"This book’s discussion is based on Habermas’s Theory of Communicative Action. Jürgen Habermas, is known for his work on the concept of modernity, particularly with respect to the discussions of rationalization originally set forth by Max Weber; arguing it has a limited view of human action.

By using and to extend the concept of Habermas’s Theory, Chan handles this book by focusing how social reproduction was possible in school education, how school education was worked in general, and how school education was developed.

This book focuses on how social reproduction was possible in school education, how school education was worked in general, and how school education was developed.

In this book, Chan states that, “(i)n my personal experience as a secondary school teacher in Hong Kong, I observed that many of my students with little family support were not admitted into higher education. They entered into the job world after completing their secondary studies. I wondered whether, in my own professional work, I had helped, to some extent, to perform such social reproduction.” Moreover, he tries to seek for an answer, “I began to study Habermas’s theory of communicative action, and studied how it could be applied to study the relation between school education and society in Hong Kong, especially in explaining how social reproduction was achieved.”

Furthermore, in this book, he attempts to understand the phenomenon of social reproduction through school education, and contributes to the current discussion on how school education could be developed in Hong Kong.

本書特色

This book is principally based on Dr Chan Si Wai’s dissertation; the summary and conclusions drawn from the analysis of school education in Hong Kong, the study elucidated a new and critical approach in sociology of education. This approach, based on the theory of communicative action, did provide a conceptual framework for a fuller picture of education, and for a pathway to further development in education."

"Si Wai CHAN

Si Wai CHAN holds a Doctor of Education from Durham University, The United Kingdom. He is currently a secondary school teacher, nurturing students for more than thirty years."