This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a wellness programme for preservice teachers, Promoting Educational Excellence through Resilience to Stress (PEERS). The intervention group participants, who took part in the 4-week PEERS programme, and the comparison group participants were recruited online. A battery of self-report scales assessed various psychological constructs, including coping self-efficacy, resilience, mental health, well-being, mindfulness and self-compassion. Data were collected at three time points: before the intervention (T1), immediately after programme completion (T2) and 4 weeks after programme completion (T3). Results suggested that the intervention group participants reported significant improvements in coping self-efficacy, resilience and the nonjudging facet of mindfulness. High programme satisfaction was also reported, with 96% of the participants rating the overall programme as good or excellent. Therefore, the results demonstrate the effectiveness and positive impact of the PEERS programme on the resilience and coping efficacy of preservice teachers in Hong Kong. Copyright © 2025 The Author(s).

Over the past two decades Hong Kong's higher education institutions have become favored destinations for students from Mainland China. They find Hong Kong society both familiar and strange. Though Chinese, its political history differs markedly from their homeland's. Since 2010, moreover, conflicts have arisen in Hong Kong between local and Mainland Chinese people, culminating between 2017 and 2020 with clashes over issues of autonomy and governance. This study investigates Mainland Chinese students' experiences in Hong Kong during the 2017-2020 period, and the strategies they developed to cope with the pressures they faced. We found that coping strategies included: active approaches such as learning Cantonese and joining local student societies or campus activities; limiting their friendships to students from similar backgrounds; endurance and acceptance; and 'letting nature take its course'. The study also shows weaknesses in university assistance for Mainland students, and has broader implications for student support and identity formation. Copyright ©2024 SAGE Publications .

In contrast to a burgeoning research literature on the role of emotions in learning and instruction in Western culture, research on how emotions impact student and teacher development in Asian countries is lacking. The present paper reviews seven publications included in the 2019 Special Issue of The Asia--Pacific Education Researcher examining the role of emotions in Asian learners and in Asian educators. Three studies conducted with Asian students across education levels (primary, secondary, post-secondary) and countries (China, Singapore) explored students' emotions ranging from global constructs (engagement, satisfaction) to discrete experiences (hope, gratitude) in relation to personality, self-regulation, persistence, and contextual variables (perfectionism, self-compassion, resilience, relatedness). Four studies additionally investigated the emotional experiences of pre-service and practicing Asian teachers (China, Hong Kong, Philippines) in relation to varied motivational variables (self-efficacy, self-theories, passion, psychological capital), social-environmental factors (cooperative interactions, practicum evaluations), as well as psychological and physical health (coping styles, burnout, sleep quality). Study findings and protocols are discussed with respect to specific directions for future research on academic emotions in an Asian educational context.
[Copyright of Asia-Pacific Education Researcher is the property of Springer.]

With restructuring characterising many school systems throughout the world, and major change leaving few schools untouched, school leaders are facing major challenges. This study focuses on a group of Hong Kong principals who conceptualise some of their challenges as dilemmas. The paper draws on previous literature to highlight the importance of articulating principals' perceptions of dilemmas in their daily lives, and identifies typologies and categories of dilemmas. It notes that dilemma research to date is grounded in Western examples and cultural settings, and that dilemmas faced by principals in non-Western settings have been ignored. Analysing dilemma situations recounted by Hong Kong principals, we identify the sources, coping mechanisms and outcomes of their dilemmas and examine the relationships between these phenomena. Among our findings are that dilemmas are multifaceted and irresolvable situations, and that principals tend to rely on a narrow range of deeply embedded Chinese cultural values as coping strategies. Copyright © 2000 Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER).

This small-scale exploratory study identified strategies used by three intellectually very able university students with specific learning difficulties for maintaining motivation on their path to achievement. All three participants were located in Hong Kong. The research questions were: (a) What coping strategies are used by intellectually very able university students with specific learning difficulties? (b) What are the critical influences driving and supporting their motivation to achieve? A narrative inquiry method was used to obtain and analyze data. Two gifted university graduates and one undergraduate, all with specific learning difficulties, were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire and open discussion. Data indicated that they developed strategies to cope largely in response to adverse learning environments. The support of significant persons, such as parents and teachers, were also seen to be essential for sustaining their motivation to achieve. Implications for supporting university students with specific learning difficulties are briefly discussed.
[Copyright of Gifted Education International is the property of SAGE Publications]

This study compared a gratitude intervention approach with a coping intervention approach in promoting subjective well-being in a sample of 78 Hong Kong Chinese school teachers. Forty teachers were randomly assigned to the eight-week count-your-blessings condition and 38 teachers to the eight-week count-your-misfortunes condition. Increases in life satisfaction were observed in the post-intervention assessment for both approaches. However, statistically significant changes were observed on life satisfaction and the experience of negative and gratitude-related emotions only for the gratitude intervention approach, suggesting the relative effectiveness of the count-your-blessings exercise. Implications of the findings on developing intervention approaches that encompass counting positive and negative events for promoting subjective well-being 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/10.1080/01443410.2013.785046]

This new century has witnessed the rapid and frequent emergence of many new information and communications technologies (ICTs). On one hand, digitalisation enhances our economic, social and political lives. But on the other hand, it leads to certain negative social impacts. One prevalent problem is digital divide -- the gap between different social groups (namely, the 'haves' and 'have nots') in access to and in their different usages of ICTs. It has been of concern that digital divide will exacerbate existing inequalities, erode traditional community ties, socially exclude the disadvantaged and hinder the growth of the knowledge economy. All these will pose damage to the social fabric internally and international competitiveness externally. This article aims to examine the recent policies and coping strategies adopted by Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong to bridge the digital divide and their economic, social and political implications.
[Copyright of Globalisation, Societies & Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14767724.2012.710118]

Abstract Hong Kong schools are concerned about how students with behavioural problems could be supported. This article reports the findings of a study investigating teachers’ constructs of students’ resilience. Specifically it examines how it could be promoted through school guidance and factors affecting the development of students’ resilient capability. Twenty-four teachers from four secondary schools were interviewed. Their constructs of resiliency were explored from the perspective of social constructivism and the narrative approach was also employed. The study identifies the challenges school guidance faced in developing resiliency are identified. Also four means through which school guidance could be made more resilient are suggested, including helping students explore the natural tendencies of students’ inner-strength, developing a resilient approach to behaviour management, including the resiliency into whole-school guidance curriculum, and building connections between school, home and community. The findings also show that the construct of resiliency was culturally grounded upon Confucianism. The direction for future research is given
[Copyright of Roeper Review is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02643944.2011.626067]