Profile Details of Dr GAO, Fang 高放 - The Education University of Hong Kong

Dr. Gao Fang is Associate Professor in the Department of International Education. She did her undergraduate studies and initial professional education at Shenyang University in China. She has a Master degree in Educational Sciences from the University of Amsterdam and she completed PhD in the Sociology of Education at the University of Hong Kong. Her main research interests are in minority education and sociology of education. She has published Becoming a model minority: Schooling experiences of ethnic Koreans in China (Lexington Books, 2010), 30 papers in international refereed journals such as Race Ethnicity and Education (A*), British Educational Research Journal (A*), Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development (A*), Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice (A), International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism (A), Current Issues in Language Planning (A), British Journal of Sociology of Education (A), Comparative Education (A), Asian Ethnicity (A) and so forth, and 13 refereed book chapters. She is also the editor for Education, ethnicity and equity in the multilingual Asian context by Springer. Her second monograph Power, identity, and second language learning: Teaching and learning Chinese as a second language in China is in preparation and to be published by Routledge.

Dr. Gao specializes in the sociology of education with an emphasis on Education, Equity, and Diversity. She examines educational policies and processes of teaching and learning in local and global contexts and in relation to demographic, linguistic, and cultural diversity. Her priority has been to engage in interdisciplinary and empowering studies through critical and multicultural lenses with education agenda that not only identifies racial/ethnic/language minority students’ educational vulnerability, but also analyses educational policy and practice provision that contributes to the overcoming of those inequalities and social justice. Her main research interests include:

Multicultural Social Justice Education
Higher Education

Education for a Meaningful Life: Great Thinkers
Educational Reform and Development in Global Context
Multilingual Education

Scholarly Books, Monographs and Chapters

Research book or monograph (author)

Gao, F. (2010). Becoming a model minority: Schooling experiences of ethnic Koreans in China. Maryland, U.S.: Lexington Books.

Chapter in an edited book (author)

Gao, F. (2020). The empowering potential of tertiary education for underprivileged ethnic minorities’ sustainable development in Hong Kong: Educational policies for access and equity. In T. Savelyeva & F. Gao (Eds.), Tertiary education in Asia and Eurasia: Sustainable policies, practices and developments (xx-xx). London: Springer.
Gao, F., & Tsang, Y. K. (2019). Parental involvement and university aspirations of ethnic Korean students in China. In J. Gube & F. Gao (Eds.), Education, ethnicity and equity in the multilingual Asian context (215-234). Singapore: Springer.
Gube, J., & Gao, F. (2019). From living in cultural and linguistic diversity to equitable outcomes in education: An introduction. In J. Gube & F. Gao (Eds.), Education, ethnicity and equity in the multilingual Asian context (1-14). Singapore: Springer.
Gao, F. (2018). Identity and Chinese language learning among ethnic minorities in Hong Kong. In I. Liyanage (Ed.), Multilingual education yearbook 2018 (125-137). Cham: Springer.
Gao, F. (2016). The effects of multiplicative and convertible capitals on non-Chinese language minorities’ accessing university in Hong Kong. In K. H. Shin (Ed.), Multicultural education in a global era: New perspectives and practices in contemporary society (pp. 97-117). New York: NOVA Science Publishers, Inc.
Gao, F., & Postiglione, G. A. (2015). Ethnicity and educational achievement. In J. D. Wright (Editor-in-chief), International encyclopedia of social & behavioral sciences (2nd edition, vol 8) (pp. 130-135). Oxford: Elsevier.
Gao, F. (2014). Identity and multilingualism: Negotiating multiculturalism among ethnic Korean teachers in China. In J. Leibold & Y. B. Chen (Eds.), Minority education in China: Balancing unity and diversity in an era of critical pluralism (pp. 259-276). Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.
Gao, F. (2012). Linguistic capital: Continuity and change in educational language policies for South Asians in Hong Kong primary schools. In R. B. Baldauf, Jr., R. B. Kaplan, N. M. Kamwangamalu & P. Bryant (Eds.), Language planning in primary schools in Asia (pp. 147-159). New York: Routledge.
Gao, F., Zhang, Q. Y., Ki, W. W., & Tsung, L. (2012). 在港成長少數族裔學生學習中文的案例 [A case study of Chinese language learning by a South Asian minority student]. In L. Tsung, M. S. K. Shum, W. W. Ki, & Q. Y. Zhang (Eds.), 香港少數族裔學生學習中文的研究: 理念、挑戰與實踐 [Studies of teaching Chinese as a second language to ethnic minority students in Hong Kong: Theories, challenges, and practices] (pp. 183-197). Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.
Fu, A. L., Tsung, L., & Gao, F. (2012). 跨文化學習 [Intercultural learning]. In L. Tsung, M. S. K. Shum, W. W. Ki, & Q. Y. Zhang (Eds.), 香港少數族裔學生學習中文的研究: 理念、挑戰與實踐 [Studies of teaching Chinese as a second language to ethnic minority students in Hong Kong: Theories, challenges, and practices] (pp. 119-142). Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.
Gao, F., Sung, J. M. C., & Shum, M. S. K. (2012). 培養香港少數族裔學生語言基本能力的教案設計與分析 [Teaching design and analysis on nurturing basic language capability of non-Chinese speaking students in Hong Kong]. In S. K. Tse, W. W. Ki & M. S. K. Shum (Eds.), 非華語學生的中文學與教:課程,教材,教法與評估 [Devising a Chinese-language curriculum for non-Chinese-speaking students in Hong Kong] (pp. 141-147). Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.
Gao, F., Sung, J. M. C., & Ki, W. W. (2012). 培養香港少數族裔學生跨文化交流能力的教案設計與分析 [Teaching design and analysis on nurturing cross-cultural communication capability of non-Chinese speaking students in Hong Kong]. In S. K. Tse, W. W. Ki & M. S. K. Shum (Eds.), 非華語學生的中文學與教:課程,教材,教法與評估 [Devising a Chinese-language curriculum for non-Chinese-speaking students in Hong Kong] (pp. 149-155). Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.
Gao, F. (2011). Bilingual education and Korean minorities in China. In L. Tsung & K. Cruickshank (Eds.), Teaching and learning Chinese in global contexts (pp. 81-95). London, UK: Continuum.
Shum, M. S. K., Tsung, L., & Gao, F. (2011). Teaching and learning (through) Putonghua: From the perspective of Hong Kong teachers. In L. Tsung & K. Cruickshank (Eds.), Teaching and learning Chinese in global contexts (pp. 45-61). London, UK: Continuum.
Tsung, L., Gao, F., Shum, M. S. K., & Ki, W. W. (2009). 在香港環境下的少數族裔學生的中文習得研究 [Acquisition of Chinese as a second language in Hong Kong: Chinese language studies among ethnic minority students]. In B, Zhang (Ed.), 不同環境下的漢語教學探索:第五屆對外漢語國際學術研討會論文集 [Chinese teaching and learning in different contexts] (pp. 336-351). Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.

Edited book (editor)

Savelyeva, T., & Gao, F. (Eds.). (2020). Tertiary education in Asia and Eurasia: Sustainable policies, practices and developments. London: Springer.
Gube, J., & Gao, F. (Eds.) (2019). Education, ethnicity and equity in the multilingual Asian context. Singapore: Springer.
Bryant, D. A., Gao, F., Hennig, B. B., & Lam, W. K. (Eds.). (2007). Research studies in education, Volume 5. Hong Kong: The University of Hong Kong.

Journal Publications

Publication in refereed journal

Lai, C., Gu, M. Y., Gao, F., & Yung, W. S. (2020). Motivational mechanisms of ethnic minorities’ social media engagement with mainstream culture. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, online, 1-18.
Gao, F. (2019). Ethnic minority students’ progression to university in Hong Kong: access and equity. Multicultural Education Review, 11(2), 135-148.
Gao, F., Lai, C. & Halse, C. (2019). Belonging beyond the deficit label: the experiences of ‘non-Chinese speaking’ minority students in Hong Kong. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 40(3), 186-197.
Gao, F. (2018). Being ‘religious and cultural rebels’ or being ‘cultural hybrids’? The role of identity capital in Muslim female university students’ self-construction. Gender and Education, 30(8), 1032-1047.
Gao, F. (2018). Do heterophilous networks work? Investigating school-based social capital and the university choice process among less-privileged ethnic minorities in Hong Kong. Race Ethnicity and Education, 21(6), 827-842.
Gao, F., & Lai, C. (2018). Biculturalism and segregated schooling in Hong Kong. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 39(4), 301-312.
Gao, F., & Ng, C. K. J. (2017). Studying parental involvement and university access and choice: An “Interacting Multiple Capitals” model. British Educational Research Journal, 43(6), 1206-1224.
Gao, F. (2017). Capital multiplicity and convertibility: Language minorities’ multidimensional challenges to accessing postsecondary education in Hong Kong. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 38(8), 1165-1176.
Shum, M. S. K., Gao, F., & Ki, W. W. (2016). School desegregation in Hong Kong: Non-Chinese linguistic minority students’ challenges to learning Chinese in mainstream schools. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 36(4), 533-544.
Gao, F. (2016). Paradox of multiculturalism: Invisibility of ‘Koreanness’ in Chinese language curriculum. Asian Ethnicity, 17(3), 467-479.
Lai, C., Gao, F., & Wang, Q. (2015). Bicultural orientation and Chinese language learning among South Asian ethnic minority students in Hong Kong. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 18(2), 203-224.
Gao, F. (2012). Teacher identity, teaching vision, and Chinese language education for South Asian students in Hong Kong. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 18(1), 89-99.
Gao, F. (2012). Imagined community, identity, and Chinese language teaching in Hong Kong. Journal of Asian Pacific Communication, 22(1), 140-154.
Gao, F. (2012). Imagined identity of ethnic Koreans and its implication for bilingual education in China. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 15(3), 343-353.
Gao, F., & Park, J. (2012). Korean-Chinese parents’ language attitudes and additive bilingual education in China. Journal of Multilingual & Multicultural Development, 33(6), 539-552.
Shum, M. S. K., Gao, F., & Tsung, L. (2012). Unlocking the racialized and gendered educational experiences of South Asian females in Hong Kong: The case study of Pakistani girls. Asian Ethnicity, 13(3), 251-262.
Tsung, L., & Gao, F. (2012). What accounts for the underachievement of South Asians in Hong Kong? The voices of Pakistani and Nepalese parents. Educational Research, 54(1), 51-63.
Gao, F. (2011). Linguistic capital continuity and change in educational language policies for South Asians in Hong Kong primary schools. Current Issues in Language Planning, 12(2), 251-263.
Gao, F., Park, J., Ki, W. W., & Tsung, L. (2011). Teaching Chinese as a second language in China: The cases of South Asians and ethnic Koreans. Linguistics and the Human Sciences, 4(3), 265-288.
Shum, M. S. K., Gao, F., Tsung, L., & Ki, W. W. (2011). South Asian students’ Chinese language learning in Hong Kong: Motivations and strategies. Journal of Multilingual & Multicultural Development, 32(3), 285-297.
Gao, F. (2010). A comparative analysis of the meaning of model minority among ethnic Koreans in China and the United States. Comparative Education, 46(2), 207-222.
Gao, F. (2010). Ethnicity, achievement and friendship: Korean Chinese students’ construction of peer networks. Educational Review, 62(2), 143-156.
Gao, F. (2010). Learning Korean language in China: Motivations and strategies of non-Koreans. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 13(3), 273-284.
Gao, F. (2010). Bilingual education among ethnic Koreans in China: Ethnic language maintenance and upward social mobility. Chinese Education & Society, 43(1), 82-92.
Gao, F., & Shum, M. S. K. (2010). Investigating the role of bilingual teaching assistants in Hong Kong: An exploratory study. Educational Research, 52(4), 445-456.
Gao, F. (2009). Language and power: Korean students’ language attitude and practice. Journal of Multilingual & Multicultural Development, 30(6), 525-534.
Gao, F. (2009). Self-perception and schooling attitude of ethnic Korean students in China behind the model minority stereotype. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 29(1), 17-27.
Gao, F. (2009). Challenges of discourses on “model minority” and “South Korean wind” for ethnic Koreans’ schooling in Northeast China. Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education, 3(2), 119-130.
Gao, F. (2009). Researching Korean children’s schooling attitude and practice in China: An ethnographic approach. Social Transformations in Chinese Societies, 5, 225-245.
Gao, F. (2008). What it means to be a “model minority”: Voices of ethnic Koreans in Northeast China. Asian Ethnicity, 9(1), 55-67.

Conference Papers

Invited conference paper

Gao, F. (2018, May). Re-shaping a sense of belonging by ethnic minorities in Hong Kong. Invited paper presented at the 2018 KAME, Seoul, Korea: Seoul National University.
Gao, F. (2018, March). Politics, power, and ethnic minority children’s rights – Some implications for inclusive lifelong education in post-colonial Hong Kong. Keynote presented at the CESHK 2018 Conference, Hong Kong: The Education University of Hong Kong.
Gao, F. (2016, December). Parental involvement and ethnic Korean students’ enrolment in four-year universities of China: A multidimensional study on students’ perceptions. Invited speech presented at the First Forum for UNESCO Chair Partners and Associates, Hong Kong: The Education University of Hong Kong.
Gao, F. (2016, May). The myth of multiculturalism in multi-ethnic and multicultural Hong Kong. Invited speech presented at the International Forum on Rethinking Government Policies for Multicultural Families and Children, Seoul, Korea: Seoul National University.
Gao, F. (2015, April). Multicultural education for ethnic Koreans in China. Invited speech presented at An International Symposium: Ethnic Minorities in Mainstream Education: An Asian Perspective, Hong Kong: Yew Chung Community College.
Gao, F. (2014, September). Paradox of multicultural education policy: Invisibility of Koreanness in Chinese curriculum. Invited speech presented at Diversity and Education in Hong Kong, Mainland China and the Asian Region Conference, Hong Kong: The University of Hong Kong.

All Other Outputs

Gao, F. (2016). Review of “Tibetanness” under Threat?: Neo-integrationism, minority education and career strategies in Qinghai, P. R. China, by A. Zenz. The China Journal, 76, 161–163. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Bryant, D. A., Gao, F., Hennig, B. B., & Lam, W. K. (2008). Research Studies in Education (RSE). THE GRADUATE SCHOOL NEWSLETTER, 10(2), 10.

Belt and Road Initiative and the Internationalisation of Higher Education in China: A Case Study of International Students' Perceptions and Experiences in Beijing

1. To explore why international students from Belt and Road countries have chosen to come to study in China; 2. To identify the kinds of capital they have accumulated during study in China; and, 3. To elucidate the factors at the individual, institut . . .
Project Start Year : 2020 Chief Investigator(s) : GAO, Fang 高放

School-Based Social Capital in Ethnic Minority Students’ Progression to Post-Secondary Education in Hong Kong

Making use of the theories of SBSC and school structure and culture, this study employs multiple, qualitative case studies to examine: a) institutional provision of SBSC; b) the resulting benefits and challenges that EM students interpret and experie . . .
Project Start Year : 2020 Chief Investigator(s) : GAO, Fang 高放

Rural-to-urban Student Mobility: University Access, Persistence and Completion of Ethnic Minority Students in China

To promote under-represented ethnic minority students' transitions to post-secondary education in China; To enhance rural-urban mobility of students from underprivileged ethnic minority backgrounds.
Project Start Year : 2019 Chief Investigator(s) : GAO, Fang 高放

Conceptions of Global Citizenship and Teacher Education

This research compares and examines the conceptions of global citizenship in the global citizenship related courses offered for the 15 Bachelor of Education (Honours) programmes at the Education University of Hong Kong. The research investigates the . . .
Project Start Year : 2018 Chief Investigator(s) : TANG, Hei Hang Hayes 鄧希恒 (Dr GAO, Fang 高放 as Collaborator)

Enhancing learning engagement and outcomes through formative e-assessment tasks in the General Education foundation course

This project aims to enhance freshmen’s learning engagement and outcomes in the General Education (GE) foundation course by incorporating formative e-assessment (FEA) tasks into the tutorial process. A teacher guide on FEA task design and implementat . . .
Project Start Year : 2018 Chief Investigator(s) : ZHAN, Ying 詹穎 (Dr GAO, Fang 高放 as Co-Investigator)

Supporting Ethnic Minority Students’ Chinese Language Learning through Enhancing Extramural Chinese Social Media Use

The project aims to support ethnic minority students’ Chinese language learning through enhancing extramural Chinese social media use.
Project Start Year : 2018 Chief Investigator(s) : LAI Chun (Dr GAO, Fang 高放 as Co-Investigator)

"Intercultural Studies"

This project's aim is to establish Intercultural studies in education as an area of strength in The Faculty of Education and Human Development. This will begin by comprising 4 research themes: i) young people in education; ii) educational leadership; . . .
Project Start Year : 2017 Chief Investigator(s) : HALSE CHRISTINE MARGARET (Dr GAO, Fang 高放 as Co-Investigator)

Education for Cosmopolitan Citizenship

The funding is used to support a scholar visiting to our university.
Project Start Year : 2017 Chief Investigator(s) : GAO, Fang 高放

Establishing a Research Cluster in the EdUHK for Promoting Research on Multilingual Acquisition and Multilingual Education

Hong Kong is a multilingual society with three principal languages: Cantonese, English and Putonghua. Since 1997, Hong Kong has adopted the “Biliterate and Trilingual” language policy, which aims at developing citizens who are biliterate in both writ . . .
Project Start Year : 2017 Chief Investigator(s) : WANG, Lixun 王立勛 (Dr GAO, Fang 高放 as Co-Investigator)

From “Additive” to “Multiplicative” Effects of Capital on Post-secondary Education Enrollment in Hong Kong: A Double-informant Investigation across Ethnic Majority and Minority Students

A study to examine the effects of capital upon university/college access.
Project Start Year : 2017 Chief Investigator(s) : GAO, Fang 高放

Modelling the Effects of Different Forms of Capital on Post-secondary Education Enrollment: An “Interacting Multiple Capitals” Framework

Funding support to ECS Proposal rated 3.5 by the RGC
Project Start Year : 2017 Chief Investigator(s) : GAO, Fang 高放

A Multidisciplinary Approach to Investigate Acculturation Orientation and Chinese Language Learning among Ethnic Minorities in Hong Kong

The proposed study is a cross-discipline research project that aims at examining the relative value of assimilation and integration acculturation orientation for Chinese language learning among ethnic minority (EM) students in Hong Kong.
Project Start Year : 2016 Chief Investigator(s) : GAO, Fang 高放

Education, Ethnicity and Inequality in Multilingual Asian Context

The funding will support the publication of the edited volume: Education, Ethnicity and Inequality in Multilingual Asian Context.
Project Start Year : 2016 Chief Investigator(s) : GAO, Fang 高放

Tertiary Education in Asia and Eurasia

An Edited book volume (Springer) co-edited with Dr. Gao Fang
Project Start Year : 2016 Chief Investigator(s) : SAVELYEVA TAMARA (Dr GAO, Fang 高放 as Co-Principal Investigator)

Tertiary Education in Asia and Eurasia: Sustainable Policies, Practices and Developments

The funding will support the publication of the edited volume: Tertiary Education in Asia and Eurasia: Sustainable Policies, Practices and Developments
Project Start Year : 2016 Chief Investigator(s) : GAO, Fang 高放

Multiplicity of Capitals in Parental Involvement and College Choice Process

This study is a ECS 3.5 Funding project to increase the readiness of ECS project.
Project Start Year : 2015 Chief Investigator(s) : GAO, Fang 高放

Parental involvement and ethnic Korean students’ enrollment in four-year universities of China: A multidimensional study on students’ perceptions

The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between parental involvement and Korean minority students’ enrollment in China’s 4-year universities.
Project Start Year : 2015 Chief Investigator(s) : GAO, Fang 高放

A multidisciplinary approach to investigate acculturation orientation and Chinese language learning among non-Chinese linguistic minorities in Hong Kong and China: From assimilation to culturally-responsive intervention

The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between acculturation orientation and Chinese language learning among non-Chinese linguistic minority (NCLM) students in Hong Kong and China.
Project Start Year : 2014 Chief Investigator(s) : GAO, Fang 高放

Parental involvement and non-Chinese linguistic minority students’ enrollment in four-year universities of Hong Kong: A multidimensional study

The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between parental involvement and non-Chinese linguistic minority (NCLM) students’ enrollment at four-year universities in Hong Kong.
Project Start Year : 2014 Chief Investigator(s) : Tsang Yiu Kei (Dr GAO, Fang 高放 as Co-Investigator)

Bicultural orientation and Chinese language learning among linguistic minority students in Mainland China and Hong Kong

This study aims to explore the potential cause-consequence relationship between cultural identity and educational achievement (especially Chinese language acquisition) among non-Chinese minority students.
Project Start Year : 2013 Chief Investigator(s) : GAO, Fang 高放

Linguistic minority students go to college: Access, persistence, and success

This study provides a critical examination of the challenges non-Chinese linguistic minority students face in accessing Hong Kong 4-year universities.
Project Start Year : 2013 Chief Investigator(s) : GAO, Fang 高放

Self-identification and Chinese language achievement among South Asian students in Hong Kong

The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between acculturation orientation and Chinese language learning among South Asian students in Hong Kong.
Project Start Year : 2011 Chief Investigator(s) : Lai Chun (Dr GAO, Fang 高放 as Co-Investigator)

Teaching and learning Chinese as a second language: Korean-Chinese’s motivation and strategy

This study aims to investigate Korean Chinese students' motivation and strategy of learning Chinese as a second language.
Project Start Year : 2011 Chief Investigator(s) : GAO, Fang 高放

Schooling experiences of South Asian students in mainstream schools

This study aims to examine South Asian students' integration into the mainstream schools in Hong Kong.
Project Start Year : 2009 Chief Investigator(s) : GAO, Fang 高放

Faculty's Top 10% Teaching Awards 2019/20

Date of receipt: 5/2020 Conferred by: Faculty of Education and Human Development

Dean’s Research Award 2018/19: Journal Articles

Date of receipt: 3/7/2019 Conferred by: Faculty of Education and Human Development

Finalist Faculty Quality Journal Article Award

Date of receipt: 6/2018 Conferred by: Faculty of Education and Human Development

Faculty’s Top 10% Teaching Award 2017/18

Date of receipt: 4/2018 Conferred by: Faculty of Education and Human Development

Finalist Faculty Quality Journal Article Award

Date of receipt: 15/6/2017 Conferred by: Faculty of Education and Human Development

Departmental Teaching Reward

Date of receipt: 12/2016 Conferred by: The Department of International Education and Lifelong Learning Teaching Reward Scheme in 2015-16

Associate Editor: Multicultural Education Review (2017-2020).
Editorial Board Member: Human Rights Education Review (2017- ).
Editorial Board Member: Migration and Language Education (2017- ).