Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explores and investigates Hong Kong secondary school teachers' perceptions of national identity and National Education since the resumption of sovereignty by China in 1997. The findings, however, could reveal that under Hong Kong's official proclamation and propaganda of a single 'Chinese national identity', there are different emphases on interviewees' perceptions of national identity. The book presents an overview of Hong Kong's education system and, in particular, the development of the National Education policy. It discusses the meanings and operationalization of key concepts. The book outlines a contextual understanding of National Education in each interviewee's case and the selection and justifications of data collection methods. It talks about the interpretation of data findings from schools' National Education document analysis, in-depth interviews with the interviewees and observations of schools' National Education programmes/activities.