
reported here further suggest that parents are willing to contribute
and help with the education o f their children. In places like Hong
Kong, which is working very hard to enhance the quality of
school education and schools are short o f resources, we believe
that we should explore ways to utilize parents’ positive attitudes
and willingness to share the burden o f education.
There are numerous possibilities. For instance, parents may be
asked voluntarily to contribute
financial support for
extracurricular activities in schools. However, every means should
be used to safeguard equity. Parents need to gain a better
understanding of the process o f learning too. If they just rely on
drilling when helping their children at home, the desirable result
would not be achieved. Thus communication and cooperation
between school and parents are essential.
In this light, parents and schools should find the best way to
share their work. The authors’ findings of parents’ views in their
role in school governance are consistent with many previous
home school studies (Ho & Willms, 1996; McKenna & Willms,
1998). Parents tended to trust schools and take a passive role in
school governance. In a Canadian study, Brown (1995) found that
some Asian immigrant parents felt uncomfortable participating in
children’s school activities and school governance. In another
study, Ho and Willms (1996) found a similar pattern o f parental
involvement in the United States. Ho (1998) appropriated
Bourdieu’s concept of “habitus” to explain the cultural difference
o f parent’s belief and their involvement (Bourdieu, 1977). Ho
(1998) argued that Asian parents did not have the tradition or
“habit” of school-based involvement in their hometown. Some
parents said they had never visited their children’s schools and did
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CHI-CHUNG LAM, ESTHER SUI CHU HO, AND NGAI-YING WONG
not have the experience to help in school activities. Moreover,
they believed that school governance was within the teachers’
professional autonomy. They trusted and respected schools to
make decisions in those areas. They generally had a clear division
o f work with teachers and did not consider that they should have
the right or responsibility to participate in school governance (Ho,
1998).
These findings are consistent with Coleman’s finding of the
Asian immigrant parents in the United States (Coleman, 1987).
He argued that Asian parents place high value on education and
they have great expectations of their children’s learning. Coleman
explained how the belief and effort of Asian parents helped to
enhance the academic success o f Asian immigrant students in the
United States with the notion o f ‘social capital. He warned that it
is the erosion of social capital in most American families that
influenced the academic performance of American students in the
current international academic evaluation. Therefore, parental
trust and respect of schoolteachers and their active involvement to
assist their children at home can be seen as the strength o f parents
with CHC.
However, Henderson (1988) argued that although home-based
involvement has considerable impact on students’ learning, it is
the school-based involvement that can improve the overall school
quality. Based on the analysis of a national study on the United
States (NELS, 1988), Ho and Willms (1996) proposed that homebased involvement has the greatest effect in improving student’s
academic performance at the student level. Yet, school
participation such as volunteering in the classroom and
participating in Parent-Teacher Associations has significant
impact on improving equality within the school, that is, in
reducing the achievement gap between students with high and low
socio-economic status.
Moreover, parental involvement at the individual level at home
might increase the academic segregation among students from
different social origins. Schooling systems are highly segregated
in CHC places such as Hong Kong, Mainland China and
Singapore because o f the streaming schemes practiced in these
areas. A recent school effectiveness study conducted in Hong
Kong found that both academic and social segregation indexes of
schooling system in Hong Kong and Singapore were much greater
than those o f the United States and Canada (Lo, Tsang, Chung,
PARENTS’ BELIEFS AND PRACTICES IN EDUCATION IN
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CONFUCIAN HERITAGE CULTURES: THE HONG KONG CASE
Sze, Ho & Ho, 1998). One o f the possible reasons is that these
schools are not only segregated by academic achievement but also
by social class. As a result, different schools have different
student inputs with different amounts of parental involvement and
investment at home. One o f the solutions to reduce this
segregation is to promote parental involvement in school because
school-based involvement can mobilize extra resources for all
students in school and not only just for the individual student (Ho
& Willms, 1996). Another elaboration given by Brown (1995)
was that school volunteerism can nurture the “caring norm” and
“learning norm” within the Canadian schooling system and that,
in turn, contributed to improving the overall school climate for
student learning. Therefore, parents’ passive disposition toward
school-based involvement in Hong Kong might be a major barrier
to improving school quality and equality in schooling system in
the CHC places, and that should be under scrutiny in future
studies.
In summary, findings from the studies reported in the paper
supported that parents and teachers are not natural enemies under
the “Confucian Heritage Culture”. Parents in Hong Kong respect
and trust schoolteachers. Parents generally are very cooperative
with teachers. However, CHC parents do not have the “habitus” to
participate in school volunteering. We also found that a majority
o f Hong Kong parents were not ready to take the role of “decision
makers”. They tend to restrict their involvement to the home
because that made both parents and teachers feel most
comfortable (Pang, 1997; Shen, Pang, Tsoi, Yip, & Yung, 1994).
It could be argued tentatively that there is “teacher territory” and
“parent territory” in the CHC. Most parents believe that
management and leadership of schools affairs should rest with the
teachers. Parents would like to be “distant assistants”. This can be
seen as a strength as well as a weakness. The importance of
“school-based participation” has been underestimated greatly as
an aspect of parental involvement in the CHC places.
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CHI-CHUNG LAM, ESTHER SUI CHU HO, AND NGA1-YING WONG
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