Pupils sit in class at the Shamshuipo Kaifong Welfare Association Primary School in Sham Shui Po. The results from a recent international assessment of students’ creative thinking suggests Hong Kong schools are falling behind in teaching creativity and lateral thinking. Photo: K.Y. Cheng
Opinion
Alice Wu
Alice Wu
Latest Pisa results show Hong Kong education stuck inside the box
If the main takeaway from the results is Hong Kong scoring lower than Singapore on creative thinking, we have completely missed the point
How would you define quality education? Education that prepares students with skills and competencies for life after school? One that equips students with the knowledge and tools to excel in an area of interest and pursue careers of their choice? Giving students exposure to wide-ranging subjects, activities and learning experiences so they mature into well-rounded individuals?
We all have our own beliefs about what makes quality education, but those with children would probably do whatever they can to give them the best opportunities in life. Education is a fundamental part of preparing our children to take on the world and live their lives to the fullest.
Modern technological advances mean the future will require different knowledge and skills from those needed when we were students ourselves.
This is why the first test of creative thinking by the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) is important. Pisa’s worldwide assessments are held every three years and test 15-year-old students on reading, maths and science. Since 2012, the assessments have included subjects outside those core areas because changing times mean students need other capabilities, such as problem-solving skills.
The 2022 creative thinking assessment, whose results were released last week, attempted to measure abilities to generate, evaluate, improve and communicate ideas, as well as social and scientific problem-solving. Hong Kong scored 32 overall, just below the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development average of 33, and below 16 other jurisdictions out of the 64 that joined the assessment.
Hau Kit-tai, a professor of educational psychology at Chinese University, attends a press conference on December 5, 2023. Photo: Edmond So
Professor Hau Kit-tai, national project manager of Hong Kong Pisa 2022, called the results “a wake-up call”. “It tells us our students are really not good at … thinking outside the box,” he said, adding that there was a need for a change in attitudes towards creativity in the classroom.
The creative thinking test asked students to give a variety of answers to a single question, and the assessment was made based on how their answers differed. For example, students were presented with an image and asked to give it three titles as different from each other as possible.
The easiest answer would be to give a title that describes what is on the page, but interpreting the image for more abstract and creative titles is more difficult. Most of the questions in the creative thinking assessment were open-ended with no clear right or wrong answers, designed to see whether students could view problems from different perspectives and come up with new ideas.
Students walk past a mural of a jumping leopard in Tai Wai on May 27. Photo: Jelly Tse
Hong Kong’s results suggest this is not our students’ forte as arts education and other creative realms are often viewed more as extracurricular activities. In this way, it is a luxury only available if students have time once their schoolwork is done and if their parents can afford the extra classes.
The main takeaway here isn’t that Singapore came first and Hong Kong didn’t, but that, like their counterparts here, students in Macau and Taiwan also scored lower in creative thinking than in the core subjects. This points to a need for school curriculums to change if we want educators to prepare students to succeed in a future that demands innovation and creativity.
We must move away from the exam-oriented system to one where students have the time and space to explore new ideas that might seem “wrong” or unconventional. Instead of being fed the “right” answers and memorising them, students must have the chance to come up with “wrong” answers and learn from them.
Students sit for a Diploma of Secondary Education liberal studies exam at Queen Elizabeth School on April 26, 2021. Photo: Handout
Education is a basic human right. In places such as Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, where education is widely accessible and highly regarded, parents are willing to invest heavily in it. It should go without saying that the government and educators must demonstrate they are able to provide quality education.
Parents must rethink enrolling children in tutorials that teach them ahead of time what they will learn in school. Is having them memorise multiplication tables before they are in primary school the best thing for our children? If they need to learn ahead of time what will eventually be taught, perhaps schools are not delivering the most basic aspects of teaching.
There is much we can learn from the latest Pisa results. If we get stuck on the fact Hong Kong scored lower than Singapore, we have completely missed the point.
Alice Wu is a political consultant and a former associate director of the Asia Pacific Media Network at UCLA
