Sociological and Philosophical Perspectives on Education in the Asia-Pacific Region

This book demonstrates the value of approaching education from a sociological and philosophical perspective. Specifically, it addresses current and long-standing educational issues in the Asia-Pacific region, integrating sociological and philosophical insights with practical applications in four key areas: educational aims, moral education, educational policy, and the East-West dichotomy. It discusses educational aims in terms of rationality, philosophical thinking, and sustainable development and presents the literary, religious, and analytical approaches to moral education. Four educational policies are then considered: Hong Kong's language policy, Hong Kong's policy on the internationalization of education, East Asia's policies on English education, and Australia's policy on teacher education. Different aspects of the East-West dichotomy are analysed: Confucian rationalism versus Western rationalism, Confucian learning culture versus Western learning culture, and Asian research methodology versus Western research methodology. Taken as a whole, the book shows that issues in education are rarely simple, and looking at them from multiple perspectives allows for rich and informed debates. It presents a rare philosophical and sociological analysis of the cultures and experiences of education in the Asia-Pacific region, and promotes research that leads to more culturally rooted educational policies and practice.

Chi-Ming Lam is Assistant Professor in Philosophy and Education in the Department of International Education and Lifelong Learning at the Hong Kong Institute of Education.  His research interests include the philosophy of Karl Popper, critical thinking, Confucianism, and philosophy for children.  He has published and presented on these areas both nationally and internationally.  His most recent publication is a book entitled Childhood, Philosophy and Open Society: Implications for Education in Confucian Heritage Cultures.

Jae Park is an assistant professor at the Hong Kong Institute of Education. Born and raised in Korea, he followed his family to Peru. He worked as a pediatric surgeon with deprived children's healthcare and education in civil war-torn Lima. He later earned his M.Ed. and Ed.D. specializing both in philosophy of education from the University of Hong Kong. His fields of study include minority and cultural studies, higher education, managerial theories, and sociology of technology. He published in Educational Philosophy and Theory, International Studies in Sociology of Education, Comparative Education, and Ethics & Behavior. He is the president of the Comparative Education Society of Hong Kong and as a director of the Centre for Lifelong Learning Research and Development of the Hong Kong Institute of Education. He is the editor-in-chief of the Interna