Reflection is at the heart of continued professional development (Moore, 2002). Many educators view that reflective abilities are desirable characteristics of teachers (Gore and Zeichner, 1991; Herrmann and Sarracino, 1993). Killon and Todnem (1991) indicate in their study of in-service teachers that reflective thinking can be a tool for continued personal and professional development. My previous study (Tsui, 2004) corroborates their viewpoint. Empirical work on reflection in early childhood teachers in-service is seriously underplayed. The purposes of this study were to explore the elements of early childhood teachers' pedagogical reflection as well as factors affecting the development of reflective thinking among early childhood teachers in the authentic settings. Two beginning and two experienced early childhood teachers were recruited from four preschools in Hong Kong. All participants attended an intervention exercise within ten months. The interventions took the form of interviews, workshops and documents. Findings were emerged in the form of themes and categories: on reflective thinking, on children learning, interaction with children, teachers' teaching, curriculum issues, school context and personal characteristics. Several school factors as well as the mechanism of how these factors affecting reflective thinking and its development were identified in this study. We need to probe deeper into the factors, both school workplace conditions and personal factors.

This paper describes a study investigating the professional development of Hong Kong kindergarten teachers. Tracking the teaching and learning of 'play' of six front-line kindergarten teachers by means of the three levels of reflection put forward by Schon (1983, 1987), the study reveals the challenges in the professional lives of these teachers who are working under the conflicting demands and expectations of the society. The result shows that five out of the six informants are entrapped in a 'technicality' of teaching by developing an obsessive hunt for authentic teaching aids. Unfortunately, this behaviour perpetuates under the effect of a self-fulfilling prophecy working within these teachers. Mismatches between the teaching reform and a number of vital core factors for the reform to be succeeded are identified. This paper calls for a due attention to understand the complexities impeding the teaching reform. It echoes the concern of Bascia and Hargreaves (2000) and appeals to policy makers and the public for a fair demand on the role of teachers, who must not be hold accountable for all that is wrong with education, for the scale of the problems that teachers are expected to address just cannot be solved easily by the teachers themselves.

The Hong Kong government is often criticized for borrowing overseas educational ideas without making reference to local situations and socio-cultural contexts. Yet, policy, as a dominant discourse and a form of disciplinary power, has been a significant shaping force of local practice and particular understandings of early development and education. The presentation will provide a critical examination of such policy impact and challenge prevailing notions of quality.

The aim of the paper is to discuss the thinking process of a preschool teacher's knowledge of child development and the concept of creativity in designing art activities. The design of an art curriculum will reflect the adults' knowledge of child development (Morgan, 1995). Child development knowledge is very important in designing art activities for promoting children's creativity. The design of curriculum will depend on teacher's training, teaching experience, observation skills, concept of their theories of creativity and child development and the ability to reflect (Ngan 2006). Schon (1987) suggested 'theories-in-use' 'reflection-on-action', which indicate the importance of the teacher's thinking. A qualitative methodology was applied in a study of a typical preschool in Hong Kong. A semi-structured interview was conducted. Video-tape recordings of the classroom teaching was used as a stimulated recall of the activities to find out the rationale, focus of the activities and the reflection of the teacher. The findings indicate that the teacher needs to develop her observation skills in order to be more sensitive to children's needs. Finally her knowledge of creativity and children development are very important.