Deconstructing Positivist Education: A Critical Pedagogical Examination of Outcome-Based Teaching and Learning in Hong Kong Universities

Author Information

Anthony Kueppers, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong
Yiwei Li, Beijing Normal-Hong Kong Baptist University, China

Abstract

This paper critically examines whether outcome-based teaching and learning (OBTL) truly creates student-centered education in Hong Kong universities. Through the lens of critical pedagogies, particularly Giroux’s critique of educational positivism and Paredes-Canilao’s work on Asian critical pedagogies, we challenge OBTL’s promise of student empowerment. Analyzing institutional materials from three major Hong Kong universities, including marketing documents, policy statements, curricula, syllabi, and assessment frameworks, our research reveals how OBTL’s positivistic approach maintains rather than disrupts traditional educational power dynamics. We demonstrate that despite claims of promoting student participation, OBTL primarily serves neoliberal educational models by emphasizing measurable outcomes over genuine student agency. Our analysis shows that OBTL privileges intended learning outcomes while neglecting unintended learning opportunities. While OBTL’s supposed transparency is marketed as student-centered, we find this transparency often exists only in documents rather than classroom practice, functioning more as a mechanism of neoliberal hyper-accountability than authentic student empowerment. The study reveals how OBTL’s marketing as student-centered masks its role in maintaining existing power structures and educational inequities, evident in how universities craft institutional documents that privilege quantifiable outcomes. Drawing on Western and Asian critical pedagogical perspectives, this research contributes to discussions about higher education commodification and tensions between neoliberal models and authentic student-centered learning. We conclude by advocating for reimagining student-centered education beyond marketing rhetoric to embrace genuine critical engagement and transformative educational practices.

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