Denny Ho

Social work education in Hong Kong at the crossroads : Challenges and opportunities amidst marketization and managerialism

Social work education in Hong Kong has undergone unprecedented transitions during the past decade as a result of the challenges presented by the global tides of marketization and managerialism. It has been suggested that these changes have not only negatively affected the quality of education, but have also given rise to rising consumerism as well as intense institutional competition, and, worst of all, have diluted the sense of purpose and commitment of social workers towards their social ideals. But despite the many cautions raised, the advent of marketization and managerialism has provided many positive opportunities for the development of social work education in Hong Kong. The authors will use some of their experiences encountered in Hong Kong as illustrations to show the ways in which threats and crises in social work education could be turned into positive opportunities for development. From a positive perspective, marketization and managerialism could increase opportunities and choices for motivated learners; increase efficiency and enhance performance; generate additional resources for experimentation and innovation; and revitalize social work education by making the curricula more responsive to contemporary issues and needs. We suggest that while we must be cautious about the negative impacts of marketization and managerialism, we should conceive of this situation as an opportunity to strengthen the organizational capacities of social work education, to revitalize the core values of social work, and to strive for social justice and social betterment.

New roles of designers in democratic innovation: a case study in the ingenuity of ageing

This paper discusses a study of a group of retired academics that are actively ageing on their university campus in China. We worked with this group of ingenious older people and conducted a series of Creative Dialogues and Design Festivals to see how designers accomplish infrastructuring and mobilization in design participatory innovation for an ageing population. Inspired by the idea of the design process as Things and the concept of community-of-practice, we analysed how they design their lives. We found important new roles for designers in the critique of design ideology and the identification of utopian elements from the participants.

The changing support strategies of Chinese families in the midst of rapid social and economic transitions

Families in China have been relying heavily on their own family networks for support during times of adversity. However, the rapid social and economic changes brought about by the introduction of the “open-door economic policy” have drastically changed the pattern of support strategies adopted by Chinese families in the PRC. The support resources provided by traditional family networks are becoming increasingly inadequate in supporting Chinese families to cope with changing environmental demands. In order to minimise risks and maximise opportunities for survival amidst rapid social and economic transitions, diversification of family support strategies is therefore necessary. This paper draws from the findings of a qualitative research conducted in Beijing on 17 Chinese couples to illustrate the inadequacies of the “family network support strategy”, and the strength of the more “proactive support strategy” in coping with changing environmental demands.