This paper draws on the experiences of nine secondary school teachers in Hong Kong who conducted practitioner research (PR) in their Liberal Studies classrooms. The purpose of the study is to 1) investigate the impact and effectiveness of PR as a teacher professional development strategy and 2) identify effective support from the university team addressing the challenges relevant to an Asia-Pacific context. The study employed a qualitative design. Data were drawn from teacher interviews, meetings between the research team and the teachers, school documents and field notes. Findings suggest that while contextual challenges exist, PR is an effective approach for teacher professional development. Teachers perceived the direct impact of PR as observing the improvement of pupil performance and engagement, and a readiness to adopt new teaching strategies. Teachers also reflected on the benefits of professional development as related to the use of evidence to support reflection on pupil learning and teaching, and redefining teachers’ roles. The findings provide insight into designing effective support and collaborative strategies for PR. With the support of the findings, a feasible approach to PR as a teacher professional development strategy relevant to an Asia-Pacific context is proposed. Copyright © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Teachers’ attitudes towards parental involvement play an important role in the ways they approach children’s families. This study examined Hong Kong pre-service early childhood teachers’ attitudes towards different types of parental involvement strategies and investigated whether these attitudes were related to the quality of relationships within their own family. Data were collected from 163 Hong Kong pre-service early childhood teachers via questionnaire. Results showed that engaging families in school decisions was perceived as the least important and feasible. The pre-service teachers also felt least confident in implementing it. There were, however, discrepancies in the perceived levels of importance, feasibility and confidence towards other types of parental involvement strategies. The levels of cohesion and expressiveness in pre-service teachers’ own families were positively related to their attitudes towards some types of parental involvement strategies. These findings suggest that teacher educators should take pre-service teachers’ family experiences into consideration when preparing them to work with children’s families. Copyright © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

In the past few decades, increasing demands have been placed on developing students' autonomy and critical thinking skills. To enhance students' agency in learning, teachers have been encouraged to adopt alternative pedagogical practices. The revamp of pedagogy needs to be reflected in assessment as it is an integral part of instruction. Practising teachers, however, lack assessment knowledge due to inadequate training during the pre-service preparation programmes. The enhancement of assessment knowledge is being urgently called for, which demands the professional development of teachers. This study seeks to investigate the impact of a professional development programme organized by a university in Hong Kong on the development of assessment knowledge of four teachers in two elementary schools. Findings indicate that the acquisition of assessment knowledge is a long-term achievement, which requires ongoing professional development efforts. Copyright © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

The theory-practice debate has been a perennial issue in initial teacher education (ITE). By reporting a mixed-methods study in an ITE programme characterized by a university-based 'theory-first' approach in Hong Kong, this study offers useful empirical evidence to analyse the theory-practice issue. 346 student teachers of a BEd Programme participated in the quantitative survey, 15 of whom were interviewed. The quantitative findings showed significant positive correlations between three types of perceived professional competence and two aspects of student teachers' engagement with the theory-practice link. The qualitative findings offered an in-depth understanding of the ways in which student teachers connected theoretical knowledge learned in ITE coursework and practical experience in ITE fieldwork in developing their professional competence: (1) theoretical knowledge as a guide for professional decisions and a tool for reflection on practice; (2) practicalizing theoretical knowledge: adapting theoretical knowledge to practice situations. In the process of engagement, theoretical knowledge was transformed and adapted to practice situations when student teachers coped with the challenges of the teaching contexts in their ITE fieldwork. While affirming the value of student teachers' engagement with the theory-practice link, the findings of the study shed light on ITE practices for preparing student teachers for such engagement. Copyright © 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

The theory-practice divide' in teacher education can be viewed not simply as an acceptance of a body of knowledge but instead an acceptance of the teacher educator's authority to determine what is relevant educational theory. This research aimed to explore student teachers' views of educational theory' and how it was discursively positioned relative to their practice in an attempt to examine whether their acceptance or rejection of it was also related to accepting the authority of the teacher educator. Using one-to-one interviews with 23 student teachers and employing a discourse analysis, four categories of students emerged. The paper describes these four categories and discusses the implications of these findings for initial teacher education and our understanding of the theory-practice' gap.

The physical, social and temporal dimensions of the classroom environment have an important role in children's learning. This study examines the level of support for child-centred learning, and its associated beliefs, that is provided by Hong Kong's pre-service early childhood teachers. Two hundred and seventy-five students from a pre-service early childhood teacher training programme completed a questionnaire; in general, these students believed that teachers should create physical, social and temporal environments which are child-centred in early childhood education settings. Linear regression analyses showed that the students' perceived importance of fostering children's social and communication competence in early childhood programmes, and their belief in children's competence in self-learning, were significant positive correlates of their level of support for all dimensions of child-centred learning environment. Their self-perceived competence in managing children's behaviours was, however, a significant negative correlate of their level of support for child-centred social and temporal environment. This study then discusses the implications of these findings for pre-service early childhood teacher education.

Data from primary school administrators about professional development in Hong Kong schools and its possible relationship with change and improvement were collected through interviews, a self-report instrument and targeted dominant professional development beliefs and practices. Incongruence between espoused administrator beliefs about professional development and practices in schools was found. Inconsistencies were evident in terms of planning, purposes, activities and teacher involvement. Administrators did not appear to associate strongly professional development with school improvement or change. It is suggested that administrators consider increasing involvement and building a environment based on norms of ongoing improvement. System support, particularly focused on encouraging broader understandings of professional development and greater contextualisation are needed.
[Copyright © 1996 Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business.]

Education systems around the world need to recruit highly motivated individuals to become teachers and prepare professionally competent teacher education graduates to take up these broadened and deepened roles and responsibilities with a deep and lasting engagement to the profession. This article reports on a mixed-methods study that examines types of teaching motivation in relation to various facets of professional competence and planned engagement in future teaching. One hundred and thirty-two student teachers of a postgraduate diploma in education programme participated in the quantitative survey of whom seven were interviewed. The quantitative data analysis shows the positive association between 'intrinsic-altruistic motivation constellation' and selected facets of professional competence, with 'intrinsic-multifaceted and stimulating job nature' as the most distinctive type of teaching motivation. To complement the quantitative findings, the qualitative data analysis reveals two professional orientations of the 'intrinsic-altruistic motivation constellation', namely (1) student-centred orientation and (2) subject-centred orientation. In addition, three types of professional development aspirations are identified: 'classroom engaged careerists', 'highly engaged persisters' and 'pessimists'. The study provides insights into the design of appropriate ITE practices to support professional learning in the light of student teachers' motivations. It also suggests the importance of matching career opportunities and beginning teachers' professional development aspirations and supporting 'pessimists' in the face of the stringent job market.
[Copyright of Journal of Education for Teaching is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2015.1010875]

This research explored the congruence and disparity between teachers' and students' attitudes towards French as a second language (L2) teaching strategies in a non-target language classroom context in the USA. The findings suggest students' and teachers' attitudes towards the direct and indirect teaching strategies were generally consistent, but not in terms of the collaborative teaching strategies. The findings also indicate that the beginner and elementary level students held different preferences for all the three teaching strategies. The underlying reasons could be learners' different language proficiency levels, and how well teachers execute these different teaching strategies in class. This study concludes with some implications for foreign language teacher education.
[Copyright of Journal of Education for Teaching is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2015.1044228]

Legitimate teacher authority is fundamental to effective teaching, but is often a thorny issue that teachers need to grapple with when teaching in cross-cultural teaching contexts. By interviewing 18 pre-service Chinese language teachers on their understanding of legitimate teacher authority throughout teaching practicum at international schools in Hong Kong, this study revealed that the teachers changed their perception about the essentiality and the nature of the pedagogical and interpersonal components of legitimate teacher authority. They developed a more nuanced and balanced understanding about legitimate teacher authority over time. However, their abilities in reaching the balance were constrained by their cultural knowledge and skills in achieving positive interpersonal dynamics when implementing student-centred pedagogies.
[Copyright of Journal of Education for Teaching is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2015.1081717]