SCHOOL CHOICE-MAKING, MOTHERS’ INVOLVEMENT IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATION AND SOCIAL REPRODUCTION IN THE EDUCATION MARKET IN HONG KONG A thesis submitted to The University of Manchester for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Humanities 2012 OI-YEUNG LAM SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS 2 LIST OF MAPS AND TABLES 5 ABSTRACT 6 DECLARATION 7 COPYRIGHT STATEMENT 8 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 9 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 10 CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 12 The social and policy context 14 Applying cultural capital theory to the local context 17 Key empirical findings 23 Conclusion 28 CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 30 Introduction 30 Understanding class disadvantage in education in 33 Hong Kong Cultural capital theory 38 Cultural capital theory: Critical perspectives 41 Towards a contextualized understanding of cultural 44 capital Cultural capital in school choice-making 48 Cultural capital in routine educational involvement 55 Gendering cultural capital processes 61 Conclusion 65 CHAPTER THREE METHODOLOGY 67 2 Introduction 67 A qualitative approach to the research question 69 Sampling strategy and the sampled mothers 72 Conducting the interviews 79 Data analysis 86 Conclusion 93 CHAPTER FOUR CONTEXT OF RESEARCH 96 Introduction 96 Education in Hong Kong 98 The distinctive institutional context of Hong Kong 105 schooling Education ethos and mothers’ educational 111 involvement ‘Ethnicity’ in Hong Kong 117 Educational disadvantage in an ‘ethnicized’ context 122 Conclusion 128 CHAPTER FIVE SECONDARY SCHOOL CHOICE-MAKING 130 Introduction 130 Setting foot in the field 132 Horizons of choice 138 Working at choice and making ambitious choices 145 Conclusion 154 CHAPTER SIX ROUTINE EDUCATIONAL INVOLVEMENT 157 Introduction 157 Aspirations 160 Routine educational involvement 166 Emotional labour in cultural capital processes 172 Extracurricular activities arrangement 178 3 Conclusion 185 CHAPTER SEVEN GENDERING EDUCATIONAL PRACTICES 188 Introduction 188 Negotiation of paid work and motherhood 190 Gender division of educational labour 198 Mothers’ networking activities 205 Conclusion 214 CHAPTER EIGHT CONCLUSION 216 Persistent class differentials and education reforms 218 Applying cultural capital theory to the Hong Kong 221 context Secondary school choice-making 223 Routine educational involvement 226 Gendering educational practices 228 Conclusion and implications 231 APPENDIX I THE INTERVIEW SCHEDULE 236 APPENDIX II PROFILE OF THE MOTHERS 239 APPENDIX III THE CLASS STRUCTURE OF HONG KONG 249 BIBLIOGRAPHY 250 Word Count (the main body of the text): 73,441 4 LIST OF MAPS AND TABLES Map 1 Location of mothers and school nets 74 Table 1 Distribution of mothers by class and ‘ethnicity’ (national origin) 76 Table 2 Distribution of more-advantaged and less-advantaged mothers 88 Table 3 Geographical distribution of mothers 239 Table 4 Profile of local-born mothers 240 Table 5 Profile of immigrant mothers 243 Table 6 The class structure of Hong Kong 249 5 ABSTRACT OF THESIS submitted by OI-YEUNG LAM to The University of Manchester for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy and entitled SCHOOL CHOICE- MAKING, MOTHERS’ INVOLVEMENT IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATION AND SOCIAL REPRODUCTION IN THE EDUCATION MARKET IN HONG KONG. Month and Year of submission: September 2012. This study examines the mechanisms of class disadvantage in educational processes in Hong Kong by focusing on mothers’ secondary school choice-making and everyday educational involvement. My study is located within the context of local neoliberal education reforms in which parents are expected to rely on their own resources to support their children’s learning and all-round development and to exercise school choice. I have drawn upon cultural capital theory and applied to the local context in order to explore how patterns of persistent class differentials in educational outcomes despite expanded educational opportunities are produced in micro-level processes in the local school market. I have also drawn on the insights of the Western literature about how ‘ethnicity’ and gender complicate class processes, and used these to address these issues in the local Hong Kong context. To achieve this, I interviewed 34 local- born and mainland Chinese immigrant mothers, with children aged 11-15, who mostly come from working class and intermediate class backgrounds. My findings about mothers’ educational practices show that class mechanisms generate disadvantage by restricting the access of more disadvantaged mothers to the ‘right’ cultural capital as stipulated by the particular ‘rules of the game’ of the local educational ‘field’. At the same time, my study sheds light on the diversity of the structural and moral contexts in which cultural capital mobilization is embedded and the myriad ways that ‘ethnicity’ and gender interact to aggravate, mitigate, or ameliorate class disadvantage. I underline the need for local researchers to spell out and problematize the institutionalization of class privilege and disadvantage within the education system. At the same time, the study makes a novel contribution to the wider literature by offering an account of class reproduction in Hong Kong which is different in important respects to that found in many other generic accounts which take as their focus advanced ‘Western’ capitalist societies. My findings also highlight the importance of examining the contextual contingency of how cultural capital ‘works’ and so stress the indeterminacy of class processes. 6 DECLARATION I hereby declare that no portion of the work referred to in the thesis has been submitted in support of an application for another degree or qualification of this or any other university or other institute of learning. 7 COPYRIGHT STATEMENT i. The author of this thesis (including any appendices and/or schedules to this thesis) owns certain copyright or related rights in it (the “Copyright”) and s/he has given The University of Manchester certain rights to use such Copyright, including for administrative purposes. ii. Copies of this thesis, either in full or in extracts and whether in hard or electronic copy, may be made only in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (as amended) and regulations issued under it or, where appropriate, in accordance with licensing agreements which the University has from time to time. This page must form part of any such copies made. iii. The ownership of certain Copyright, patents, designs, trade marks and other intellectual property (the “Intellectual Property”) and any reproductions of copyright works in the thesis, for examples graphs and tables (“Reproductions”), which may be described in this thesis, may not be owned by the author and may be owned by third parties. Such Intellectual Property and Reproductions cannot and must not be made available for use without the prior written permission of the owner(s) of the relevant Intellectual Property and/or Reproductions. iv. Further information on the conditions under which disclosure, publication and commercialisation of this thesis, the Copyright and any Intellectual Property and/or Reproductions described in it may take place is available in the University IP Policy (see http://documents.manchester.ac.uk/DocuInfo.aspx?DocID=487 ), any relevant Thesis restriction declarations deposited in the University Library, The University Library’s regulations (see http://www.manchester.ac.uk/library/aboutus/regulations ) and in The University’s policy on Presentation of Theses. 8 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AAT Academic Aptitude Test CA Central Allocation CMI Chinese as the medium of instruction CSD Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong DP Discretionary Places DSS Direct Subsidy Scheme EMI English as the medium of instruction HKALE Ho ng Kong Advanced Level Examination HKCEE Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination HKDSE Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education HK SAR Hong K ong Speci al Admin istrativ e Region MOI Medium of Instruction NSS New Senior Secondary (Curriculum) PTAs Parent -Teacher Associations SOCO Society for Community Organization SSPA Secondary School Places Allocation TSA Territory -wide System Assessment 9 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to acknowledge my appreciation for those who have been kind enough to assist me in any way during the course of my research. My deepest gratitude goes to my parents, for their unwavering, self-less, and loving support. I must also extend my gratitude towards my supervisors, Prof. Fiona Devine and Dr. Wendy Bottero. I am beholden to them for their meticulous guidance and their indefatigable patience during the course of my study. I would also like to express my gratitude to the mentors in my academic journey: Dr. Thomas Wong, Dr. Anita Chan and Dr. Garland Liu. Their immense support gives me the confidence to embark on my pursuit of the doctoral degree. I would also like to express my sincerest thanks to the following people: David McCracken, Tszming Or and Chi Leung Lee, who have been in my company as I strive through the most difficult times in Manchester; and also Dr. Bridget Byrne, Simon Bull, Sara Chan, Chi Pui Cheung, Kelvin Cheung, Alex Chik, Yiu Kwong Chong, Anita Chow, Katy Ho, Lawrence Lee, Carmen Leung, Connie Leung, Joyce Leung, George Ngai, Donghong Ou, Paul Simpson, Cherry Wong, Linnie Wong, and Venus Wong, for their most generous help in making this study happen, in offering encouragement throughout the course of my study, and in helping me polish my writing. Last but not least, I am most indebted to the mothers who participated