A shift from the investigation of classroom teaching methodology, learning theoretical rationales, and areas in teacher’s linguistic/subject knowledge (Woods, 1996) into teacher cognition has emerged since the 1970s. Such a shift has a sparkle on the concern of teachers’ mental lives, i.e. the process of how they conceive (beliefs, assumptions, knowledge), implement (teaching practice), reflect on (decision-making) and reconstruct (reflection) knowledge significantly relevant to teachers’ classroom practices (Borg, 2014). The present study is a longitudinal multi-case research implemented across 1 year and 9 months focusing on what 8 Hong Kong student-teachers think, know and do during their pre-service (stage 1) and later in-service teaching practices (stage 2), and how the change of teacher cognition overtime/across context. Data collection instruments include: semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, post-lesson conferences, teaching artifacts and teachers’ own reflective journals. A narrative approach is used for data analysis and report. The present preliminary findings of stage 1 reveal that (i) teachers’ schooling defines early cognitions and shapes teachers’ perceptions of their initial teacher training (ii) professional coursework may affect existing cognitions although especially when unacknowledged (iii) contextual factors may influence practice either by modifying cognitions or else directly (Borg, 2003). Emerging from this is the understanding of “teacher cognition, schooling, professional education, and classroom practice are inter-woven” (Borg, 2014). Teacher trainers can be made aware of the significance in designing teacher education programmes and continue to contribute in longitudinal studies of teachers’ cognition as this area about teacher development across contexts from pre-service to in-service stages is still under-explored locally in Hong Kong or regionally in Asia.

This study investigates the emotions experienced by primary teachers in Hong Kong and Mainland China schools and develops a Teacher Emotion Inventory (TEI). Through surveying 254 teachers in a pilot study and 1830 teachers in the main study, a 5-factor TEI (i.e., Joy, Love, Sadness, Anger, and Fear) is identified using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. This model portrays primary teachers enjoying positive interactions with students and colleagues, recognition from school, family and public, but experiencing negative emotions in relation to unfair treatment, competition among colleagues, imbalance of work lives, and pressure from society, policy, and educational change.
[Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd.]

It is well recognized by the early childhood educationists that preschool education is important in enhancing the development of the young children as the foundation for future development and education. The human right for education has also been clearly stated in Article 26 of the Universal Declaration Education that education should be free of charge, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages (United Nations, 1948). Unfortunately, free preschool education is not experienced worldwide, and Hong Kong is one of the places that does not provide free education for children below six. In response to the call from the field and parents, the Government has eventually introduced the Pre-primary Education Voucher Scheme in 2007 to subsidize the school fees for children who attend non-profit making preschools. In the policy address of 2013, the Government stated that a committee has been setting up to examine the feasibility of free kindergarten education in Hong Kong. This announcement has aroused a lot of discussion on the possibility of implementing 15-year free education in Hong Kong. This study aims to investigate preschool teachers' views on free early childhood education in Hong Kong, and the feasibility of implementing free early childhood education in Hong Kong. The researcher interviewed 16 preschool teachers from different school districts. The results indicated that 100% of the principals supported to implement free early childhood education, and some related issues were explored: feasibility of free early childhood education in Hong Kong; modes and types of subsidies; staffs' salary scale; governance; and school placement.

While teacher educator identities have received increasing attention over the past decade, there is a lack of research on teacher educators' professional identities in the complex and shifting higher education contexts. Informed by the sociocultural linguistic perspective, this study investigates two language teacher educators' professional identities in Hong Kong universities. The findings show that the participants discursively constructed their identities, such as "accidental teacher educator," "teacher educator-researcher," "struggling researcher," "teacher of teachers," and "inactive researcher" in their professional work. By drawing on the three interrelated processes of identity formation (i.e. adequation/distinction, authentication/denaturalisation, and authorisation/illegitimation), the study adds to our knowledge of the complex and contested nature of teacher educator identity in relation to the ongoing restructuring and reform in higher education. The study concludes with some implications for teacher education and higher education.
[Copyright © 2015 Australian Teacher Education Association.]

A prominent school issue is health and safety in kindergartens. However, there has been no concerted effort to develop health and safety training as part of the school management of the kindergarten workforce in Hong Kong. A pilot study was designed to assess early childhood teachers' knowledge of and attitudes towards health and safety in kindergartens using a self-reported questionnaire. The participants were 54 early childhood teachers, which included 10 principals, or senior teachers, and 44 frontline teachers of four kindergartens. The results indicated that the teachers' level of knowledge regarding common childhood injuries was high, but their knowledge of health and safety measures was very low. There was a significant difference in the overall knowledge level of the senior teachers and the junior teachers. The principals or senior teachers were more positive towards the need to have a health and safety policy and to develop a health and safety strategy plan and recording system for their kindergartens than the front-line teachers. Furthermore, the teachers with more teaching experience were more concerned about assigning an appropriate staff member to be responsible for different aspects of health and safety than the teachers with less teaching experience. The teachers with a Bachelor degree or above were more likely to indicate the importance of providing professional development training for staff than the teachers with a Diploma degree or below. There is a need for an in-service professional training program for early childhood teachers to increase their health and safety knowledge and attitudes.
[Copyright © 2015 CGPublisher.]

Hong Kong has an assessment for learning policy and a cultural context that emphasizes examinations. In addition to associating student grading with improvement, important improvement-oriented conceptions have been identified among Hong Kong teachers and which were not fully instantiated in the original Teachers’ Conceptions of Assessment (TCoA) inventory. An expanded Chinese-TCoA inventory was administered to in Chinese in both Hong Kong and southern China. The intended 6 construct structure was not supported. Exploratory factor analysis (MLE, oblimin rotation) identified 7 factors, which were further reduced to 3 major inter-correlated constructs (i.e., improvement, accountability, and irrelevance). Improvement and accountability were strongly inter-correlated (r=.80), while improvement had a weak negative correlation with irrelevance and accountability had a weak positive correlation with irrelevance. The model had 7 factors based on 33 items and acceptable fit (χ2=3856.97, df=426; χ2/df=9.05, p<.001; CFI=.85; RMSEA=.065; SRMR=.065; gamma=.90). Two group nested invariance testing (i.e., Hong Kong vs. southern China) showed that the model was statistically equivalent, except for item residuals (k=62; χ2=4612.89, df=891; χ2/df=5.18, p=.02; CFI=.83; RMSEA=.047; SRMR=.065; gamma=.94). Differences in mean scores between the two groups showed that Hong Kong teachers agreed more with the ideas of assessments helping student learning, being accurate, and being examinations; whereas southern China teachers agreed more that assessment was irrelevant. This study contributes to our understanding of how assessment is understood by teachers working within Chinese contexts.
[Copyright © 2010 The Authors.]

The World Health Organization has warned that depression, which is an emotional illness, will become the second most prevalent killer in the world. Many young people are showing signs of depression and other mental illness: for example, Hospital Authority figures in Hong Kong show that between 1998/99 and 2000/01, the number of adolescents under 15 receiving mental health treatment rose from 1,355 to 2,321, an increase of over 70 percent. A web-based survey of all first year entrants to HKIEd at two-point: within first month of entrance, and six months later will be conducted, implication will be discussed.

The significant role played by family, school and the community on education is unequivocal. How teachers perceive the role is but one of the important parts of the whole teaching and learning system. The views expressed by student teachers are even more important among others as they are to be future practitioners in the field. How student teachers view may have close relation to how they teach, and how pupils learn. Based on findings from a recent qualitative survey of a group of about forty pre-service and in-service pre-primary student teachers in Hong Kong, this paper aims at providing an outlook and comparison of the opinions from the student teachers on roles of education played by the three generic factors, school, parents, and community. Data of the study were collected from short answers in three set of questions which asked about the roles and responsibilities of the three factors in enhancing students' education. A comparison of answers from the two groups, and among the three factors, and implications on future teacher training in Hong Kong will be discussed.