Integrating students with disabilities in ordinary schools has been a topic of debate in the Iast two decades. Inclusive education, in its broader sense, is still in its infancy in Hong Kong. Educational reforms, such as inclusive schooling, depends on teachers' support in implementing the change. Teachers' attitude towards integration and the changes required in schools and classrooms are crucial to the accomplishment of educational reforms. The purpose of this study was to survey classroom teachers' views toward integrating students with disabilities in Hong Kong. Results indicated that the availability of necessary resources, training of teachers, and the suitability of instruction and services were prime concerns for classroom teachers in providing education for students with disabilities. Recommendations for Hong Kong are proposed on considerations given to the above concerns and on legal mandates in providing education for students with disabilities.
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This article, while supporting the notion of inclusive education, urges caution in the rate at which the necessary changes take place. The writer acknowledges the important role played by special schools in meeting the needs of students with moderate to severe disabilities, and suggests that special schools must continue to exist in order to provide the full range of placement options. Some of the difficulties involved in implementing inclusive education are discussed, including the demands made upon the regular class teacher, the problem of class sizes in ordinary schools in Hong Kong, and the need for additional professional training with a focus on mixed-ability teaching.
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The purpose of the present study was to explore, from an insider perspective, the work experience of local special school personnel. A qualitative methodological approach was taken and a semi-structured interviewing technique was adopted. An opportunity sample of five Principals, six teachers and three school social workers from six local special schools for students with mild mental handicap participated in this study. Data were analyzed using a constant comparative method and content analysis. The findings seem to suggest that the special school teachers in this study faced the dilemma of having competing roles within the school and that they could function as either caregiver or an educator. The two most pronounced themes that emerged from the data are that the local special school personnel in this study appeared to be isolated in terms of feedback and support and the five Principals were regarded as the only leaders to provide directions for the development of their schools. The results therefore demonstrate the need to develop intra- and inter-school support networks for local special school personnel to become more responsive to the needs of the classroom community. A number of recommendations for improvement in teacher education and in-service training are also discussed.
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Previous studies have suggested that placing students in ability groups for teaching purposes can have negative consequences on the self-esteem and motivation of the students placed in the lowest groups. The study reported here explored this phenomenon in relation to students in a Band 4-5 secondary school in Hong Kong. A self-report questionnaire, with items covering classroom motivation and attitude, was used to elicit responses from 212 students in the first and second year. The students were from three different ability groups, ranging from high ability (relative to a Band 4-5 school) to low ability. Results indicated significant differences between the mean scores for students in the highest and lowest ability groups in seven out of twenty items in the questioonaire. In general the findings indicate a less optimistic attitude and a reduced level of motivation in students from the lowest group. Research evidence has also suggested that ability grouping can have a negative impact on teachers' motivation and expectancy in relation to the lowest-ability groups. This study explored the expectancies, beliefs and attitudes of 25 teachers who work with the students identified above. It was found that the teachers typically held more negative views of low-ability classes. The article includes discussion of the implications of these findings in terms of modifying teachers' attitudes and improving the learning opportunities for low-ability secondary students.
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This paper recognizes the pressures to teachers in the broader climate of educational reform, and asserts that rich opportunities of professional learning are situated in challenges and critical incidents. By drawing data from experienced teacher, this paper elucidates teachers' guilt and resolution with a framework for promoting a culture of personal growth and professional development. The paper concludes by highlighting the creative energy inside teachers who can team up as networks of learners. When sharing deeply the minds and the hearts, they can re-discover deep values in realities of everyday life in a journey of life-long learning together.
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Teachers' negative emotions began to receive attention in the Hong Kong context in the mid-1990s. As negative emotions may affect both teachers' well-being and the quality of their teaching, Hong Kong education policy-makers and educators have used psychological approaches to determine the reasons why teachers experience negative feelings. However, these approaches fail to accommodate the social causes of negative emotions. Therefore, this study investigates the possible social causes of teachers' negative emotions from the perspective of alienation theory. In-depth interviews with 21 teachers in Hong Kong reveal that Hong Kong teachers may be suffering from alienation (characterised by a sense of powerlessness, meaninglessness, isolation, and self-estrangement) due to their experiences of teaching, their employment status, and their structural position in schools, which are related to the occupational and organisational structure of teaching. The findings also indicate that patterns of alienation may differ between more and less experienced teachers.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01596306.2016.1261084]

From the Americas to Asia, neoliberal policy restructuring continues to present major challenges to educational equity. In Hong Kong, teacher educators grapple with training students in pedagogy they believe in, versus the daily status quo of high-stakes exam prep, privatized "shadow education," and a system seemingly pushed to the brink of neoliberal social efficiency. Indeed, in recent years, Hong Kong has recorded top rankings on the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study and the Programme for International Student Assessment, along with record-setting protests and student suicides. Like in the USA, neoliberalization of teacher education in Hong Kong has proffered dilemmas of standardized curricula, evaluation, and licensure, often under the guise of "21st century skills and technology." Both regions also face perpetual threats of being under- or de-funded, based on "data-driven" decision-making and leadership that are supposedly more accountable and efficient. Unsurprisingly, neoliberal policies and practices have often exacerbated inequities in teaching and learning, especially for communities labelled as minority or working-class. Within traditions of critical pedagogy, this article's authors engage in a discussion on how educators and students are navigating the neoliberal behemoth and developing more inclusive spaces across local contexts of language, class, and culture. Based on the authors' research in the Americas and Greater China, this article interrogates some of the junctures and ruptures of neoliberal education in Hong Kong, long-held as bridge between "East" and "West." The article draws from the first author Benji Chang's action research projects with pre-and in-service teachers in the region, which examines how they are critiquing and challenging dominant discourses of neoliberalism (e.g., positivism, standardization, and market-economy), and what brings hope. Given Hong Kong's history of colonization with Europe and the USA, and the

This study aims to establish a robust measurement to obtain a comprehensive understanding of perceptions of programming education (POPE) of teacher and principal groups. In this study, the POPE scale contains three dimensions: (a) understanding in programming (UP), (b) support for programming (SP), and (c) expectation of programming (EP). Self-reported questionnaires were administrated among 258 teachers and 229 principals. Multigroup analyses were used among the two groups. The results of measurement invariance tests show that configural and metric invariance are fully supported, and scalar invariance is partially supported, suggesting the factor structures, loadings, and most item intercepts of the POPE scale are equivalent across the groups examined. Implications of the study are discussed.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0734282918787670]

STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education is vital for incubating future scientists, engineers, and inventors. Teaching and learning in STEM education require teachers and students to employ design thinking and multi-disciplinary knowledge to formulate new solutions for emerging problems. School teachers are facing multiple challenges in implementing STEM education. With the application of the Self-efficacy and stages of concern theories, this quantitative study (with 235 teacher respondents) aims to unearth Hong Kong teachers’ responses regarding STEM education. The results show that 5.53% of the respondents regard themselves as “well prepared” for STEM education. On the other hand, the respondents have intense “information”, “management”, and “consequence” concerns about implementing STEM education in schools. The findings reflect that there is an urgent need to provide teachers with articulated professional development, pedagogic support, and curricular resources for empowering them to implement STEM education in practice.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s40299-018-0414-1]

This study aims to deliver a school‐based mode of training for in‐service teachers of students with ASD in Hong Kong. The training is delivered following the phases of implementation science, namely, exploration, installation, and implementation. The project team used the theory of mind approach, which enables teachers to engage with students with ASD and to focus on recognizing and reacting to emotions. Participants in this study included four educators from a teacher education institution, three expert teachers, and 19 in‐service teacher trainees. The most salient responses came from trainees who were provided with the opportunity to apply learned skills in their own classrooms immediately and to share the knowledge and skills in dealing with students with ASD in the post‐conference meetings.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-9604.12199]