To Teach Torture Or Not To Teach Torture

Should we be surprised by the survey (see 2 news stories below) that found local teachers agree with the use of torture in police investigations and believe social stability should come before individual liberties?

Local teachers are generally a conservative bunch and Chinese teachings do lend themselves to being relatively more disciplinarian (e.g. look at the Tiger Mom fallout).

It is also interesting that a researcher has described this value as "believing in a mainland way".

Who teaches the teachers? Who judges the teachers (foreigners or locals)? Who investigates the researchers?


Reference: Rights beliefs of teachers far from liberal (The Standard)

Friday, June 10, 2011

Students are set to develop a rather skewed view of both civil and human rights, if the opinions of several teachers are anything to go by.

A survey of 791 liberal studies teachers from 255 schools last year saw more than a third backing police use of torture to get confessions, while nearly half felt courts should pay more heed to public opinion than the rule of law.

Leung Yan-wing, who led the survey conducted by the Hong Kong Institute of Education, blamed the results on conservatism among some teachers and the apparent apathy to human rights over the past 10 years.

The survey laid special stress on liberal studies - introduced as a compulsory subject in all secondary schools under the new 3-3-4 system but one without a fixed syllabus.

Leung said the results are shocking and reflect how the rights awareness of generations to come may be eroded.

"I am very worried about the mind- sets of teachers and how this will affect the next generation," he said.

Leung suggested that after the promised universal suffrage comes into effect in 2017, the government pay more attention to how teachers think and what is being taught in schools.

Sun Kei Secondary School liberal studies teacher Hui Shing-yau urged firmer guidelines on the subject.

PEARLIE YIU

Reference: Torture 'acceptable' to many teachers (SCMP; paywall)

Survey finds many liberal studies instructors value social stability over personal freedoms
Dennis Chong
Jun 09, 2011

Many of Hong Kong's liberal studies teachers find the use of torture acceptable in police investigations and believe social stability should come before individual liberties, according to a survey result described as shocking by a teachers' union.

The survey, conducted by the Hong Kong Institute of Education and sponsored by the Quality Education Fund, interviewed more than 700 liberal studies teachers from 255 secondary schools last year.

It found that 35 per cent of the teachers agreed that the use of torture by police in obtaining evidence was acceptable, while half said they were willing to give up personal liberties for social stability.

Fung Wai-wah, chairman of the Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union, described the findings as shocking. "It is indisputable that torture should not be used during interrogation. We ought to find out why there is such a belief among teachers," he said.

Education sector legislator Cheung Man-kwong said the result pointed to a gap in the education system. "Civic education should focus on universal values. We should not give up on these values," he said. "Teachers should know of and insist on these values so they can teach students to insist on them themselves."

Liberal studies entered the senior secondary academic structure during a review of the education system and became a compulsory subject for those studying for the Diploma of Secondary Education. The first batch of pupils started the subject in 2009.

Unlike languages, science and other mainstream subjects, the teachers do not have a fixed syllabus and critics have complained about the ambiguity of subject guidelines.

Researcher Leung Yan-wing, from the institute's centre for governance and citizenship, said the findings reflected the fact that some teachers were conservative.

"There are more open-minded teachers but as a matter of fact there are also a group of people who believe in the mainland way," Fung said, adding that society should guard against erosion of the fundamental values of democracy and human rights.

dennis.chong@scmp.com