Parents’ beliefs and practices in education in Confucian heritage cultures: the Hong Kong case

Since the mid-eighties, the revelation of 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 of 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