Despite the valuable insights provided by previous studies on the characteristics and contributing factors of professional learning communities (PLCs) in early childhood education contexts, there remains a lack of research investigating teacher engagement within PLCs and its influence on driving transformative change. The objective of this study was to examine teacher engagement in PLCs and its effects on teaching practices within preschool settings. Ten English teachers from two preschools in Hong Kong participated in the study through university-school partnerships. Data was collected through interviews, observations, and recall commentary. The findings revealed that frontline teachers actively engaged in various dimensions within the PLCs, including cognitive, behavioural, affective, and social aspects. These four dimensions were found to be interconnected and mutually inclusive. Increased teacher engagement within the PLCs resulted in changes in teaching practices, particularly towards play-based learning. In conclusion, this study emphasises the implications of these findings for government support and teacher development in the preschool field. Copyright © 2024 Taylor and Francis Ltd.

Although the potential of translanguaging within ESL/EFL classroom contexts to promote students' linguistic learning has been well-documented, most studies have focused on ESL/EFL teachers (whose L1 is not English) and their students' ideologies and experiences, with little attention paid to the experiences and perspectives of native English teachers (NETs) working in the Global South and postcolonial areas. This study examined 11 native English teachers' engagement with translanguaging in Hong Kong TESOL classrooms. Data were gathered through in-depth semi-structured individual interviews and video recordings of classroom interactions. A recursive qualitative analysis elicited a taxonomy of NET teachers' engagement with translanguaging, comprising resistant, ambivalent, and reductionistic approaches. The findings also demonstrate that ambivalent engagement with translanguaging turned out to be adopted the most among the NET participants. The findings call for examining two new translanguaging forms through NET teachers who have worked under a linguistically policed discourse, i.e., the underground and disguised translanguaging, and multimodal translanguaging without involving students' L1. The findings indicate that multimodality can be used as a bridge to create a translanguaging space, and that creating a translanguaging space through multimodality appears to be more politically neutral for NET teachers. Copyright © 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston.

At present, there is a growing concern about cultivating virtue among youngsters in Hong Kong. Although moral and character education have been put on the education agenda, it is important to ensure that teachers have sufficient efficacy in moral and character education. Unfortunately, limited empirical evidence for this has been found within the Hong Kong context. Using a sample of 647 moral and character education teachers from 21 secondary schools in Hong Kong, this study examined teacher self-efficacy and its relations with teacher engagement and teacher emotional labour. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess the construct validity of each scale. Structural equation modelling was used to test the theoretical model, indicating a good model fit. The strongest predictor of teacher efficacy for moral education was teachers’ personal teaching efficacy. The findings are discussed with implications for future practice and research. Copyright © 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Student engagement is recognised as a key process that can assist students’ learning. This paper reports a study in which three variables were examined to assess their potential in creating engaging and participative classrooms. The focus was on ‘teacher engagement in the community’, ‘teacher engagement in school’ and ‘teachers’ teaching confidence’ and their impact on the way teachers perceive their classrooms. Data was drawn from the International Civics and Citizenship Study, and the views of over 1400 teachers in 90 Hong Kong schools were analysed. The results of the study showed that teacher engagement is an important construct that directly supports teachers’ positive descriptions of their classroom activities. At the same time, teacher engagement also influenced teachers’ confidence in their teaching which in turn influenced the positive descriptions of their usual classroom activities. The theoretical foundations of these results are discussed as well as the implications for teachers’ professional lives, for policymakers concerned with enhancing teacher quality and for school leaders with responsibility for teacher professional development.