The growing concerns regarding the risks of transmitting the COVID-19 virus have intensified the job-related stressors commonly encountered by teachers in various cultural contexts. Evidence shows how the COVID-19 crisis has negatively impacted teachers' mental health outcomes such as stress, depression, and quality of life, which highlights the significance of designing psychological programs to boost teachers' well-being. This study examined the effects of a well-being intervention based on the Positivity, Relationship, Outcomes, Strength, Purpose, Engagement, and Resilience (PROSPER) framework on well-being outcomes among 76 in-service teachers (Mage = 26.05 years, SD = 4.71, range = 20–45; female = 93.4%) in Hong Kong. Participants completed survey measures associated with the seven PROSPER outcomes at baseline and 2-month follow-up. Multivariate regression analysis indicated that there were statistically significant multivariate effects for intervention conditions, Wilks' Lambda F(7, 58) = 4.50, p =.01. Results demonstrated that teachers who were assigned to the intervention condition (n = 36) had significantly higher scores than those in the control condition (n = 40) on positivity (b = 0.41, 95% CI [0.16, 0.65], p =.01), strength (b = 0.62, 95% CI [0.23, 1.01], p =.01), purpose (b = 0.61, 95% CI [0.18, 1.04], p =.01), and resilience (b = 0.57, 95% CI [0.07, 1.07], p =.04). Our findings provide evidence on the mental health benefits of the PROSPER-based psychological intervention program for preschool teachers. Copyright © 2022 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

This study assessed the effect of a teacher professional development (PD) programme that incorporated culturally responsive teaching on Chinese kindergarten teachers’ perceptions of learning motivation of ethnic minority (EM) vs. Chinese pupils in Hong Kong. The moderating role of classroom ethnic composition was examined. Forty-five teachers in the intervention group attended 20 sessions of PD courses over 10 months, whereas 40 teachers who did not attend the current programme formed a control group. Pre- and post-tests were conducted to assess teacher perceptions of learning motivation and engagement of Chinese and EM pupils. Hierarchical structure of data was accounted for with multilevel modelling. Results showed that the intervention resulted in positive changes in teacher perceptions of learning motivation of EM (vs. Chinese) pupils among teachers working in classrooms with low proportions of EM pupils when compared to teachers in the control group. The findings highlighted that teachers’ cultural diversity training programmes should be evaluated in relation to classroom ethnic composition and other contextual factors that influence the quality and frequency of interethnic contact. Copyright © 2022 International Review of Finance Ltd.

Introduction: Movement behaviours in childhood are believed to track to adulthood, potentially impacting later life. The Guidelines on Physical activity, Sedentary behaviour and Sleep for Children under five years of age by the World Health Organisation was adopted by the Centre for Health Protection in Hong Kong. It is being disseminated to early childhood education centres (ECECs) who had volunteered to join a campaign on healthy eating and physical activity. ECEC educators who are aware and knowledgeable of movement guidelines could help promote healthy movement behaviours. We assessed early childhood educators’ awareness and knowledge of the movement guidelines for young children in Hong Kong. Methods: Invitations to participate in an online survey were sent to registered local ECECs. Teachers (N = 301) responded to close-ended questions that were adapted from previous studies that measured the awareness (i.e., whether they had seen or heard of them) and knowledge of physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and sleep guidelines for children aged two to six years. Additional questions enquired about the background of the respondents (i.e., professional qualification, age, sex) and the contexts in which physical activities were being implemented in ECEC settings. Results: Majority of the participants reported awareness and knowledge, respectively, of the guidelines for physical activity (88%, 87%), sedentary behaviour (70%, 80%), and sleep (58%, 84%) of young children. Smaller portions of the participants reported the correct recommended time for physical activity (23%), sedentary behaviour (25%), and sleep (62%). Teachers who have higher degree qualifications tended to be aware of the guidelines for physical activity (Χ2=9.56, p=0.04) and sedentary behaviour (Χ2=13.20, p=0.01), more so than those with lower qualifications. Physical activities were reportedly promoted in ECEC settings during free play (81%), outdoor activities (73%), indoor games (66%), and other learning

Objectives: The current study examined whether hope and mindfulness were associated with changes in two maladjustment measures, internalizing and externalizing behaviors, during the COVID-19 pandemic and tested sense of coherence as a mediator. The salutogenic theory of health, which posits that sense of coherence is central to individuals’ well-being in stressful situations and that individuals derive their sense of coherence from their generalized resistance resources (GRRs), was used to guide the analyses. Methods: On two occasions separated by about 6 months, 253 Hong Kong college students (mean age = 21.0 years at time 1; 86% of them were women) filled in online questionnaires during the COVID-19 outbreaks. Path analysis was conducted to examine the interrelationships among hope and mindfulness, sense of coherence, and internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Results: Results indicated that hope and mindfulness at time 1 were associated with internalizing and externalizing behaviors at time 2, even after controlling for confounding variables and prior levels of internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Moreover, sense of coherence at time 1 significantly mediated these associations. Conclusions: Findings pointed to the potential roles of hope, mindfulness, and sense of coherence in understanding Chinese college students’ adjustment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Future research is needed to test whether sense of coherence and behavioral adjustment can be promoted through hope- and mindfulness-based intervention programs. Future research is also needed to examine the interrelationships among health-promoting assets, sense of coherence, and individual adjustment in samples of diverse cultural backgrounds. Copyright © 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.

In the face of COVID-19, many schools have to educate their students using online activities. During this time, whether and how parents are involved may be of particular importance for young children—who are less able to learn independently via the Internet due to their developmental immaturity. Therefore, this study examined the cross-sectional association of maternal involvement in child online learning with child adjustment during the COVID-19 pandemic and tested maternal mindfulness as a moderator. Data were collected from 236 mothers of kindergarten-aged children (mean age = 55.91 months; 75% of them were girls) during the fourth wave of COVID-19 outbreak in Hong Kong, China. Using paper-and-pencil questionnaires, mothers rated their involvement and mindfulness and their children’s pre-academic ability and internalizing and externalizing behaviors and provide demographic information. Regression models revealed that maternal involvement was associated positively with child pre-academic ability and negatively with child internalizing behaviors, but such associations were only significant for children with more mindful mothers. Maternal mindfulness did not moderate the negative association between maternal involvement and child externalizing behaviors. Findings highlighted the role of maternal mindfulness in child development, suggesting that it may be crucial to promote maternal involvement and mindfulness during the pandemic and perhaps beyond. Copyright © 2022 The Author(s).

Background: Healthy movement behaviors in early childhood are believed to track to adulthood, potentially imparting protective benefits against non-communicable diseases. Highlighting the collaborative and complementary roles of parents and educators in promoting health of young children, this study aims to enable parents and teachers to successfully promote healthy movement behaviors in young children. Guidelines for physical activity, sedentary screen time, and sleep of children aged 2 to 6 years will be systematically disseminated to parents and teachers of children enrolled in early childhood education centers (ECECs) in Hong Kong. An evaluation will be conducted to assess the implementation process and the outcomes of the dissemination of said guidelines. Methods: The evaluation will include formative and summative components to examine the implementation (i.e., process evaluation) and the outcomes (i.e., outcome evaluation). Participants include teachers, parents, and children from ECECs in Hong Kong. The process evaluation will be guided by the RE-AIM framework (i.e., reach, efficacy, adaptation, implementation, maintenance). Data gathering and analysis will take a mixed-methods triangulation design - convergence model. The outcome evaluation consists of a non-randomized observational study, using quantitative data from questionnaires and accelerometers. The primary outcome to be measured is the extent to which children meet the guidelines for physical activity, sedentary screen time, and sleep; the secondary outcome is teachers’ and parents’ knowledge and awareness of the guidelines. Discussion: Young children who engage in healthy movement behaviors are likely to become adults who will have the disposition to engage in behaviors that have protective effects against non-communicable diseases. The findings of this evaluation are expected to contribute to improving the strategies of systems and government agencies that aspire to promote healthy movement behaviors

Research Findings: This cross-sectional study examined the class- and child-level associations of social-emotional competence with behavioral and academic adjustment among Chinese kindergarten children and tested teacher collectivistic socialization goals as a moderator. Participants were 523 kindergarten children and their mothers and class teachers from Hong Kong, China. The mean age of children was 4.37 years (SD = 0.60), and 53% of them were boys. Using paper-and-pencil questionnaires, class teachers rated children’s social-emotional competence and their own socialization goals, and mothers rated children’s externalizing behaviors and school readiness and provided demographic information. Also, in structured interviews, children completed a Chinese word reading test. Multilevel models indicated that, controlling for child gender and age, mother age and education, and teacher experience of teaching, the class average of child social-emotional competence – which indicated the overall social-emotional climate of the classroom – was linked negatively to child externalizing behaviors and positively to child school readiness and Chinese word reading ability. Moreover, children who scored higher on social-emotional competence – compared to their own class average (i.e., their everyday companions) – scored lower on externalizing behaviors and higher on school readiness. There was no evidence of the moderating role of teacher socialization goals, however. Practice or Policy: Findings pointed to the utility of using class-wide initiatives to promote the overall classroom climate and using child-specific activities to promote individual social-emotional development. Copyright © 2021 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

The way culturally responsive teaching is employed in school settings in non-Western contexts is unclear. The question of how to teach Chinese effectively to ethnic minority (EM) children in Hong Kong has recently attracted much attention because their generally low level of Chinese language proficiency hinders their education and social integration. This study investigated teachers’ competence in utilizing culturally responsive teaching to teach Chinese to EM children in kindergartens. Focus group interviews were conducted with 43 teachers from 20 kindergartens. The results showed that teachers from kindergartens with a high concentration of EM children were more competent in adapting their teaching methods to cater for EM children’s learning styles and educational needs. However, teachers from low concentration kindergartens were less competent in incorporating multicultural elements in curriculum design and teaching materials. They demonstrated a more monocultural mindset in teaching Chinese to EM children. Teachers from high concentration kindergartens developed a better understanding of EM cultures, were more caring and had higher expectations of EM children. Implications for teacher education, school level and policy were discussed. Copyright © 2021 National Institute of Education, Singapore.

Background: Studies have shown that word dictation and syntactic skills are significant predictors of written composition performance among Chinese children in elementary grades. However, there is a paucity of research on the bidirectional relationships between these two cognitive‐linguistic skills (i.e., word dictation and syntactic skills) and Chinese writing skills. Methods: This paper reports the findings of a 1‐year longitudinal study tracking the developmental patterns of Chinese writing among students in Grades 3 and 5 in Hong Kong. The participants were administered tasks involving cognitive‐linguistic skills (working memory, word dictation and syntactic skills) and writing skills (narrative writing and expository writing). Results: Multiple regression analysis revealed that word dictation and syntactic skills in Grades 3 and 5 were significant longitudinal predictors of Chinese written composition performance in Grade 4 and Grade 6. Syntactic skills, but not word dictation, contributed a significant amount of unique variance to writing performance after controlling for the autoregressor effect of writing. The results also showed that written composition performance in Grades 3 and 5 contributed unique variance to individual differences in syntactic skills in Grades 4 and 6, after controlling for syntactic skills in the preceding year and other cognitive‐linguistic variables. Conclusion: The patterns of results underscore the significance of syntactic skills in Chinese written composition in upper elementary grades and the bidirectional relationship between syntactic skills and written composition in Chinese. Highlights: What is already known about this topicChinese word dictation, syntactic skills and verbal working memory are the major types of developmental skills important in Chinese writing among children in elementary grades. What this paper addsThe longitudinal contribution of word dictation to writing performance across grades was mediated by the contribution