This study investigated the relationships between students' self-efficacy and self-concept for learning languages and students' academic achievement in learning English and Chinese. 1092 eighth to eleventh graders from four Hong Kong secondary schools completed questionnaires reporting their self-efficacy, self-concept and academic results for Chinese language and English language. Results indicated that Chinese language self-efficacy and self-concept were significant predictors for Chinese language learning achievements. English language self-efficacy and self-concept predicted both students' English and Chinese learning achievements. These results provide some support for both the domain specificity of self-efficacy and the internal/external frame of reference effect. There is also support for the notion that learning English language facilitates the learning of Chinese language but not the other way around.
[Copyright of Asia-Pacific Education Researcher is the property of Springer.]

According to the Hong Kong Education Bureau, the number of students with special education needs (SEN) has been on the rise. In order to cope with an increasing demand for inclusive education, professional training programmes aiming for pre-service teachers to educate students with SEN have increased locally. Guided by the theory of planned behaviour, this study aims to investigate the relations between Chinese pre-service teachers' views and self-efficacy in implementing inclusive education in Hong Kong. A total of 94 Chinese pre-service teachers were recruited at a public university to complete an online questionnaire. Controlling for age, teaching experience, and relevant training, differential effects were found between pre-service teachers' views and self-efficacy. Specifically, teachers' positive attitudes towards inclusion were related to their greater self-efficacy in implementing inclusive instructions and managing students' behaviours. Teachers' fewer sentiments about inclusion were related to their greater self-efficacy in collaborating with parents and professionals. Teachers' fewer concerns about knowledge, workload, and overall feasibility were also related to their greater self-efficacy in collaboration and behavioural management. These findings broaden the literature and inform policy makers the need to strengthen teachers' efficacy by reducing practical barriers and increasing their positive attitudes towards inclusion. Copyright © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

This study examined teaching efficacy for inclusive practice in a pre-post matched-sample of 737 teachers in Hong Kong taking a basic university-level course in inclusive education. The results demonstrate that regardless of demographic variables such a course is effective in improving teacher efficacy for inclusive practice, with female teachers making larger gains in the area of managing behaviour when compared to their male counterparts. Further, increased knowledge of legislation and policy, and a reduction in concerns about inclusive teaching were found to be the major predictors of improved teaching efficacy for inclusive practice.
[Copyright of International Journal of Inclusive Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2013.819941]

The evidence suggests that emotional intelligence and personality traits are important qualities that workers need in order to successfully exercise a profession. This article assumes that the main purpose of universities is to promote employment by providing an education that facilitates the acquisition of abilities, skills, competencies and values. In this study, the emotional intelligence and personality profiles of two groups of Spanish students studying degrees in two different academic disciplines - computer engineering and teacher training were analysed and compared. In addition, the skills forming part of the emotional intelligence and personality traits required by professionals (computer engineers and teachers) in their work were studied, and the profiles obtained for the students were compared with those identified by the professionals in each field. Results revealed significant differences between the profiles of the two groups of students, with the teacher training students scoring higher on interpersonal skills; differences were also found between professionals and students for most competencies, with professionals in both fields demanding more competencies that those evidenced by graduates. The implications of these results for the incorporation of generic social, emotional and personal competencies into the university curriculum are discussed.
[Copyright of Studies in Higher Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2013.777410]

This study focused on the collaborative structure-building behavior of school principals and examined how such behavior affects teacher empowerment. More important, it tested the mediating effects of participative management and learning culture. By collecting nested data from 104 schools in Hong Kong and adopting multilevel structural equation modeling, we found that teachers' sense of autonomy and self-efficacy were correlated at the individual level but were independent at the school level. The effect of building collaborative structures on teachers' self-efficacy was mediated by both participative management and learning culture, whereas the effect on autonomy was mediated by participative management only. The findings contribute to the literature in at least 2 ways. First, the inclusion of both principal leadership and school-level factors provides more refined predications of teacher empowerment. Second, the testing of the theory-grounded hypotheses in an Asian society verifies the validity of certain cultural assertions about this region.
[Copyright of School Effectiveness and School Improvement is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09243453.2014.888086]

The personal development of students is an essential component of school guidance and counselling programmes, but no published research on guidance and counselling has investigated the effects of regular classroom teaching on students' self-efficacy for personal development. In this study, questionnaire items were constructed to measure classroom teaching, student self-efficacy for personal development and student use of deep learning strategies. Data were collected from 16,208 secondary school students in Hong Kong. Using structural equation modelling, regular classroom teaching was found to have a direct effect on personal development self-efficacy as well as an indirect effect through student use of deep learning strategies. Implications of these findings for implementing a whole-school approach to guidance and counselling are discussed.
[Copyright of British Journal of Guidance & Counselling is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03069885.2012.721126]