New vice-principals (VPs) inevitably experience high levels of uncertainty when assuming the position, and undergo a process of socialisation, involving engaging with both professional and relational sources of support in schools, to adjust to their changing role. Drawing on socialisation theories, this exploratory study proposes that novice VPs would rely on the school's structural feedback mechanism, peer affirmation and principal's sponsorship in their adaptation process; the first of these is professionally oriented whereas the remaining two are relationally oriented. The study further argues that VPs would experience varying degrees of dependence on these factors corresponding to the stage of their development in the socialisation process. Findings of the study, informed by a Hong Kong data set covering VPs in their first, second, and third years of tenure respectively, support these propositions. Peer affirmation appears to be a continuous source of support to VPs in all tenure groups and it stands at odds with principal's sponsorship. The effects of the structural feedback mechanism and principal's sponsorship on VP's transition are only evident in the 2-year group, with the former being positive and the latter negative. Implications of the findings are discussed.
[Copyright of School Leadership & Management is the property of Routledge.]

This study focuses on doctoral students' professionalisation as future academics across academic disciplines, using a Hong Kong research-oriented university as a case study. Doctoral students acquire the norms, knowledge/skills, and values required for the academic profession through their learning experiences. The study aims to explore how doctoral students perceive their professional competences and what are the major factors of learning experiences influencing perceived competencies among them. Data collection of the study is based on a questionnaire designed by international team members in a previous project entitled A Comparative Study of Doctoral Education in Asian Flagship Universities. Drawing on data from 490 respondents in Hong Kong, the current study uses descriptive and regression analyses to examine and compare the factors influencing doctoral students' perceived competencies in terms of tasks, ideas and attitudes. The results show that the competencies of doctoral students are influenced by various factors, such as curricula, supervision style and learning culture. Overall, the study suggests that the formal and informal learning experiences of doctoral students must be carefully designed and implemented to foster the development of their professional knowledge, skills and values.
[Copyright of Asia Pacific Education Review is the property of Springer. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12564-018-9530-0]

A pilot study explored the effectiveness of art therapy in improving the self-motivation and emotional and behavioral adjustment of children with special educational needs in Hong Kong. Six children aged between 6 and 10 participated in an art therapy group for 14 weekly sessions. Results from a range of standardized tests administered before and after the session block indicated that the art therapy group had little impact on the children's sense of autonomy, competence, and relatedness in their learning. However, in-session observations showed that the art therapy facilitated the fulfilment of these three areas, and parental reports via interview indicated that art therapy had improved the emotional and behavioral adjustment of their children. Issues in facilitating art therapy groups for children with special education needs are discussed.

This paper reports a qualitative study of how 4 skilled pre-service physical education teachers, who were attending the final year of a four-year full-time Bachelor of Educaion Degree programme, perceived their learning-to-learn experiences of TGFU. Attached to Lawson's occupational socialisation and interpretive inquiry perspective, data were collected through interviewing and writing of critical incidents. Although all participants perceived TGfU positively as a viable approach of PE instruction contributing to pupils' cognitive development and providing fun, they only regarded their socialization of TGfU experience as pedagogical knowledge in the form of teaching procedures which could map well with the current education reform in Hong Kong. Thus, half of them showed hesitation of adopting the model in their future teaching. They were troubled by the anticipated practicality problems and the impacts of their anticipatory socialization. The inadequacy of "tactical knowledge" of individual games threw them into confusion. They could not be sure whether the games education should be oriented towards "cognitive" or "skill" and whether it should focus on "technical" of "thinking" dimensions. They felt doubtful about whether the learning sequence of games should be from "tactic-to-technique" or from "technique-to-tactic". To such an extent, pre-service PE teachers should be acquainted with in-depth theoretical understanding of TGfU and equipped with tactical skills concerning the games they teach.
[Copyright © 2006 The Hong Kong Institute of Education.]

This study investigates the socialization and professional experiences of primary school physical education teachers (PSPETs) in the Asian context of Hong Kong. A qualitative research design is adopted. The researcher used semi-structured interviews, supplemented by documentary sources (diaries) for conducting data collection. Eleven PSPETs participated in this study. Data were analysed through open axial and selective coding. The concepts of organizational sensitivity, sources of satisfaction, dealing with influential persons or critical incidents, status of the profession, educational reform as a trend, and versatile roles are revealed in the theory of 'Diversified Professionalism'. The substantive theory thus contributes to an increased appreciation of the PSPETs' work and to the literature on physical education teachers' professionalization and professionalism.
[Copyright of Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2014.881643]

A motivational orientation framework for higher education has previously been derived from interviews with 36 undergraduate students in an elite university system. The framework consists of six interacting facets of motivation represented by continua labelled: compliance, individual goal setting, sense of belonging, interest, career and university lifestyle. The aim of this study was to see whether the framework also applied to entrants to a community and vocational college sector, the emergence of which has boosted participation to mass higher education status. Individual interviews were conducted with 25 students in five colleges in Hong Kong. Analysis identified main themes and referenced these against those of the previous study. The data were consistent with the facets of the original framework. A fuller understanding was reached of the less motivated ends of the continua, as these were more commonly displayed than by the undergraduate sample in the previous study. There was evidence of avoidance goals, in the form of fear of failure. Sense of belonging was, in some cases, manifest in a form in which students socialised at the expense of academic work. There was evidence of interest being stifled because of curriculum design problems, as the awards were often not suited as terminal vocational awards, nor led to places in undergraduate degrees. The conclusion was that the motivational orientation framework also applies to the type of students entering mass higher education systems.
[Copyright of Studies in Higher Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03075070903514062]