The quality of the classroom teachers is a very significant determinant of the quality of an educational programme. One important indicator of a quality teacher is that he or she has high job satisfaction and hence is motivated. The education community needs to be knowledgeable and concerned about the factors in a teachers work environment which may enhance his or her feeling of job satisfaction. Considerable studies on teacher job satisfaction have been undertaken. However, surprisingly few inquiries have been done on the specific case of job satisfaction of kindergarten teachers. In Hong Kong this dearth of research on job satisfaction of kindergarten teachers is especially noticeable. However, in recent years, the quality of kindergarten teachers in Hong Kong is being addressed. The main concern of the study is on finding out the level of job satisfaction of kindergarten teachers. Also to identify the factors affecting the satisfaction and dissatisfaction of the target group will help to prepare and retain the motivated teaching force for the young children in Hong Kong. To investigate the job satisfaction of kindergarten teachers in Hong Kong in sufficient detail, qualitative research was used. Four informants were chosen to provide information for the study. These informants were selected on the basis that they had different length of working experience in the field. Three of them had worked in both profit-making as well as non profit-making kindergartens. The fourth one was a new teacher. Each of the informants was interviewed by the researcher separately. They were asked to describe how they feel about their teaching job. Then, they were asked to elaborate on factors that contribute to their satisfaction or otherwise. Contents of the interviews were analyzed.

Traditionally, Hong Kong teachers are trained and performed as subject teachers in the secondary schools. The present study aimed to explore teachers' beliefs about curriculum integration in a secondary school in Hong Kong. Curriculum integration in this particular school meant the fusion of three subjects, i.e. Geography, History and Economic and Public Affairs. Case study was adopted in this study. The unit of analysis was the individual teacher. Multiple methods were used, i.e. documentary evidence, interview and observation. Triangulation of data was ensured. It was found that the teachers generally perceived curriculum integration as a means to solve the problems of the crammed curriculum. Individual teachers' beliefs about integration varied according to their different profiles of professional development. Teachers' implementation was found in accordance with their beliefs. Discussions of the case were in three dimensions, i.e. the influence of school context on teachers' beliefs, the influence of teachers' personal judgments derived from past experiences and the dialectical relationship between teachers' working context and their personal judgments. The results of the study shed light on the literature of teacher development in the upheaval of curriculum innovation. For the policy makers, it is important for them to be aware of teachers' beliefs, which, as the results of the teachers' professional development, were significant factors to the access of curriculum innovation. For the teachers, it is important to help them to be aware of their own beliefs and their respective impact on educational practice.

The Sub-committee on Review of School Education, Board of Education has identified in their Report, March 1997, four major areas of concern in the implementation of compulsory education in Hong Kong. Effectiveness of learning in the classroom is one of them. The Sub-committee considers school culture/ethos a factor which is essential in enhancing teacher quality, and recommends that teachers should be encouraged to work in collaboration in planning and development of work in school. The present paper which describes the experience of a group of teacher educators working collaboratively in designing and implementing their curriculum on a module for the student teachers aims to explore the feasibility of the Sub-committee's recommendation in the tertiary setting. It is hoped that teachers in the primary and secondary schools can also share this experience and will be better equipped to carry out the recommendation of the Sub-committee.

The beliefs of a teacher may serve as the lens that affects his or her perception and interpretation of classroom experience in the world of teaching. Prior to becoming a trained teacher, students in pre-service and in-service early childhood teacher education programmes would have acquired certain beliefs about teaching young children, about children and how they learn, and about the goals and values of educating young children through “apprenticeship of teaching” in their experience of schooling, family and community life. In recent years, teacher educators who are concerned about reforming teacher education in Hong Kong have increasingly taken an interest in studying the impact of teacher education on teacher beliefs of pre-service and in-service teachers, as change in teacher beliefs is a crucial element in teacher development. In a series of related studies that we carried out either individually or as a team in the past years, we had access to teacher beliefs held by pre-service teachers at the time they joined a fulltime kindergarten teacher education programme, progressed through the programme, and in the first year of their teaching career as kindergarten teachers. We had access to teacher beliefs of in-service teachers before, during, and after going through teacher education. Studying the changes in teacher beliefs before, during, and after receiving teacher education will shed light on the impact of pre-service as opposed to in-service teacher education programmes in Hong Kong. For the purpose of gauging changes in teacher belief during and after receiving teacher education, we benchmarked teacher beliefs of kindergarten teachers at four points in the teacher development process: novice teacher, teacher-in-training, trained but inexperienced teachers, as well as trained and experienced teachers. Data were collected by individual interviews, focused group interviews, stimulated recall of classroom experience, and classroom observation and debriefing. As change