The two primary objectives of this study were: to identify the preferred teaching styles of secondary-school students and to compare these preferences with those of university students from past research; and to examine the contributions of students' preferred teaching styles to their academic achievement. A sample of 298 students from a Catholic boys' school completed the Preferred Thinking Styles in Teaching Inventory and the Self-rated Ability Scale. Participants' achievements in 12 school subjects were obtained. Results indicated great similarities between the preferred teaching styles of the present sample and those of university students in previous studies. Achievement scores in all 12 subjects were predicted by students' preferred teaching styles beyond their self-rated abilities. Some of these predictive relationships were domain-specific, while others were not. The findings' scientific and practical implications are discussed.
[Copyright of Educational Psychology is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01443410802004634]

The hypothesis in this study was that different types of multiple-goal learners would have different patterns of learning. A sample of 797 adult distance learners enrolled in different programs offered by a distance learning university in Hong Kong completed a questionnaire assessing their goals, use of strategies, motivational beliefs, and attitudes towards the course they were doing. Two-stage cluster analyses found a group of single-goal learners (mastery focused) and three groups of multiple-goal learners with different focuses in their goal profiles: performance focus, work focus, and multiple focuses. These four clusters of learners differed in terms of use of learning strategies, regulatory strategies, motivational beliefs, and attitudes towards the course. Learners focusing on work-related goals or performance goals achieved better examination results than did those focusing on multiple goals or solely on mastery goals.
[Copyright of Educational Psychology is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01443410701739470]

Increasingly, there is advocacy for parents to be included in partnership roles with schools. Indeed, the term 'partnership' seems to have acquired the connotation of an ideal form of parent-school relationship. This paper argues that the notion of partnership, with its accompanying suggestion of equality as a framework for the complementary sharing of responsibilities, is problematical. Based on the findings from an in-depth study of teacher leadership in three Hong Kong schools that involved as participants parents, teachers, and students, it is proposed that a more reasonable understanding of this relationship is that of a professional and client association, where both parents and teachers are aware of their responsibilities and that these responsibilities are at once both demarcated and shared according to that understanding. At the same time there is also a need for teachers and parents to concentrate on building more concrete links for consistent and regular teacherVparent communication, as significant student learning now takes place informally at home, via the Internet.
[Copyright of Teaching Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10476210601151573]

This study focuses on primary students' self-learning strategies, using a sample of 1253 students from 20 Year 3 and 20 Year 5 classes from 10 primary schools in Hong Kong. Students were asked to name sources from which they could learn. They were then asked to rate 10 self-learning strategies on perceived usefulness and personal deployment. Students named an average of 2.5 learning sources, with print exposure (reading) being the most commonly nominated source. Multilevel analysis revealed substantial differences (27% of attributable variance) between classes on student ability to name learning sources. In general, the students indicated that all 10 suggested learning strategies were useful. The two most commonly deployed strategies were help-seeking and locating a quiet study environment. Gender differences were not found on naming learning resources, but girls indicated relatively higher levels of strategy awareness and deployment.
[Copyright of Educational Psychology is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0144341042000294930]

This paper characterizes early mathematics instruction in Hong Kong. The teaching of addition in three pre-primary and three lower primary schools was observed and nine teachers were interviewed about their beliefs about early mathematics teaching. A child-centered, play-based approach was evident but teachers emphasized discipline, diligence and academic success. Observations also revealed practices reflective of both constructivist and instructivist pedagogies. Results from interviews suggest that teachers' traditional cultural beliefs about instruction were challenged by western ideologies introduced in continuing professional development courses and by notions promulgated by the educational reforms. Both consistencies and inconsistencies between teachers' beliefs and practices were identified. Implications of the findings are discussed.
[Copyright of Early Years: An International Journal of Research and Development is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09575140802020917]