The aim of this paper was to test the strength of the relationships between student self-esteem, and the ability group of the school band and class stream they attend, as well as their self-perceived academic performance in a non-Western context. Responses of 280 Hong Kong secondary school students to the Chinese Adolescent Self-Esteem Scale were analysed by Performance × Stream × Band Multivariate Analysis of Variance. Statistically significant main effects for Performance and Stream, but not Band were found. Higher self-esteem was reported by students who perceived their academic performance as higher and who attended lower ability stream classes. The findings supported the Big Fish Little Pond effect of ability grouping within, but not between schools. Implications of the findings for school policies such as classes for the gifted and inclusion of children with learning difficulties are also discussed.
[Copyright of Educational Psychology is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01443410020019858]

The present study replicated investigation of the link between Holland's six career interest types and Costa and McCrae's big five personality traits in a Chinese context. A sample of 79 university students from Hong Kong evaluated their own abilities and responded to the Short-Version Self-Directed Search (SVSDS) and the NEO Five-Factor Inventory. Results demonstrated external validity for the SVSDS, and suggested that even when students' self-rated abilities were taken into account, career interests and personality traits still significantly overlapped, although each construct made a unique contribution to the variance in the data. The specific ways in which the dimensions of career interests and personality traits were related to one another were generally consistent with those documented in the literature. The implications for educational research and educational practice in the Chinese context are discussed.
[Copyright of Educational Psychology is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01443410701366092]

This study explored the problem of under-achievement in Hong Kong. Underachievers were compared with high achievers and low achievers on their motivational characteristics. The findings generally supported that motivational variables were important factors in discriminating under-achievers and high achievers. While under-achievers had poor academic self-concept, low attainment value in learning, and deficiencies in using effective learning strategies, they did not demonstrate maladaptive attributional pattern as described in Western studies. Implications of these findings for the study of under-achievement and implementation of interventions are discussed.
[Copyright of Educational Psychology is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01443410120090803]

Researchers (A. C. Amason, 1996; D. H. Gruenfeld, 1995; K. A. Jehn, 1995, 1997; M. A. Rahim, 1989; M. A. Rahim & A. A. Blum, 1994; D. M. Schweiger, W. R. Sandberg, & P. L. Rechner, 1989; P. E. Tetlock, D. Armor, & R. S. Peterson, 1994) have documented the value of conflictual discussions for solving problems, but few have explored the conditions under which people are motivated to engage in controversy (K. A. Jehn, C. Chadwick, & S. M. B. Thatcher, 1997). Some (M. Van Berklom & D. Tjosvold, 1981) have hypothesized that high expertise and a competitive social context arouse concerns about defending one's position and challenging the opposing one. In the present study, Chinese university students in Hong Kong who expected to disagree with an expert, compared with those who did not expect to disagree with an expert, had less confidence, felt less knowledgeable about their position, and selected an agreeable discussant. Consistent with the idea of maintaining distance from those in power, the participants were reluctant to disagree directly with someone with greater expertise.
[Copyright of Journal of Social Psychology is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00224540109600557]

A teacher professional identity scale was developed for Hong Kong in-service teachers to measure the professional identity of teachers. Most studies of professional identity have been qualitative. The present study tried to examine this important concept using a quantitative method. Based on various studies, one of the ways of understanding the professional identity of teachers was through teachers' roles and practices. This study described the procedure for developing a professional identity scale according to the practices of professional teachers. The final version of the scale included 19 items. Overall, this scale was found to be valid and reliable for measuring the professional identity of Hong Kong in-service teachers in both pilot and main studies.
[Copyright of Journal of In-Service Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13674580802003060]

This study examines the multidimensional and hierarchical structure of achievement goal orientation measured by the Inventory of School Motivation. The instrument consists of eight different scales with 43 survey items (ranging from three to seven items each). Each scale reflects one of eight specific dimensions: task, effort, competition, social power, affiliation, social concern, praise, and token. The study also examines the ability of these eight first-order factors to define four general second-order factors—mastery, performance, social factors, and extrinsic factors—as well as one third-order factor, general motivation. Participants came from seven different cultural groups in high schools in Australia (n = 4,787), Hong Kong (n = 697), the United States (n = 2,660), and Africa (n = 819). Nested confirmatory factor analyses support a multidimensional, hierarchical school motivation construct. The model was invariant across cultural groups. The findings provide a strong theoretical structure and tool for further school motivation research.
[Copyright of Educational Psychology is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01443410500342559]

This study employed the repertory grid technique to investigate how a sample of 27 student teachers in Hong Kong developed a personal sense of teaching efficacy. The analysis indicated that the third year students' perceptions were more homogenous than were those of the first year students. The results also indicated that teaching efficacy was viewed in terms of the dimensions of concern for instructional participation and learning needs of pupils, communication and relationships with pupils, academic knowledge and teaching skills, lesson preparation, management of class discipline, teaching success, teaching commitment, and a sense of self-confidence. Experiences of teaching practice, electives, pupils, and teaching practice supervisors (Electives) were the major sources for the development of a sense of teaching efficacy. Implications of how those aspects of teacher training can be more effective in engendering a sense of efficacy in the student teachers are discussed.
[Copyright of Educational Psychology is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01443410050027982]

In this short paper, we review the geographical education research carried out in Hong Kong and discuss their relevance to teacher education. The methodologies used in these reviewed studies will also form part of our discussion here.
[Copyright of International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10382040308667538]