Current Issues in Comparative Education (CICE) - Volume 24 - Issue 2 - Shifting from the Hidden Shadow to the Bright Sunshine under the COVID-19 Pandemic

Oct 15, 2026

The article examines Hong Kong’s learning system under the COVID-19 pandemic as a case for rethinking education beyond “back to normal.” It analyzes pandemic-driven disruptions that exposed weaknesses in existing educational models, then highlights how Hong Kong transitioned from disruptive schooling to a “new normal.” By compiling concrete examples across multiple layers of Hong Kong’s system, it proposes ten key curriculum principles for building responsive, resilient, and sustainable learning for all students.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages23

Reading Time58 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

COVID-19 disruptions and Hong Kong’s response

Education new normal and curriculum implications

Current Issues in Comparative Education (CICE), Volume 24, Issue 2, Special Issue 2022 Shifting from the Hidden Shadow to the Bright Sunshine under the COVID-19 Pandemic: Implications for the Education New Normal from Hong Kong’s Learning System Man-Ho Adrian Lam University of Hong Kong The sudden and unprecedented outbreak of the global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has brought along a series of abrupt and sweeping disruptions to almost all learning systems around the world. The pandemic has simultaneously revealed many weaknesses and problems associated with the existing educational model, which serves as a timely and critical reminder that educators should start thinking and doing education in a very different manner. Nonetheless, this does not simply mean restoring long-standing norms, or reorganizing and perpetuating existing practices as “back to normal,” but discarding and transforming many obsolete assumptions and conventional operations as a “new normal.”As one of the high-performing learning systems around the world throughout the decades, Hong Kong has successfully transitioned from disruptive schooling to a “new normal” throughout the pandemic. By collecting concrete examples emerging and evolving across different layers of Hong Kong’s learning system, this conceptual article aims to contribute to the field of comparative and international education by shedding light on ten key principles in terms of shaping a more responsive, resilient, and sustainable curriculum system for all students to thrive in the uncertain and unpredictable environment ahead of them. Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; student learning; curriculum studies; future education; learning system; Hong Kong Introduction Since mid to late January 2020, the unprecedented global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has brought along a series of unwanted disruptions to learning systems around the world (Di Pietro et al., 2020). Hong Kong was impacted by both the COVID- 19 pandemic and the social unrest of 2019-2020 protests (Whitehead, 2021) . Nonetheless, compared with many counterparts, Hong Kong demonstrates its flexibility and agility in prompt response to the crisis, especially in terms of supporting and optimizing student learning as well as enriching and diversifying student experience (Al-Sholi et al., 2021) . As a high-performing education system, Hong Kong has consistently impressive student performance as reflected in many international large-scale assessments and reports, including Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), and Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS). Meanwhile, these outstanding educational achievements are further attested to in some international reports, such as the McKinsey and the Economist Intelligence Unit (Marsh & Lee, 2014; Tan, 2018). While the lingering pandemic is highly damaging, it is simultaneously a window of opportunity in terms of motivating and catalysing changes in habits or structures which would otherwise take decades in © 2022, Current Issues in Comparative Education, Teachers College, Columbia University. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Current Issues in Comparative Education, 24(2), 88-110. Shifting from the Hidden Shadow to the Bright Sunshine merely a few months, given the fact that individuals can now refocus on their values and intentions as the underlying drivers of their behaviors (Richter et al., 2021) . Under the principle of “suspending classes without spending learning” as insisted by the Education Bureau, the overarching authority responsible for formulating and implementing education policies in Hong Kong, many teachers started with strong reluctance and surface transference or duplications. Teachers moved to gradual acceptance and progressive adjustments, and eventually led to constant experimentationsand mushrooming innovations (Cheng, 2020) . Throughout

FAQs

What problem does the article address about education during COVID-19?

It addresses how the pandemic caused abrupt disruptions that exposed weaknesses in existing educational models, requiring educators to rethink education rather than simply restore old practices.

How does the article characterize Hong Kong’s learning system transition?

It describes Hong Kong as moving from disruptive schooling to a “new normal,” using concrete examples across different layers of the learning system during the pandemic.

What outcome does the article aim for regarding curriculum development?

It aims to contribute ten key principles to shape a more responsive, resilient, and sustainable curriculum system so students can thrive in an uncertain environment.

Oct 15, 2026

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