Professor
Music Education Concentration Coordinator
JC3_149
(852) 3411-7048
Wai-Chung Ho received her PhD in Music Education from the University College London Institute of Education. She serves as a member of the editorial board for Popular Music and Society, Rock Music Studies, and Visions of Research in Music Education. She is also a frequent contributor to leading international research journals in the fields of education, music education, and cultural studies, with her work appearing in top-ranked journals such as Comparative Education, Popular Music & Society, Social History, British Journal of Music Education, International Journal of Music Education, and Music Education Research.
Her first book, School Music Education and Social Change in Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan (Brill, 2011), examined education reforms and innovations in school music education in these evolving Chinese societies. From a sociopolitical perspective, it explored how music education in Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Taipei adapted to the forces of globalization, localization, and Sinicization, while addressing the complex relationship between cultural diversity and political change in these three regions.
Her second book, Education, Society, and Cultures (Nova, 2016), addressed the overarching issues concerning the consequences of links between higher education and social change. The book aimed to present scholarly research on the development of and challenges to social change, culture, and higher education in Hong Kong. It also explored questions such as the extent to which students can be guided to recognize the formation of diverse cultures as a social accomplishment in a globalized world, and how global citizenship and values education can be acknowledged in higher education amid a changing world.
Her third book, Popular Music, Cultural Politics and Music Education in China (Routledge, 2017), investigated how social changes and cultural politics shaped the transmission of music in Beijing, Shanghai, and Changsha. These cities share a common historical culture but have experienced diverse sociopolitical developments. The book presented an empirical study on Chinese adolescents’ popular music preferences in their daily lives and examined the extent to which they preferred engaging with popular music over traditional music within school curricula. It also explored the potential of popular music in school music education as a medium for producing and reproducing cultural politics in Mainland China.
Her fourth book, Culture, Music Education, and the Chinese Dream in Mainland China (Springer, 2018), focused on the rapidly changing sociology of music and music education in Chinese society. It drew on a theoretical framework that expanded traditional analyses of cultural politics, cultural memory, and cultural identity in response to sociopolitical changes in China’s music education landscape.
Her fifth book, Globalization, Nationalism, and Music Education in the Twenty-First Century in Greater China (Amsterdam University Press, 2021), adopted a multilevel and multidimensional framework. Through questionnaire surveys and one-on-one interviews with school music teachers in Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, the book provided insights into the cultural politics of these three regions and analyzed their respective education policies and practices in relation to the recent developments in school music education.
Her sixth book, Culture, Creativity, and Music Education in China: Developments and Challenges (Routledge, 2023), explored the role of music education in fostering creativity, driving education reforms, and facilitating social transformation in China. The book examined how music education can serve as a platform to enable creativity and innovation within a rapidly changing society.
Her most recent book, co-authored with Siu-Hang Kong, Soundscapes of Education: Nurturing Creativity through Music and the Arts (Springer Nature, 2025), focused on nurturing students’ creativity through the integration of music and other creative art forms. It introduced the concept of the soundscape as an immersive auditory environment capable of evoking emotions, stimulating imagination, and inspiring creative thought. The book highlighted how such environments can be leveraged to enhance creative learning experiences.
Creativity in Music Education
Education Reform in Chinese Societies
Sociology of Music Education
Sociology of Music
Values Education