The authors examined the confidence of teachers from Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, and the United States (N = 1,375) to address civic topics with their students. The authors also used differential item functioning models to examine responses to items from the Teacher Confidence Scale of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement's Civic Education Study (J. Torney-Purta, R. Lehmann, H. Oswald, & W. Schulz, 2001; J. Torney-Purta, J. Schwille, & J. Amadeo, 1999). National case-study data explained findings within each context. Results revealed that the confidence of teachers varied when they addressed civic topics. Furthermore, teacher confidence varied as a function of country of residence. Case studies supported quantitative findings. Society-based factors, school-based factors, and public discourse illuminated effects of national context on teacher confidence.
[Copyright of Journal of Educational Research is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.3200/JOER.101.3.177-188 ]

Beginning teachers encounter new challenges as the role system in contemporary society has become more and more demanding. By means of the life history method, role management strategies of four Hong Kong beginning teachers employed to cope with role demands and intra-role conflicts were located in their biographical, workplace and wider social-historical contexts. The study shows that strategies such as qualification matching, definition searching, strategic compliance and strategic redefinition were adopted in the professional socialization process. The employment of certain role management strategies, which was related to the novices' human agency, the structure and culture in the workplace as well as the rewards and punishment embedded in the wider social context, had an impact on the development of beginning teachers' professional identity.
[Copyright of Teacher Development is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13664530500200260 ]