An Investigation of the Relationship Between Andragogy and Hong Kong Students' Approaches to Learning in Performing Arts Education: A Case Study.

This case study, based on students in the Applied Arts department of an academy in Hong Kong, investigates the relationship between andragogy and student approaches to learning by looking at the curriculum delivery and how the student approaches to learning affect the outcome. Hong Kong is an international city at the intersection between Chinese and Western cultures. Whilst its most recent past has been influenced by western culture, its origin is derived from traditional Chinese culture. For its part, The Academy is in a unique position to make a strong contribution to the development of performing arts both in China and Hong Kong. Established by Ordinance in 1984 in response to the city’s growing need to develop arts and arts education, the Academy holds a strategic position capable of bridging Chinese and Western culture. The curriculum follows the model of an American performing arts school – a model based on Western teaching and learning styles and one that requires andragogical approaches and interactive participation in the creative process. In contrast to this approach, Academy students are recipients of pedagogical practices that value analytical abilities over self-exploration. They learn through second language instruction, delivered in a way that is unfamiliar to them. Data collection focused on the Applied Arts department of the School of Technical Arts and involved students and faculty members. Through an interpretative paradigm it set out to discover whether a fundamental change to the curriculum is required. The outcome of the research revealed that students have difficulties reconciling their inherent learning styles with the curriculum content and implementation. Requiring them to break away from a familiar and comfortable mode of learning, to a style of learning that requires them to learn with understanding and personal control over the process, is a jump that creates much difficulty. The general consensus revealed that The Academy should move away from the present American model and develop an independent system that will acknowledge the natural and engrained learning styles of the students and adopt educational philosophies that are more suitable for Hong Kong.