The national anthem law is about respect, and Hong Kong schools are already teaching that
- Kerry Kennedy says existing guidelines on music education in Hong Kong emphasise respect for the Chinese and other national anthems. At the same time, a school’s role is to educate, and neither to indoctrinate nor police students
Amid the current hype around the new law, it is important to be aware of how educators have been dealing with the issue over the years and how they will continue to deal with it once the legislation is enacted.
In the first place, there is an expectation expressed in the guide that students will become familiar with the national anthem through activities. These can include singing it during school assemblies, thus helping to “cultivate a singing culture in school”. Students and teachers are also encouraged to sing other songs together during music activities, as part of the culture-building process. In addition, it is recommended that students participate in flag raising ceremonies and sing the national anthem “to instil a sense of belonging to the nation and society”.
The formal music curriculum also provides activities to familiarise students with the national anthem. It draws up suggested lesson plans for secondary school students to compare the Chinese and Australian anthems, for example.
The learning objectives of these lesson plans include to “sing in unison with technical accuracy” and “describe music of different styles/cultures in relation to its contexts”. The suggested activities are related to creating, performing and listening to music associated with the two anthems. Importantly, the learning involved is not confined to music and its techniques. Students are also expected to develop skills and values such as creativity, critical thinking, problem solving and “national awareness”.
As set out in the guide, music education in Hong Kong is linked to forging a sense of national identity, but it is not indoctrination. In fact, the guide states: “Transmission of knowledge and hard-selling are not appropriate ways to promote Moral and Civic Education.” At the same time, the Education Bureau’s curriculum guides are not set in stone, but are usually adapted to create different programmes for different schools.
For example, comparing national anthems would be an excellent activity for international schools, where the student population may be diverse and where there is a need to develop greater understanding of this diversity. Professional educators know how to adopt, adapt and amend ideas from different sources to achieve their goals. The Music Curriculum Guide is there for all schools to use in their own ways.
The role of schools is to educate, not indoctrinate, and to nurture, rather than adopt a policing role. The Music Curriculum Guide does make the point that “students have to be reminded to respect the performance of national anthems”. This is an important educative statement to which very few objections can be raised, irrespective of which national anthem is being discussed. If this is a minimal outcome of national anthem education, it has a role to play in any educational system.
School experiences do not necessarily determine long-term political values. These develop over time, often in unpredictable ways. What school experiences can do, however, is cultivate a basic respect for other people’s values – and this is a lesson for a lifetime.
Kerry Kennedy is professor emeritus and adviser (academic development) at The Education University of Hong Kong
