educational framework

1. Status and Purpose

This framework is the governing statement of principle for education at New College. It sets the direction of the College and the values by which it plans its programmes, admits its students, shares responsibility and judges its own progress. It is a constitutional text, not an operating manual. Detailed arrangements are left to subsidiary documents, which draw their authority from this framework and must remain consistent with it.

University regulations prevail over this framework, and this framework prevails over College codes, policies and handbooks. The College, with the endorsement of the Master, issues those subsidiary documents. Section 10 lists the principal ones.

2. Guiding Principles

The College regards residence as part of education, not as accommodation alongside it. The University speaks of a total learning experience, and much of that experience happens outside formal teaching: in conversation at the dining table, in a disagreement settled in a common room, in a project that a group of residents decide to undertake. New College aims to make that time purposeful, so that study and daily life strengthen each other.

Seven principles follow.

Learning is social. Students develop by taking part in a community, not through instruction alone.
Belonging supports learning. A student who feels at home is better placed to engage, to take intellectual risks and to recover from setbacks.
Growth is the measure. A year in College is valued for what a student becomes, as much as for what a student achieves.
Students are partners. They help to shape the College and are not merely recipients of what it offers.
The College is part of the University. Its purposes serve the University's educational aims, and its distinct character should enrich them.
Care is a duty. The College will maintain arrangements for the welfare and safety of every resident.
Fairness governs decisions. Any decision that affects a student's place or standing in the College will follow a stated process, give reasons and allow an appeal.

3. A Year in College

A place at New College is offered for one academic year. This is deliberate. It keeps the community open to new members, and it gives each resident a clear season in which to begin, contribute and look back. Students who wish to return are invited to apply again, and are considered alongside new applicants.

Each year is therefore treated as a chapter of learning. Residents are encouraged to try things they have not done before, to join in the life of the houses and to think about what the experience is teaching them. At the end of the year, those who hope to return are asked to describe, in their own words, how they have taken part and what they have learnt about themselves and others. The College is interested in the quality of a student's engagement and reflection, and not in a tally of events attended.

4. Theoretical Grounding

The framework draws on Situated Learning Theory. On this view, learning arises as people take part in the practices of a community, and in doing so acquire skills, a sense of identity and a place to belong. A Community of Practice is a group of people with different backgrounds and expertise who work on shared problems and, in the process, create new understanding. New College aspires to be such a community, with students, tutors, fellows and visiting scholars all contributing.

Research on residential education is consistent with this view, although it should be read with care. Studies, mostly from North America, associate active participation in college life with a stronger sense of belonging to the College. That sense appears to carry over to the University, and is linked to greater academic engagement and, in many studies, better academic results. Large national surveys also find that residents are somewhat more likely than comparable students living elsewhere to continue their studies, and that structured programmes of living and learning add a modest further benefit.

These findings are observational. They show association, not cause, and they come largely from settings unlike Hong Kong. The College therefore treats them as encouraging but not conclusive, and will gather its own evidence. One lesson is worth keeping: the benefit seems to depend less on where a student sleeps than on whether the student takes part in purposeful activity within the residence. The College's task is to design a rich programme and to make taking part natural and welcome.

5. Learning Beyond the Classroom

Residential life is sometimes regarded as a social extra. The framework rejects that view. Social ease, emotional steadiness and the habit of working with others carry back into the classroom, and intellectual curiosity gained in the College shapes the way residents live. The College treats its programme as a second curriculum: planned, reflective and open to review, but free of the rigidity of a degree syllabus.

No particular activity is required of any resident. Contribution takes many forms, and the College recognises that some students have caring duties, paid work, religious observances or health needs that limit what they can join. A resident who helps a neighbour through a difficult term, or who sustains a quiet interest in the common room, contributes as fully as one who leads a society. The College will take care that no student is made to feel a lesser member of the community.

6. International Models and the New College Approach

New College learns from several traditions without copying any of them.

The Oxford and Cambridge colleges combine residence with teaching, and so make the college the centre of a student's academic life. Durham later adapted this arrangement. Its colleges are owned by the University and do not teach, leaving formal instruction to university departments while the colleges provide community, pastoral care and enrichment. Yale and other institutions have since adopted versions of the Durham pattern.

New College follows that pattern. Teaching remains with the faculties, and the College concentrates on the life that surrounds it. From Yale it borrows the principle that senior academics should be present in the daily life of the College, not located in a remote administrative office. A Yale head of college and a college dean both live in the college, take meals with students and shape its intellectual tone. In the same way, the Master, tutors and fellows of New College are expected to be seen, approachable and engaged. Casual exchanges over a meal or at a College tea are a principal means of learning.

New College admits undergraduates and postgraduates, and in that respect differs from graduate colleges such as Massey College in Toronto, whose members are all postgraduate. The mix of ages and levels is a resource, and the College will use it deliberately through mentoring, shared seminars and joint projects.

7. Areas of College Learning

Student life is organised around six areas. They inform planning and reflection and are not a checklist. Residents are encouraged to look across them over the year, and to notice where they have stretched themselves and where they have not.

Academic exchange. The College looks beyond disciplinary boundaries. Interdisciplinary salons, peer tutoring, research symposia and conversation with resident fellows and visiting scholars give students a place to test ideas outside their own subject.

Community life. Shared meals, house gatherings, time in the common rooms and collaborative creative work build collegiality and the emotional literacy needed to live well with others.

Community engagement. Students are encouraged to contribute to society through local outreach, voluntary partnerships and civic projects aimed at the common good.

Sustainability. The College aims to make responsible use of resources ordinary practice, in its operations, its pastoral policies and the everyday governance of each house.

Cultural diversity. The College's international character is put to educational use. Dialogue across cultures and global exchange build intercultural understanding and respect for difference.

Personal development. Students are supported in developing resilience, physical and mental wellbeing, ethical judgement and confidence in their own capacities, so that they are prepared for life beyond HKU.

Progress in these areas is understood through reflection, not scoring. Residents consider their own development, hear the views of others and discuss both with a College tutor. The purpose is to help each student see growth and plan the next step. Guidance on reflective practice, including any use of peer views, will protect students from unfair or harmful comment.

8. Admission and Return

The College seeks a community in which students of different origins and outlooks meet every day. Such meetings can widen the mind more effectively than any lecture. In keeping with the University's commitment to internationalisation, New College aims for an intake that broadly mirrors the University as a whole, with local, Mainland Chinese and international students each making up a substantial share and none dominant.

This is a guiding aim, not a rigid quota. Selection is rigorous and follows the principles of equal opportunity. Applicants are assessed on academic ability, curiosity, willingness to contribute and the capacity for good citizenship, with due regard for those whose circumstances limit the time they can give to extra-curricular activity. The same principles apply to undergraduate and postgraduate residents, although the process may differ in detail. The College will define each category of student plainly, publish its criteria and review the composition of its community each year.

Current residents who seek a further year apply on the same footing as everyone else. The College welcomes the fuller picture they can offer: what they have contributed, what they have tried, and what they have come to understand about their own growth. A thoughtful account of a year, honestly reflective and attentive to difficulty as well as success, is regarded as evidence of the qualities the College values. The College will also keep in mind the benefit that experienced residents bring to the community, and the claim of newcomers to a place.

9. Governance and Student Partnership

New College is governed in a consultative manner. The University sets the overall direction. The Master and the tutorial team lead the College locally, in regular conversation with residents.

The Master provides intellectual and strategic leadership, and sees that the College's programme accords with the University's academic direction and its commitment to a total learning experience.

The tutorial team lives in the College. Its members offer daily pastoral care, give academic guidance, accompany residents in their reflection and help to shape the second curriculum. They also help to maintain the operational, administrative and safety standards on which the community depends. The College will keep the functions of pastoral support and of discipline distinct, so that a student's confidant is not also the person who judges that student's conduct or readmission. A tutor may help a resident prepare a reflective account, but will not decide the application.

The College Committee, made up of floor representatives and representatives of clubs and groups, is the main channel for student opinion. Consistent with the University's approach of treating students as partners, it gives residents a regular forum in which concerns are raised and ideas developed. Its members work with the Master and tutors to plan learning opportunities, community service and cultural exchange, and in doing so practise the habits of democratic life: speaking plainly, listening, negotiating and accepting a compromise.

Consultation is not decision by a vote. A Schedule of Decision Rights will state which matters are decided by the Master and tutors after consultation, which are decided jointly with students, and which are left to students alone. Residents should know where their voice carries weight.

10. Subsidiary Documents

The following will be issued under this framework, each with a named responsible office. Until they are issued, University regulations and existing College practice continue to apply.

A policy on student welfare and safeguarding, including crisis response, out of hours cover and links to University services.
A code on residential conduct and appeal.
An admissions policy, setting out categories, criteria, decision makers and the arrangements for residents who apply to return, including the form of the reflective account.
A handbook for the tutorial team, covering roles, workload, training and supervision.
A constitution for the College Committee.
A schedule of decision rights.
A code of conduct for fellows and visiting scholars.
A note on data and research governance, covering surveys and participation records, consistent with Hong Kong law.
A manual on safety and residential operations.
Guidance on reflective practice and assessment.

11. Review and Accountability

A framework of principle needs a way of learning from experience. The College will ask residents regularly about their sense of belonging, engagement and wellbeing. It will take note of who is not taking part and why, so that barriers can be removed, and will compare its experience with academic progress and continuation of study, with careful attention to privacy.

Each year, the Master, tutors, fellows and student representatives will meet to decide what to keep, change or stop. The Master will report the outcome, and the resulting actions, to the University and to residents. The framework itself will be reviewed at regular intervals, and no less often than every few years, with amendments approved by the University.

12. Looking Ahead

This document states a direction and invites others to help follow it. It will change as the College matures, as evidence accumulates and as residents add their own ideas. The test of the framework is whether students leave New College as curious, considerate and capable people who regard learning as something that happens all the time and with other people.