Under Construction: The Development of Multicultural Curriculum in Hong Kong and Taiwan

Abstract

This paper examines the development of multicultural curriculum in Hong Kong and Taiwan over the last two few decades. Though both societies are broadly Chinese cultural contexts, differences in their political histories, cultures, and demographics nonetheless reflect disparate approaches to the development of multiculturalism in curriculum content. At the same time, Hong Kong and Taiwan both face tensions today related to competing priorities for cultivating local, national, and global senses of identity and civic participation. The paper concludes with recommendations for the further unfolding of multicultural curriculum in these societies in light of their local diversity issues, and with brief reflection on the potential of these findings to enrich traditional framings of multicultural education coming from western societies.