Copyright Warning Use of this thesis/dissertation/project is for the purpose of private study or scholarly research only. Users must comply with the Copyright Ordinance. Anyone who consults this thesis/dissertation/project is understood to recognise that its copyright rests with its author and that no part of it may be reproduced without the author’s prior written consent. 0 CITY UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG 香港城市大學 A study on the implementation of a positive youth development program (Project P.A.T.H.S.) for Secondary One ethnic minority students living in Hong Kong 香港少數族裔中一學童參與 青少年正面成長課程(「共創成長路」)之過程研究 Submitted to Department of Applied Social Studies 應用社會科學系 in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Philosophy 哲學碩士學位 by Wun King Fung, Keith 尹競風 July 2010 二零一零年七月 i Abstracts Project P.A.T.H.S. is a curricular-based program that attempts to promote positive youth development in Hong Kong. It is a universal program providing for junior secondary school students in the participating schools. With more than 30 evaluation studies carried by the Project P.A.T.H.S. research team, none has evaluated its impact on ethnic minority students living in Hong Kong. Counting for about 5% of the total population, non-Chinese are living in a rather disadvantaged position. An effective implementation of positive youth development program during their adolescence stage would surely help promote them a better life in Hong Kong. The aims of this study is to: 1) understand the expectations that S1 ethnic minority Hong Kong students have for a youth development program, 2) explore the effectiveness of Project P.A.T.H.S. as perceived by ethnic minority students, and 3) explore critical factors for successfully achieving the intended learning outcomes of Project P.A.T.H.S. It is a process evaluation study. Qualitative methods are adopted in which data was obtained through class observations (in three schools) and in-depth interviews (for twenty-two students) in 2007-2008 school year. Discussion is made on: 1) Ethnic minority students‟ expectation for youth development program, 2) effectiveness of Project P.A.T.H.S. as perceived by ethnic minority students (in terms of 5C: Connection, Competence, Confidence, Contribution and Character), and 3) People, Program, and Process as critical factors for effective program implementation. The limitations and recommendations of this study, together with suggestions for future research are pinpointed at the end of this paper. ii Acknowledgement There are many individuals and parties that I would like to give thanks for their contribution to my completion of this thesis. Firstly, I would like to thank my supervisor, Dr. Lee Tak Yan, for his full support and guidance during this long journey. I would also like to thank my panel members, Dr. Leung Kwan Kwok and Dr. Kam Ping Kwong, for their advices given throughout my study. Special thanks would be given to the three participating schools and twenty-two ethnic minority students (two of them are Chinese) participating in in-depth interviews. Without their genuine sharing, I would not have completed this thesis. Hope all of them would have a brighter future and wonderful life in Hong Kong. Lastly, the preparation for this study and Project P.A.T.H.S. were financially supported by the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust. iii Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Chapter 2: Literature Review 5 2.1 Positive youth development 5 2.1.1 Youth development 5 2.1.2 Deficit-based approach of youth development 7 2.1.3 Positive youth development approach 9 2.2. Positive youth development programs in Hong Kong 11 2.2.1 Background 11 2.2.2 P.A.T.H.S. to Adulthood: A Jockey Club Youth Enhancement Scheme 13 2.2.3 Theoretical framework of Project P.A.T.H.S. 15 2.2.4 Previous evaluation studies of Project P.A.T.H.S. 20 2.3 Ethnic minorities 25 2.3.1 Ethnic minorities in Hong Kong 25 2.3.2 Challenges 27 2.3.2.1 Developmental needs of all adolescents 28 2.3.2.2 Particular challenges for ethnic minority adolescents living in 30 Hong Kong 2.3.3 History and implications of ethnic minority studies in Hong Kong 37 2.4 Program evaluation 40 2.4.1 The need for qualitative process evaluation 41 2.4.2 Factors influencing the quality of program implementation 42 2.4.3 Process evaluation on S1 ethnic minorities S1 students participating 48 in Project P.A.T.H.S. Chapter 3: Conceptual Framework 51 3.1 Measurement of program effectiveness as perceived by program 51 participants 3.2 Factors influencing the quality of program implementation 53 3.3 Conceptual framework 55 iv Chapter 4: Methodology 58 4.1 Introduction 58 4.2 Research design 59 4.3 Participants 61 4.4 Sampling 63 4.4.1 Class observation 63 4.4.2 In-depth interviews 64 4.5 Data collection 65 4.5.1 Class observation 65 4.5.2 In-depth interviews 68 4.6 Data analysis 70 Chapter 5: Findings 72 5.1 Students‟ backgrounds for in-depth interviews 72 5.1.1 Gender and country of origin 73 5.1.2 Age 73 5.1.3 Length of residence in Hong Kong 74 5.1.4 Place of birth 74 5.1.5 Housing situation 75 5.1.6 Chinese-language proficiency 75 5.2 Family and social networking 76 5.2.1 Family networks 76 5.2.2 Social networks 82 5.3 Overall program fidelity of participating classes 85 5.4 Highlights of Class observation 87 5.4.1 Characteristics of School A 88 5.4.2 Characteristics of School B 92 5.4.3 Characteristics of School C 94 5.5 Ethnic minority Students‟ expectations of youth development programs 97 5.5.1 Students‟ impressions of Project P.A.T.H.S. 97 5.5.2 Students‟ expectations of youth development programs 101 5.5.2.1 Program curriculum 101 5.5.2.2 Teaching and learning method 103 5.5.2.3 Learning atmosphere 106 v 5.6 Impressive activities in Project P.A.T.H.S. 107 5.6.1 Most impressive topics 107 5.6.2 Most impressive activities 112 5.7 Instructors‟ characteristics as perceived by ethnic minority students 116 5.7.1 General positive characteristics 117 5.7.2 Specific positive characteristics 122 5.7.3 Negative characteristics as commented by students 126 5.7.4 Co-teaching 130 5.8 Positive and negative group experiences 133 5.8.1 Positive grouping experience 133 5.8.2 Negative grouping experience 137 5.8.3 Grouping preferences 138 5.8.4 Grouping experiences among Chinese and ethnic minority students 140 5.9 Positive changes after program implementation 144 5.9.1 Individual level 145 5.9.2 Interpersonal level 149 5.9.3 Family level 152 5.9.4 Societal level 155 Chapter 6: Discussion 156 6.1 Expectations of ethnic minority youth 158 6.1.1 Expectations of Program 159 6.1.2 Expectations of People 162 6.1.3 Expectations of Process 163 6.2 Effectiveness of Project P.A.T.H.S. as perceived by ethnic minority 165 students 167 6.2.1 Improvements in Connection 168 6.2.2 Improvements in Competence 169 6.2.3 Improvements in Confidence and Contribution 170 6.2.4 Impact on Character uncertain 6.3 Critical factors for effective implementation of Project P.A.T.H.S. 172 6.3.1 People 172 6.3.2 Program 178 6.3.3 Process 182 vi 6.3.4 Other factors: Place and Policy 187 Chapter 7: Summary and Conclusion 189 Bibliography 201 Appendix Appendix 1 Basic information of the observed classes 217 Appendix 2 Invitation letter to school 218 Appendix 3 Notes for school coordinator 220 Appendix 4 Information of students joining in-depth interviews 221 Appendix 5 Summary of class observation 225 Appendix 6 Guidelines for class observation 229 Appendix 7 Consent letter to parents 230 Appendix 8 Guidelines for in-depth interview 231 vii List of Tables Table 1: Gender and country of origin for students joining in-depth interviews 73 Table 2: Age of students 74 Table 3: Length of residence in Hong Kong 74 Table 4: Place of birth 75 Table 5: Housing situation 75 Table 6: Students‟ Chinese-language proficiency (by country of origin) 76 Table 7: Fidelity of program implementation 85 Table 8: Program fidelity of School B 87 viii List of Diagram Diagram 1: Conceptual framework in this study 56 1 Chapter 1 Introduction Recently in Hong Kong, a positive youth development program – P.A.T.H.S. to Adulthood: A Jockey Club Youth Enhancement Scheme – has been developed for junior secondary-school students (Shek, Ma & Merrick, 2007; Shek & Ma, 2007a). The acronym P.A.T.H.S. stands for Positive Adolescent Training through Holistic Social Programs. P.A.T.H.S. is for all secondary one (S1) to secondary three (S3) students in the participating schools. After 52 schools participated in the Experimental Implementation Phase (EIP) in the 2005-2006 school year, the Full Implementation Phase (FIP) was launched in 2006-2007, with 207 schools participating. The number of participating schools was gradually increased to 231 in 2009-2010. While the research team of Project P.A.T.H.S. has conducted around 30 evaluation studies in order to explore the effectiveness of the project, none has evaluated its impact on Hong Kong‟s Ethnic minority students. Among the 207 secondary schools that participated in the FIP in 2006-2007, five were designated schools for non- Chinese students.