本文以香港教育大學“漢語作為第二語言教學榮譽文學士課程”的“學校體驗 (Field Experience) ”課程為例，從評核模式、QA機制和學習成果等三方面，介紹、檢測、反思香港國際漢語准教師學校體驗課程的評核機制，以期為對全球化背景下的國際漢語師資培訓提供參考。文章首先從評核項目和評核標準層面，系統介紹相關評核模式的框架與內容，包括准教師掌握學科知識、運用教學內容知識 (教學設計)、進行教與學活動、應用評估以促進學與教的能力，以及關懷及照顧學習者的需要、教學評鑒和反思 (上課期間及課堂後)的表現。進而介紹評核的素質保障機制，包括導師層面的專業資格認定，操作指引，評估標準化訓練，啟導協同，意見調查，以及學生層面的申訴與轉介機制。最後從學習成果層面檢測相關評核機制的成效。數據顯示，學校體驗評核機制形成的回沖效應（Backwash effect)可以正面引導學生的學校體驗學習行為，達到評估促進學習的目標。 Copyright © 2022 英國漢語教學研究會.

Research has shown that mindfulness-based interventions are effective in promoting well-being of clinical populations. However, limited research has been conducted to examine the effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions for teachers. Furthermore, existing mindfulness-based interventions have mostly focused on the practical element of mindfulness without giving proper attention to its rich existential context rooted in the Buddhist tradition. This study sought to address this gap by developing and evaluating an existential mindfulness program for teachers (EMPT). The EMPT consists of two components: (1) the practical component, which involves various kinds of guided mindfulness meditation; and (2) the existential component, which involves exploration of existential concerns at a personal level. The program was specifically designed to improve teachers’ mindfulness and well-being and reduce their ill-being. A mixed-methods research design was employed. For the quantitative part, the research questions focused on examining whether EMPT increased mindfulness and well-being and whether it reduced ill-being. For the qualitative part, the research questions focused on examining the participants’ subjective experiences of the EMPT program, as well as their suggestions to improve the program. The study comprised of two groups of participants. The first group were 15 students who were studying various programs at the university (U Group). The second group was composed of ten teachers recruited from a Kindergarten (KG Group). Questionnaires that measure mindfulness, well-being, and illbeing were administered one week prior to the implementation of the EMPT, and the same questionnaires were administered again one week after the intervention. Paired t-tests were used. For the qualitative part, focus group interviews were conducted at the final sessions of each group. With the U Group, quantitative findings showed that EMPT was effective in partially enhancing key dimensions

Research shows that kindergarten teachers require support to enhance the way they teach music to children. However, little is known about the professional development (PD) needs of teachers with different profiles. Drawing on survey data from 1,019 Hong Kong kindergarten teachers, we compared the music-specific PD needs of beginning, experienced, and advanced teachers focusing on PD content, facilitators, formats, and activities. Participants demanded PD: (1) centered on how to foster children’s musical creativity via theme-based activities; (2) facilitated by experts in pedagogy and music performance, (3) conducted as workshops and mentoring sessions; and (4) focused on observation, skill acquisition, and practice. Significant differences were found across groups, which indicates that teaching experience must be carefully considered when designing responsive PD. Copyright © 2022 AERA.

In Hong Kong, improving STEM education has become timely since the government launched policy initiatives in 2016, which substantially impacted STEM education practices. Teacher education is of special importance in constructing the aspirations of pre-service teachers and offering professional training for a more gender equitable future in the era of STEM. Professional teachers are believed to be crucial for inspiring future students to use science and innovative technology with global and ethical awareness and for building student aspirations for STEM-related occupations and professions.This paper reports on a study that used educational ethnography methods to examine the life stories (as cross-case studies) of eight pre-service, women teachers majoring in STEM-related programs at the largest teacher training university in Hong Kong. We applied a conceptual framework that explains the socio-cultural construction of STEM teacher identity. The iterative processes of thematic coding discovered 4 themes from the qualitative data of educational autobiography and follow-up interviews. They are (1) motivations for aspiring to become STEM teachers, (2) gender stereotyping and STEM performance, (3) gender and aspirations for teaching STEM, and (4) gender and STEM teacher identity.Empirical findings of this study show that although gender inequalities within STEM education and the local education system are not readily apparent, gender stereotyping in STEM fields still exists in the society and schools of Hong Kong. Despite the availability of opportunities and resources for STEM education and teacher training, students in Hong Kong still hold subjectivities about gender disparities in science performance. Such gender biased perceptions of Hong Kong women students affect their everyday interactions and personal observations about gender differences and inequality. This paper illustrates how stereotypes about women in STEM can sometimes be perpetuated by everyday interactions

Along with the global trend of developing students’ 21st-century skills, teacher education must enable preservice teachers (PSTs) to improve students’ learning outcomes with Information and Communications Technology (ICT), and school practicum plays an essential role in the process. This study investigated Hong Kong PSTs’ ICT competency with or without teaching practicum completed and explored factors contributing to ICT competency in and beyond the practicum. This mixed-methods study began with a questionnaire to give a broad picture of the ICT competence of Hong Kong PSTs of English (N = 127), who were found to perceive themselves as competent with educational technology and their competencies of understanding ICT related policy and using ICT for professional development was enhanced after school practicum. A purposeful subset of the sample (N = 10) was interviewed based on their ICT competency scores, exploring the factors shaping interviewees’ readiness and ICT use in their teaching practicum. It highlights that digital native students do not naturally transform into teachers with ICT competency to facilitate 21st-century learning, and the practicum could play a more critical role in enhancing their ICT competence to future-proof their skills. Promoting ICT-friendly school culture and designing better teaching practicum programmes are suggested. Copyright © 2022 National Institute of Education, Singapore.

Educational researchers, policymakers, and administrators agree that providing in-service teachers with high-quality professional development (PD) opportunities is essential to educational success. Despite the substantial sums invested in teacher PD by countries and jurisdictions, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused serious challenges to teacher learning around the world. As conventional face-to-face initiatives became impracticable (e.g., workshops, conferences, school-based PD) and the need to prioritize pandemic-specific topics intensified (e.g., emergency remote teaching), teacher PD was recast both formally (where and how teachers engaged in PD) and substantively (what teachers sought to learn from PD). Amidst the international upheavals caused by COVID-19, how have teacher PD infrastructures (policies, practices, theories) responded? For this Special Issue, we put this and other questions before a panel of PD scholars in six contexts: United States, Scotland (United Kingdom), Uruguay, Australia, United Arab Emirates, and Hong Kong (SAR China). In their respective contributions, authors discuss issues such as the limitations of PD systems based on compliance and external accountability mechanisms, the need to center teacher motivation in existing PD frameworks, matters of access and equity, the importance of developing technological infrastructures for online and hybrid learning, problems of online safety and wellbeing, and more. The Special Issue shows that the uncertainty of today’s times requires new, global perspectives on PD design, implementation, evaluation, theory, and scholarship. To nurture agentic, highly motivated, and effective teachers for the pandemic era and beyond, countries and jurisdictions should think more creatively about how to best support teacher learning. Copyright © 2022 International Journal for Research in Education.

This study investigates the effects of student use of self-regulated learning (SRL) strategies on their computer programming achievement. Ninety-six students from undergraduate teacher training programmes offered by a Hong Kong university voluntarily participated in the study. Sixty-six of them were first-year students enrolling on an introductory Java programming course, while 30 were second-year students enrolling on an advanced Java programming course. The SRL strategies adopted by participants were measured by the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) and were exemplified from the reflective writing of their electronic portfolios. Their achievement in computer programming was evaluated using continuous and end of course assessments. The findings of this study suggest that higher-order cognitive strategies (i.e. elaboration, organization, critical thinking), metacognitive control strategies (i.e. self-regulation) and resource management strategies (i.e. time and study environment management, help seeking) are likely to facilitate a prolonged achievement of computer programming for both novices and non-novices. They can provide insights into designing adequate SRL strategy training to support student learning in computer programming. Copyright © 2021 SCHOLINK INC.