While teaching assistants (TAs) have experienced various employment challenges, little research has been done to examine factors affecting their well-being. Based on an extended Control-Value model in studying teachers’ emotions and well-being, the present study examined the relationship between primary school TAs’ Control-Value variables in the context of formative feedback practice (abbreviated as TFBCV), their emotional well-being, and other well-being indicators. 305 TAs from 184 primary schools in Hong Kong participated in this survey study. Usually, there is at least one TA to support students with special educational needs in each mainstream school in Hong Kong. This sample represents 39% of primary schools in Hong Kong given that each school has one TA to join this study and these participating schools. The results supported our hypotheses that TFBCV has significant direct effects on both a combined positive emotion and the two discrete positive emotions (Joy and Love). TFBCV also has a significant indirect effect on job satisfaction via positive emotions. Interestingly, job stress was nearly uncorrelated with TFBCV and positive emotions. We discuss implications for extending teacher well-being research to include the ‘missing’ but essential piece of TAs in the current literature. Copyright © 2023 The Author(s).

Globally prevalent, Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) have negative consequences on students’ social, intellectual, emotional, and post-school transition results. While assessment tools exist, the majority of them were developed from the perspective of clinical psychology and/or healthcare. Some are lengthy and commercialized, and some have weak factorial validity. A feasible and practical assessment method, from the perspective of educational psychology and assessment, is required to better accurately and effectively assess the social and academic performance of ASD students in inclusive settings. With an emphasis on teachers’ practice and output in helping students with ASD in inclusive education, this study evaluated the Practice and Product Inventory of Supporting Students with ASD (PPI-SSA) psychometric qualities. PPI-SSA was designed to be practical, concise, and especially suited for quantitative research on ASD. The inventory was administered to 411 teachers in Hong Kong, and exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses confirmed the PPI-SSA’s reliability and validity. A follow-up path analysis examined the concurrent validity of the PPI-SSA, revealing significant pathways between teachers’ intentions to implement inclusive education and each of the respective dimensions within the PPI-SSA. Measurement invariance results showed that the PPI-SSA demonstrated configural, metric, scalar, and residual invariance across primary and secondary teachers. The PPI-SSA, as a non-commercial instrument, has meaningful implications. It can facilitate the efficient collection of more empirical data on the social and academic achievements of students with ASD, informing evidence-based improvement of inclusive practices. It can assist in teachers’ practice to identify the diverse social and academic needs of students with ASD to align with their corresponding adjustments of teaching strategies. Copyright © 2023 by the authors.

Research reveals that generic skills are essential for supporting students to not only finish school education but also achieve transition to the workplace and adult life. However, a comprehensive literature review found limited studies have been done to develop an assessment tool for examining the generic skills of students with special educational needs (SEN). Based on two sub-studies, the current study aimed to develop a short form of the Generic Skills Teacher-Rating Scale (GSTS) to assess six generic skills (i.e., Collaboration, Communication, Problem-solving, Self-management, Information Technology, Critical thinking) of SEN students. A total of 231 Hong Kong students from six special schools (including primary and secondary levels) participated in the two studies. Both CFA and Rasch analyses support a six-factor solution of the GSTS with reasonably good model fit indices. Researchers and educators may view the GSTS as an assessment tool, adding more information on SEN students’ generic skills beyond classroom settings to understand the daily-life functioning of students in special education and inclusive education settings. Implications of the results and future directions are also discussed. Copyright © 2022 The Special Education Society of Hong Kong Ltd.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has brought challenges to families around the world. The prolonged school closures in Hong Kong have forced young students to stay at home and adapt to remote learning for over a year, putting their mental health conditions at risk. Focusing on primary school students and their parents, the main objective of our research is to investigate the socioemotional factors and their associations with mental health conditions. Methods: A total of 700 Hong Kong primary schoolers (mean age = 8.2) reported their emotional experiences, loneliness, and academic self-concept via a user-friendly online survey; 537 parents reported depression and anxiety, perceived child depression and anxiety, and social support. Responses from students and parents were paired to account for the family context. Structural Equation Modeling was used for correlations and regressions. Results: The results of students’ responses showed that positive emotional experiences were negatively associated with loneliness and positively related to academic self-concept among students. Furthermore, the paired sample results showed that, during the one-year societal lockdown and remote learning period, the socioemotional factors were associated with mental health conditions among primary school students and their parents. Among our family sample in Hong Kong, evidence supports the unique negative association between students-reported positive emotional experiences and parents-reported child depression and anxiety, as well as between social support and parents’ depression and anxiety. Conclusions: These findings highlighted the associations between socioemotional factors and mental health among young primary schoolers during the societal lockdown. We thus call for more attention to the societal lockdown and remote learning context, especially since the social distancing practice could be “the new normal” for our society to handle the future pandemic crisis. Copyright © 2023 The Author

Background: Students with special educational needs (SEN) often face dehumanization, which negatively impacts their mental health, daily functioning, and educational outcomes. This study seeks to address the research gap in dehumanization literature by examining the prevalence, dynamics, and consequences of self-dehumanization and other-dehumanization among SEN students. Moreover, by utilizing psychological experiments, the study aims to identify potential intervention strategies and make recommendations to minimize the negative psychological consequences derived from the dual model of dehumanization. Methods: This two-phase, mixed-methods study incorporates cross-sectional surveys and quasi-experimental designs. Phase 1 investigates the self-dehumanization of SEN students and other-dehumanization from non-SEN peers, teachers, parents, and the public. Phase 2 involves four experimental studies to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions emphasizing human nature and uniqueness in reducing self-dehumanization and other-dehumanization of SEN students, as well as their associated negative consequences. Discussion: The study fills a research gap by examining dehumanization in SEN students, applying dyadic modeling, and identifying potential solutions to ameliorate dehumanization and its negative consequences. The findings will contribute to the advancement of the dual model of dehumanization, increase public awareness and support for SEN students in inclusive education, and promote changes in school practice and family support. The 24-month study in Hong Kong schools is expected to provide significant insights into inclusive education in school and community settings. Copyright © 2023 The Author(s).

Teaching has often been discussed as skills hence teacher education is focused on promoting a certain set of competencies. The changing view of education has turned researchers to study the internal factor of teachers to account for teaching behavior that benefits learners. The current study is underpinned by self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000). It aims to identify work engagement as a significant factor that affect teachers to adopt teaching behavior that effectively supports learners, it also explores teachers social support behavior. It is a mixed method study including an investigation based on psychological measurement and a qualitative study based on interview. The paper first reports a survey study which is based on 309 Hong Kong junior secondary school teachers. The path analysis results showed that Work Engagement fully mediates the impact of Autonomy and Competence, as two factors of Psychological Need Satisfaction at Work, on teachers' Social Support giving. It then reports an interview study on twenty teachers as the second part study. The content analysis results suggest that social support is featured by teachers' use of questioning, dialogical feedback, authentic interaction, and metacogntive teaching in the classroom. Enabling learners to pursue a good life are identified as a common goal of teaching. The study provides a theoretical framework to explain teachers' engagement behavior. It contributes an important perspective that effective teaching and teaching competencies should be generated internally, suggesting that basic need satisfaction should be promoted as it support teacher development and student learning positively. The study also has important implications to make on teacher education and training. Copyright © 2022 RPIC.

Based on self-determination theory (SDT), this study examines the relationships of Basic Psychological Need (autonomy, competence, and relatedness) at Work (BPNW), Social Support Giving (SS), and Well-being measured by Psychological Meaningfulness, Health and Work Engagement. It addresses human beings’ integration in social environment, highlighting eudemonia satisfaction as the core of well-being. Results based on a survey on 309 Hong Kong teachers revealed that BPNW significantly predicts all the well-being indicators, the predictive patterns are mostly consistent with SDT. The results also inform that BPNW (competence and relatedness) predicts SS, and SS significantly predicts well-being. The study suggests the influential role of BPNW on teachers’ well-being, it endorses social support as an important instructional behaviour that would benefit teacher development. Implications to the development of SDT and enhancement programs promoting BPNW to boost teachers’ wellbeing will be discussed. Proposals to strengthen learning and teaching in school policies and practice are suggested. Copyright © 2021 HKERA-APERA International Conference.

Social support is a feature of instructional behaviour, it is an engaged behaviour of enthusiastic teachers. As an altruistic behaviour, teachers’ social support to students has been regarded as a factor that impact teachers’ well-being, however, this factor has yet to explore. The present study attempts to fill such research gap. The paper first reports a survey study based on 309 Hong Kong teachers. The path analysis results showed that Psychological Need Satisfaction at Work (BPNW) significantly predicts the three indicators of well-being, i.e. Psychological Meaningfulness, Health and Work Engagement. The predictive patterns of BPNW on well-being are mostly consistent. The results also suggested that the mediating effects of social support between BPNW and well-being indicators are small. Given the positive correlations with both BPNW and well-being indicators, social support can be regarded as an instructional behaviour that would benefit teacher development. The second part of the paper reports interviews of a sample of 15 teachers. Content analysis suggests that teachers’ source of satisfaction has largely derived from engaging with students, such as in assisting students’ growth, or developing good teacher-student relationships; teacher satisfaction derives from higher-order value of a job (i.e. serving students) that causes psychological meaningfulness and commitment. Implications to the development of enhancement programs promoting BPNW to boost teachers’ wellbeing and engaging teaching behaviour will be discussed. The study highlights eudemonia satisfaction as the core of well-being, for teachers, social support behaviour may be significant indicator of work engagement. Copyright © 2022 Tenth SELF International Conference.