In this chapter, we report on an inquiry exploring experiences of ten elite mainland Chinese student teachers of English as to understand why they came to Hong Kong for the teacher education programme. The study revealed that these students were largely attracted to teaching in Hong Kong because of its extrinsic benefits such as professional stability, the prestige associated with the English language teaching profession, and the opportunities to acquire valued skills transferable to other professions including English competence. Facing challenges as non-local students, they were also uncertain of becoming teachers in the new context. This raises questions as to how these talented non-local teachers can be retained in Hong Kong’s schools.
[Copyright © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht]

The processes of “becoming a teacher” are dynamic, fluid, and ongoing (Britzman (2003). Within contemporary multilingual educational settings the uncertainties and challenges of becoming an English language teacher are especially pronounced as the often conflicting values and interests of different stakeholders ensures that language-in-education policy is frequently a source of educational, political, and social tension (Li 2009; Tollefson and Tsui 2004; Tsui and Tollefson 2007). For language teachers and teacher educators working within such settings these challenges are currently being played out against a larger background of transition as forces of globalization reshape teaching and teacher education in general (Bates 2008) and as second language teacher education in particular seeks “a new identity as it draws on new knowledge and employs new pedagogic practices” (Wright 2010, p. 288). The studies in this book have therefore addressed the need to better understand the ways in which issues of language, teaching, and teacher education shape and are shaped by the experiences of becoming an English language teacher within multilingual contexts such as Hong Kong and the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

In this chapter, I report on a study investigating the construction of teacher identity of a group of mainland Chinese pre-service teachers of English in a Teacher Education Institute in Hong Kong. The study revealed that the participants experience and express opposing and potentially contradictory identities. They were found to negotiate their identities with the positionings from peers, students, prospective schools and social discourses. It was also found that they construct legitimacy in the professional community drawing on their own linguistic and cultural repertoire. This study offers a way of thinking about teacher formation as a process of identity development and extends understandings of the interconnected relations of discourse and identity in such contexts.
[Copyright © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht]

Chapters 2 and 3 considered the challenges mainland Chinese preservice teachers experience in becoming English language teachers in Hong Kong. This chapter continues to explore the perceived challenges of becoming an English language teacher in multilingual contexts such as Hong Kong from the perspective of local Hong Kong preservice teachers. The current chapter discusses the results of a qualitative study that aimed to explore how one group of preservice English language teachers in Hong Kong constructed their identities as teachers. Using in-depth interviews to gain a rich understanding of participants’ teacher identity formation in practice and discourse, the perspectives of six preservice teachers about teaching and teachers at the completion of their undergraduate teacher education program are examined. In contrast to the theorization of teacher identity construction, the results suggest that the participants often held rigid views about teaching and how they saw themselves, and others, as teachers. It is argued that this rigidity may lead to antagonistic relations between these preservice teachers and their more experienced colleagues as the participants move into teaching and explores the implications for challenging this rigidity within the context of teacher education programs.
[Copyright © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht]

A teacher shortage in Hong Kong in core subjects, such as English, has led to interest in the recruitment and retention of teachers. In Chap. 6, it was argued that recruiting large numbers of non-local students to undergraduate teacher education programs does not necessarily offer a reliable solution to this difficulty and suggests the need to explore alternative routes through which teachers may be recruited. This chapter considers one such alternative, namely the role second career teachers could play in meeting possible teacher shortages in multilingual contexts such as Hong Kong. The chapter draws upon Wenger’s (Communities of practice. Learning, meaning, and identity. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1998) theory of identity formation and using data from interviews with eight second-career English language teachers in Hong Kong, this chapter explores how second-career teachers may be better supported in their professional development. The study found that second-career teachers’ skills and experiences were not valued within their schools and that this was reflected in a rigid division the participants drew between the institutionally endorsed identity positions made available to them and the type of teachers they wanted to be. In response to this antagonism, second-career teachers used their position of non-participation to establish identity territories that connected aspects of their first-career identities such as engineers and managers to their emerging teacher identities. It is suggested that non-participation, a potentially negative experience in Wenger’s (Communities of practice. Learning, meaning, and identity. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1998) framework, was deployed by this group of teachers to create the space they needed to enact their own preferred teacher identities. Implications for attracting and retaining second-career teachers are discussed.
[Copyright © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht]

Along with the increasing global emphasis on creativity, creative teaching has become an issue of concern for a large number of researchers. This study addresses this issue by exploring the belief of Hong Kong teachers on creative teaching. The research results obtained through qualitative approach show that the beliefs of Hong Kong teachers about creative teaching cover process and product dimensions. The informants can be grouped into five categories with reference to their various preferences. The evidence shows that a part of the beliefs of Hong Kong teachers is aligned with ideal theoretical framework advanced by scholars. The deficiency and problems in the belief of teachers in creative teaching are also discussed in this paper.
[Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.]

Educational researchers in Hong Kong has pointed out the inadequacy of the competency-based teacher education program in the past decade. A qualitative pilot study was conducted to examine how an inquiry-based Integrated Field Studies (IFS) course could help to facilitate early childhood teachers to become researchers of their own practice. The research project also examined how their learning experiences facilitate their professional growth throughout the course. The main data source for this study was semi-structured and individual in-depth interviews of in-service early childhood teachers. Additional data, such as, the participants’ written reports and IFS handbooks, were also collected for data analysis. The findings showed that the IFS courses were characterized by several features which could help enhance the growth of the teachers. They included: Freedom of choice on individual student’s area of interest for investigation; students being perceived as active learners; an opportunity for a continual and practical research experience; the provision of an interactive learning environment and a supportive role played by the supervisor. The study advocates a collaboration between the supervisor and the students to inquire into their teaching and learning experiences in future study.
[Copyright © 2014 CGPublisher.]

In response to the perceived ‘feminisation’ of primary school teaching, educational authorities in many countries have implemented policies designed to encourage more men to take up teaching positions in primary schools. While challenges to the efficacy of such policies have emerged in the literature, limited attention has been given to the voice of male primary school teachers themselves. Using a qualitative multiple case study approach, this study addresses this imbalance by examining how five male primary school teachers construct professional identities within Hong Kong primary schools. In-depth interviews give voice to these male primary school teachers, revealing the dominant discourses that make available certain identity positions to all primary school teachers in Hong Kong. The study explores how these five teachers exercise individual agency as they struggle to be recognised as competent members of a community of primary school teachers. The case studies also describe the limits to such personal agency, suggesting the need for policy initiatives that support the identity work of all primary school teachers by going beyond calls for the recruitment of greater numbers of male primary teachers. Some of the ways in which educational policy and practice could provide such support are considered and implications for future research are discussed.
[Copyright © 2014 Taylor & Francis.]

Teaching assistants (TAs) play an influential role in primary and secondary schools. But there is an absence in literature about the TA’s efficacy, and to date no instrument is available for measuring TA’s efficacy. The present study aims to develop and validate a scale (Teaching Assistant Efficacy Scale, TAES) for measuring TA’s efficacy on identified capabilities. A total of 531 teaching assistants from Hong Kong schools participated in the survey. The multidimensional Rasch model was used to analyse the data. The results revealed that a 5-dimension structure of TA’s efficacy was supported. The final 30-item version of TAES assesses TA’s efficacy on learning support, teaching support, behaviour management, cooperation, and administrative support. The Rasch reliabilities for all five dimensions were around 0.90. The 6-category response structure worked well for the scale. Further research was recommended to validate and test the robustness of the TAES both in Hong Kong and elsewhere.