Quality Assurance Policy Enactment in Education

: A Case Study in the Vocational Education Section of Hong Kong

Abstract

This paper adopts a qualitative interpretivist approach to study the quality assurance policy implemented at a Vocational Training Institute (VTI) in Hong Kong, to unveil the stakeholders’ ideologies in quality assurance policy and review the role of quality assurance policy in the vocational education sector of Hong Kong. The study draws upon a triangulated analysis of three sources of data, including (1) questionnaires, focus group and individual interviews, (2) a literature review on policy interpretation, policy borrowing and education policy in Hong Kong, and (3) education policy documents of the Hong Kong context. First, authentic data was collected via questionnaires and interviews from the stakeholders to provide a descriptive backdrop. Next, findings from the primary research served to inform the data generated from the policy document analysis. Lastly, the data was integrated and analyzed against the historical-political context of Hong Kong.
The analysis shows that the stakeholders’ ideologies on quality education varied amongst the students, teachers and school administrators. The school administrators appear to be most deeply embedded in marketization of education and academic capitalism. The students navigate between the identity as consumers within the marketized education system and their aspiration for a more holistic value-based richer sense of education. I argue that the students’ positioning reflects important themes intertwined between Hong Kong’s colonial legacy and the sovereignty of China.
This research fills the gap by researching quality assurance policy in vocational education in Hong Kong, an under-researched area. The investigation process sheds light on emerging themes pertinent to globalization, managerialism, marketization of education, centralization and decentralization, and gives insight to policy interpretation and re-interpretation, policy borrowing and referencing in higher education. The conclusions offer implications on the role of quality assurance policy in the Hong Kong education sector, especially, after the legitimation of the national security law in 2020.

Date of Award	19 Mar 2024
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Bristol
Supervisor	Janet L Orchard (Supervisor) & Lucy J Wenham (Supervisor)