Organized by
Faculty of Education, HKU
Funded by
Public Policy Research Funding Scheme
Towards Adaptive and Resilient Educational Systems: A Network-based Approach to Study STEAM Education Innovation in HK
Project Objectives
Giving the importance of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Mathematics) education at schools, the project led by Prof. Shihui Feng, Prof. Nancy Law, and Prof. Catherine K.K. Chan from the Faculty of Education at the University of Hong Kong contributes to the development of adaptive and resilient educational systems in Hong Kong by leveraging a network-based approach to study and promote STEAM education innovation.
The project specifically aims to uncover the social connections and key stakeholders that matter to STEAM innovation in Hong Kong primary and secondary schools, analyze the influence of funding resources and management structures on school STEAM network development, and inform policy development at the school- and territory-wide level for facilitating network connections for scaffolding the success of STEAM innovation in Hong Kong.
STEAM Innovation in a Network Approach
The importance of STEAM education has been well recognized in the Hong Kong educational system. A school’s ability to design and implement educational innovation determines whether it can take advantage of new opportunities and be resilient to disruptions, or struggle with accommodating changes and fall behind in school development. Understanding educational innovation requires a systematic approach. The connections among a variety of stakeholders formed by social interactions, information exchange, and resource sharing play a critical role in educational innovation with important policy implications.
A network approach takes the multiple stakeholders involved in the process and their complex and dynamic relationships into account, which is key for understanding educational innovation. The importance of social and relational factors for educational innovation has been examined mainly in the context of higher education in western societies. There is a need for examining the effects of network connections on the success of school STEAM innovations within the educational systems in Hong Kong. Therefore, this project takes the network approach to investigate the social effects on STEAM innovation in Hong Kong, aiming to inform policy at the school- and territory-level for facilitating network connections across schools for enhancing STEAM education in HK.
