Reading the Globe

When people first meet Barbara Hong, they often conclude that her life must have always been enriched. They assume she had loving, successful parents and all the support she needed to reach her goals. Nothing could be further from the truth. Hong’s path to an Ivy League university and beyond started in a filthy tenement in Singapore where she lived with an abusive father and an illiterate mother. Even as a child of six, she worked in her sweatshop home to help with extra money, which her father often wasted on alcohol. As she endured his drinking and abuse, she feared that the pain she internalized could shatter her.

But instead of falling apart, Hong managed to face her challenges with determination and hope. She learned to embrace failures as a way to find who she is and what she is made of, thanks to a few caring friends and teachers who helped her feel a sense of belonging. Once she learned she wasn't the brainless "cabbage head" her mother called her, she began believing in herself, eventually finding the courage to discover her true purpose as a knowledge seeker, educator, and advocate.

Hong’s inspirational journey from a sweatshop home upbringing to influential professor movingly illustrates the true strength of the human spirit and the power of teachers.

Barbara Hong received her doctorate from Columbia University in addition to three masters. Hong has been a professor for more than sixteen years at the time of this publication and has taught in New York, Texas, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Hawaii, Turkey, Qatar, Singapore, Malaysia, and Guatemala.

Hong's research examines the cognitive science of teaching and learning, particularly for students with disabilities, and the development of self-determination through the ethics of caring. Thus far, Hong's research has been cited in the Handbook of Adult Learning, Wiley Library of Higher Education, Vanderbilt University’s Peabody Recommended Readings, British Library, and the Hong Kong Institute of Education Library.