WB Singapore-Africa, Jun 22, 2006
Education for Tomorrow
Challenges of the Post-industrial Society
Kai-ming Cheng
University of Hong Kong
World Bank African Study Tour
Singapore
June 22, 2006

Starting with Hong Kong …
( … but where is Hong Kong?)
Hong Kong...
• “One country, two systems”
• Population 7.2M
• Area 1,000 km2
• GDP $37,400 p.c. (PPP) (9th)
• GDP 88% in service sector
(82% employment)
Hong Kong...
Education
• Primary & Secondary universal
• 68% higher education

(Korea, Taiwan oversupply)

(Japan nearly oversupply)

How are HK’s education achievements
faired in the international arena?
Fra
nce
Ic e
land
Aus
tria
J ap
an
Kor
ea
Irel
an d
Zea
la n
d
Source: OECD, UNESCO (2003) Literacy skills for the world of tomorrow, Fig. 2.5, p.76
FYR
le
Al b
ani
a
Ma
c ed
oni
a
Chi
Me
x ic o
Bul
gar
ia
Lux
em
bou
rg
Lat
v ia
Por
tug
al
Pol
and
Li e
chte
nste
in
Ital
y
Spa
in
Den
ma
rk
New
Fin
l an
d
Mean Reading Literacy of 15-year-olds
600
575
550
525
500
475
450
425
400
375
350
325
Source: OECD, UNESCO (2003) Literacy skills for the world of tomorrow, Fig. 3.2, p.100
FYR
epu
bli c
Irel
an d
le
Bra
z
il
Ma
c ed
oni
a
Chi
Arg
ent
i na
Bul
gar
ia
Is ra
el
G re
e ce
Ital
y
Pol
and
Fed
era
tion
Ge
rm a
ny
ch R
si an
Cze
Rus
nce
Den
ma
rk
Fra
ted
Ki n
gdo
m
Can
ada
Fin
l an
d
Kor
ea
ong
- Ch
ina
Li e
chte
nste
in
Uni
Hon
gK
Mean Mathematical Literacy of 15-year-olds
575
550
525
500
475
450
425
400
375
350
325
300
275
Source: OECD, UNESCO (2003) Literacy skills for the world of tomorrow, Fig. 3.5, p.109
ong
- Ch
ina
Kor
ea
Ic e
land
ted
Sta
te s
nce
en
FYR
Bra
z
il
Ind
on e
si a
Ma
c ed
oni
a
Me
x ic o
Tha
il an
d
Lux
em
bou
rg
Por
tug
al
Li e
chte
nste
in
Rus
si an
Fed
era
tion
Den
ma
rk
Ge
rm a
ny
Sw
i tze
rl an
d
Uni
Fra
Sw
ed
Aus
tria
ted
Ki n
gdo
m
New
Zea
la n
d
Uni
Hon
gK
Mean scientific literacy of 15-year-olds: All
575
550
525
500
475
450
425
400
375
350
325
% at each reading proficiency level
Level 5
Level 4
Level 3
Level 2
Level 1
Below Level 1
Source: OECD, UNESCO (2003) Literacy skills for the world of tomorrow, Table 2.1a, p.274

Then, Hong Kong’s education
should be perfectly all right …
However …
Unemployment Trends
9.0
8.0
7.0
6.0
5.0
4.0
3.0
2.0
Unemployment
Underemployment
1.0
0.0
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
Hong Kong: As it is!
19% (15-19 yr-olds) double-disengaged
 100K (40s-50s) newly unemployed

Questions
Isn’t it true that EFA promises a good
society?
 Is this unique to Hong Kong, which is
after all a small city?
 Is there any significance to other parts
of China, particularly those less
developed?

The Hong Kong case begs a question:
Education for All!
but for What?

Change in society & workplace
Hong Kong …
Around 291,000 registered companies (June 2005)

99％ under 100 (SME)


94% under 20


69% of employees
40% of employees
86％ under 10

33% of employees
Hong Kong …

Free-lancers 220,000 estimated
vis-à-vis 2,200,000 in registered companies
The United States
Business Enterprises
• 98％ under 100
• 86％ under 20
National Bureau of Economic Research, 2002
Post-industrial: Workplace
Project Groups/Task Forces
Small Enterprises
Free-lancers
The Civil Service (Traditional)

Why have work units
become smaller?

Mobile phones
CEO of Samsung:
“We are not producing telephones.
We are producing fashion!”
Restaurants: Maxim’s
Cantonese Cuisine
Chaozhou Cuisine
Peking Cuisine
Other Chinese Cuisines
Miso, Kiko
m.a.x. concepts: mezz, EXP, café Landmark, thai basil,
can.teen, little basil, the basil,
fresh basil, rice paper,
Café Express, Deli and Wine, Curtain Up,
Concerto Bar & Cafe
Starbucks Coffee
Over 320 shops

G2000 (fashion retail)
Michael Tien:
“When it works, It’s obsolete!”
“Customers don’t know what they want!”
Industrial: Scale Production
Post-Industrial: Customized Products
Products & Services
•Customised rather than uniform
 Benchmark
•Quality rather than scale
 Market & Customers
•Unpredictable rather than stable

Three examples
of the workplace ….

Example I: Manufacturing
Then
Design
Production
Now
Example II: Insurance
Traditional: sales of policies
Examples II: Insurance
Agents: customised policies
Example II: Insurance
Brokers: personalised services
Example III: Investment Banks
TASK
FORCE
Post-industrial: Large Organisations
Project Groups
Task Forces
Production Teams
Client Groups
“Accounts”
Deal Team
Task Force
Post-industrial: SMEs
Function of SME/Task Forces
Client-oriented rather than department centred
 Total solutions rather than divided services
 Target-specific rather than expertisebased


The changes are fundamental …
Industrial Society: the Pyramid
Industrial Institutions
Engineers
Technicians
Craftsmen
Operatives
Degrees
Diplomas
Vocational
Training
Basic
Education
Organisations
Industrial
 Large pyramids
 Producer-centred
 Departments
 Hierarchy
 Tight structure
 Design at the top
 Assigned procedures
 Rules & regulations
Post-industrial
 Small companies
 Client-centred
 Project teams
 Flat organisations
 Loose & fluid systems
 Design at front-lines
 Improvised actions
 Fit-for-purpose acts
Working Modes
Industrial
 Division of labour
 Individual tasks
 Specialist duties
 Administrative links
 Credential-based
appointments
 Appraisal by seniors
Post-industrial
 Total solutions
 Team work
 Integrated expertise
 Human interactions
 On-demand, just-intime learning
0
 360 appraisal
Individual Lives
Industrial
 Lifelong career
 Long-term loyalty
 Occupational identity
 Work-study consistency
 Org membership
 Stable employment
 Escalating salaries
 Upward mobility
 Foreseeable retirement
 Constant networks
 Stable relations
 Security, certainty
Post-industrial
 Multiple careers
 Multiple jobs
 Blurred identity
 Work-study mismatch
 Possible free-lancing
 Frequent off-jobs
 Precarious incomes
 Fluctuating status
 Unpredictable future
 Varying networks
 Changing partners
 Insecurity, uncertainty
Work Activities
Industrial
 Paper work
 Circulars
 Minutes
 Documents
 Instructions
 Meetings
 ……
Post-industrial
 Communications
 Brainstorming
 E-mailing
 SMS
 Seminars
 Debates
 Conferencing
 Negotiation
 Presentation
 Confrontation
 Lobbying
 Retreats
Expected abilities
Industrial
 Special skills
 Planning &
implementation
 Navigating the
bureaucracy
 Following the
heritage
Post-industrial
 Communications
 Team-working
 Human relations
 Problem-solving
 Design & innovations
 Personal responsibility
 Self-management
 Ethics, values, principles
In particular

Industrial
•What have they learnt in the past?

Post-industrial
•How much are they able to learn in the
future?
After all …
Industrial
Post-industrial
 analytic, regulated,
 holistic, flexible,
structured, clear-cut,
loose, fuzzy,
uniform, convergent,
plural, divergent,
normative, neat,
liberal, complex,
assertive and
speculative and
reducible to
tolerant of multiplex
parameters
concepts

Implications for Education …
Implications for Education
Three basic questions:
Preparing young people for jobs?
 Teaching them specific skills?
 Preparing for next level of education?

Implications for education

Preparing young people for jobs?
Yes, for a living
 But not for a changing future ahead
 They have to be prepared beyond jobs!

Hong Kong
 Department Heads of leading
department stores in 1960s and 1970s
• Reengineering: English, National
Language, Technologies

Sunk to second tier shops
• New demands again

Become domestic helpers for the
deprived
Implications for education

Teaching them specific skills?
Yes, on-demand
 But not as the aim of “education”
 They need generic capacity for life!

Key competencies



Interacting in socially heterogeneous groups
Acting autonomously
Using tools purposively and interactively
OECD: The Definition and Selection of Competencies:
Theoretical and Conceptual Foundations Project (DeSeCo)
Key competencies (OECD)
Interacting in socially heterogeneous groups
 The ability to relate well to others
 The ability to cooperate
 The ability to manage and resolve conflicts
Acting autonomously
 The ability to act within the “big picture”
 The ability to form and conduct life plans and
personal projects
 The ability to defend and assert one’s rights,
interests, limits, and needs
Using tools purposively and interactively
 The ability to use language, symbols, and text
 The ability to use knowledge and information
 The ability to use technology
Curriculum as Subjects
Curriculum as KLAs
Diverse Learning Experiences
Study
Classes
Diverse Learning Experiences
Academic
Classes
Knowledge
Implications for education

Preparing for next level of education?
Yes, as a matter of survival
 But depriving them lifelong preparation
 They have to develop attributes for life!

Vertical Subjects
Social/Moral Dimension
Creativity
Numeracy
Literacy
Baseline Competence
Lifelong attributes

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Optimism about life
Passion about nature
Commitment to society
Commitment to nation
Perseverance amidst odds
Readiness to expand one’s capacity
Broad base experiences
Experience in organising
Appreciation of arts and music
Attitude of helping and caring
Seriousness about the details
……
Lifelong attributes
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Eagerness to interact with people
Love for peace
Sense of justice
Consciousness of equity
Awareness of the deprived
Comfort with other cultures
Basic understanding of sex and family
Understanding and facing moral dilemmas
Rudimentary analysis and synthesis
Belief in rationality
Tolerance of diversity and plurality
……
Lifelong attributes
Many of these are achievable
only during the secondary years!
And most are independent of
the economic status of the nation!
KG
Primary
Secondary
Tertiary

“All these are perhaps true
in your society, but are too
remote to my society ….”
Well, …..
After all …
The core business of education
is to prepare young people for a
changing future;
 is not only about more scientists and
technologists;
 is to liberate and empower them to
create and master their own future!

Trends …




Education policy concerns:
1960-70s
1980s
Since 990s
Systems:
School:
Students:
planning
management
learning
It is now the capacity of
learning
that counts above all!
Thank you
Contact:
kmcheng@hku.hk

Extra …
about learning …
Learning
New understanding of Learning
 Learning as Knowledge Construction
 Learning through Experience
 Learning through Applications
 Learning from Co-learners
 Learning as Improvement
Learning
Corollaries about Learning
 Learning takes place through
meaningful human activities
 Understanding and application of
knowledge are necessarily intertwined
 Everybody can learn
 Individuals learn differently
 Teachers’ role in scaffolding
End