The author reports that the conceptions of 30 primary school teachers about science-technology-society were prompted using semi-structured interviews and empirically derived questionnaire and that findings reflect teachers' lack of understanding and naive appreciation with science-technology-society issues.

This paper reports the details about a study which investigates the attitudes of Hong Kong English-as-a-Second-Language teachers concerning English language teaching problems. The research findings reveal that attitudinal patterns in resources, curriculum, and teacher competence and that most respondents wanted a more flexible curriculum, textbooks geared to student level, and more classroom reading materials.

The paper discusses the necessity of change for educational system in Asian countries due to the pressure of modernization and national development. It is argued that, as a consequence, teacher education must be reassessed and renovated.

The author reports that, in the Computer Education Centre, there were six functional units: Control Technology Unit, Audiovisual Unit, Software Review Unit, Reference Library, and two Computer Training Units. Refresher courses for computer studies teachers and Computer awareness courses for primary and secondary teachers of other subjects of in-service Training Programs training courses and some seminars were held to update their knowledge.

The authors argue that computer technology was in the process of rapid change, and accompanying the proliferation of high power computing engines were the ever-increasing demands on information processing. It was therefore of very great importance that students in higher forms be provided with a computing course aimed at not only the basic elements but a degree of breadth as well. The authors further argue that as this field of study was likely to be in a dynamic state of flux in the years to come, with new technologies and new ideas coming in, it was of vital importance for teachers in computer studies to have a solid foundation in computing concepts and be kept abreast with some of the developments in the information technology arena. As a large number of graduate teachers in computer studies had trainings in areas other than computing, as the authors noted, it was thus especially important to design a broad-based computer curriculum with sufficient depth to address their needs.

This cross-cultural study examines early childhood professionals' perceptions of their social status, working conditions, and public appreciation in seven countries/territories: Guatemala, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Mexico, Peru, and the United States of America. One hundred eighteen participants, consisting of preschool and elementary school educators, program directors, child psychologists, and professors of early childhood education, responded to six questions through electronic, printed, and face-to-face contacts. The cross-cultural data revealed a high degree of agreement on these professionals' perceptions of their social standing, income, work responsibilities, and public appreciation. Results indicate that participants felt discouraged and underappreciated in their current circumstances and aspired to additional financial and emotional support, as well as greater respect from their governments and society.
[Copyright of Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10901020701366764]

The study examined goal orientations, perceived parenting styles, and their relationships in a sample of Hong Kong teacher education students. It was found that students adopted both learning and performance goals but tended to be more performance goal-oriented. Females were more performance goal-oriented than males. As well, students perceived their most influential parents to be authoritative. In terms of gender, authoritativeness was more effective with females and authoritarianism worked better with males. It was found that perceived parenting styles predicted goal orientations. Authoritativeness was significantly and positively related to learning goals, whereas authoritativeness and authoritarianism were significantly and positively related to performance goals. Besides main effects, there were interaction effects between gender and parenting styles on goal orientations. Cultural and contextual factors were considered in interpreting the findings.
[Copyright of Educational Psychology is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01443410601066636]