This study adopts a social capital perspective to explore the characteristics of “Family-School-Community” partnership model in the kindergarten settings and how these partnerships influence play-based learning implementation. Data were collected through curriculum documents and focus group interviews with 49 participants. Findings revealed that bonding social capital was resided in teacher groups and exhibited in form of various professional development activities. Bridging and linking social capitals where those relationships are developed through the collaborations between home, kindergarten and society. Such partnerships bring about important resources facilitating play-based learning curriculum practices in the kindergartens. The proposed explanatory model may shed a light of providing early childhood practitioners and researchers with a social capital perspective of how to develop an effective play-based learning. Copyright © 2020 All Academic, Inc.

This study examined the relationships between professional learning communities (PLCs), principal leadership practices and teacher commitment to kindergartens among 2,120 educators from 153 Hong Kong kindergartens. The relationships were analyzed at both school and teacher levels using multilevel structural equation modeling. The result showed that at both levels, leadership practices promoted PLCs and exerted an indirect effect on teacher commitment through collaborative activities. Moreover, an indirect effect through reflective dialogue and a direct effect of leadership practices on teacher commitment were found at the teacher level. In contrast, the mediating effects of collective focus on student learning were insignificant at both levels. ECE principals are encouraged to introduce PLCs to promote teacher learning and commitment in the time of reforms. Copyright © 2020 All Academic, Inc.

Teachers’ attitudes towards curriculum change are crucial in determining the success of implementation. This study examined the relationships between kindergarten teachers’ perceptions of instructional leadership, efficacy, trust in colleagues and behavioral intentions to implement play-based learning in Hong Kong. Data were collected from 542 Hong Kong kindergarten teachers who participated in a survey. The results showed that instructional leadership was positively association with teachers’ behavioral intentions to implement play-based learning directly and indirectly through teacher efficacy and trust in colleagues. The findings affirm that principals and curriculum leaders played a key role in cultivating a supportive leadership which helped form teachers’ positive attitudes towards curriculum reform. Moreover, enhancing trust in colleagues could develop teachers’ efficacy beliefs for practicing play-based learning. Copyright © 2020 All Academic, Inc.

This study examined the perceptions of two groups of teachers, namely Secondary 3 and Secondary 6, regarding effective pedagogical practices in relation to curriculum reform. A total of 1,215 teachers from 91 secondary schools participated in the study. Collaborative inquiry, instructional strategy and catering for learner diversity were conceived as the three most effective pedagogical practices for implementation of the reforms while seven perceived student learning outcomes were also identified. Further multi-group analyses supported invariance between the two teacher groups in their perceptions of student learning when applying the three pedagogical practices in the classrooms. Results of path analyses revealed that Secondary 6 teachers viewed collaborative inquiry as having a significant effect on all aspects of student learning, but such impacts were not seen as very likely in the view of Secondary 3 teachers. On the contrary, Secondary 3 teachers conceived instructional strategy as the most effective way to enhance student learning. Catering for learner diversity had a positive association with various aspects of student learning in the view of both teacher groups. The study concludes with the implication for enhancing professional development of teachers. Copyright © 2021 National Institute of Education, Singapore.

In this study, a modified version of the Curriculum Orientation Inventory for Early Childhood Education (COI-ECE) is developed and validated with a sample of 717 in-service teachers from fifty Hong Kong pre-primary schools. Results of confirmatory factor analysis show that the curriculum beliefs of pre-primary school teachers can be conceptualised into four dimensions: humanistic, cognitive process/academic, technological, and social reconstruction orientations. Results also reveal that pre-primary school teachers hold strong humanistic orientation beliefs while cognitive process/academic orientation beliefs are held less strongly. Further analyses by one-way ANOVA tests find that differences in curricular orientation beliefs are related to teachers’ educational level and teaching position. This study reaffirms the importance of implementing an integrated developmentally appropriate curriculum in promoting whole-child development in children’s early years. The implications for supporting and sustaining teachers’ curriculum-based planning and subsequent teaching practices will be discussed. Copyright © 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.

In response to the needs for kindergarten principals to foster teachers' capacities and commitment, this study examined the relationships between professional learning communities, principal leadership practices, and teacher commitment to kindergartens among 2106 teachers from 153 Hong Kong kindergartens, analyzing by using multilevel structural equation modeling. The result showed that principal leadership practices facilitated the development of professional learning communities at school and teacher levels, and exerted a direct effect on teacher commitment at the teacher level. However, the mediating effects of different professional-learning-community components were found distinctive. Implications for leading kindergartens in the reform time are discussed. Copyright © 2021 The Author(s).

This study examined kindergarten teachers’ behavioural intentions to implement play-based learning and its relationship to two types of facilitating factors: organisational (i.e., instructional leadership and trust in colleagues) and individual (i.e., teacher self-efficacy). Structural equation modelling examining the direct and mediating effects was conducted on data collected from 542 Hong Kong kindergarten teachers. The results showed that principal instructional leadership was positively associated with teachers’ intentions to implement play-based learning directly and indirectly through trust in colleagues and teacher self-efficacy. Teachers with higher efficacious beliefs showed more active intentions to implement play-based learning. These findings highlight the importance of creating conducive organisational conditions and enhancing teacher self-efficacy for the implementation of play-based learning in kindergartens. Copyright © 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.

Extending Shulman’s work, this study investigated kindergarten teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge in developing play-based learning. Data were collected from focus group interviews with 29 teachers, head teachers, and principals in Hong Kong. Findings suggested the development of play-based learning is contextual. Teachers believed that ongoing complexities and dilemmas regulating their practice which required them to modify pedagogical strategies. Situated forms of knowledge were found as dispensable component shaping their professional practice. This study highlighted how teachers developed pedagogical wisdom to complement their practice involving the construction of effective play-based learning. Copyright © 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

This study examined the relationships between teachers' perceptions of faculty trust, professional learning communities, and their professional learning among a sample of 2106 Hong Kong kindergarten teachers. It analysed the differences between the effects of faculty trust in various stakeholders (i.e., colleagues, parents, and the principal). The results show that while trust in colleagues exerted a positive effect on teacher professional learning, the direct effects of trust in the principal and trust in parents were non-significant. Meanwhile, professional learning communities positively mediated the effects of teachers’ perceived faculty trust on their learning. Implications for teacher learning in kindergartens are presented. Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.