Today's teacher operates in a globalised space where people everywhere are inextricably connected, and whose lives no longer exist in an isolated vacuum, but intersect and collide as part of a dynamic vortex. Teachers must now think, and teach beyond local boundaries, such that definitions of teacher professionalism will be reshaped by forces of globalisation. But have they, and in what ways? This article examines the intersection of globalisation and teacher professionalism. It begins with working definitions of globalisation and professionalism. These definitions will conceptually frame an analysis of policy documents about teacher professionalism, specifically standards for teachers in Hong Kong, the United States, and Australia. As a benchmark for teacher professionalism, an analysis of teacher standards across this international sample affords a broad portrait of what teachers are expected to know and do, juxtaposed against a rapidly evolving and globalising world. Copyright © 2021 Routledge.

This paper compares conceptions of teacher quality in two education systems – Singapore and Hong Kong – that consistently perform well in international assessments of student achievement. Both systems constantly refresh their expectations of teacher competencies, with recent iterations, which offer a just-in-time opportunity to learn from how they now conceptualise quality teaching. This paper will provide the context surrounding each jurisdiction's education system, how each views teacher quality, and how each has rethought the concepts of teacher quality according to their unique contextual circumstance. The paper then compares these concepts articulated and enacted by each country, linking these to the wider international literature and scholarship in order to glean insights into what teacher quality is or how it might be reconceptualised to meet future needs. Copyright © 2021 Routledge.

This study explores the relationship between school-level teacher qualifications and school-based professional learning community (PLC) practices in Early Childhood Education in Hong Kong. A territory-wide survey examined how preschool teachers perceived shared responsibility, reflective dialogues, deprivatized practices and organizational learning. The findings suggest a significant relationship between school-level teacher qualifications and teachers' perceptions of school-based PLC practices. As the percentage of bachelor degree holders in preschools increases, teachers are more positive about PLC practices in their perceptions. This study establishes a platform for future studies focusing on structural relationships between teacher qualifications and school-based PLC practices.
[Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd.]

Background: Hong Kong is currently a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. It has autonomy over many policy areas, including finance and education. It is a community of seven million people, which has changed its focus and identity significantly over the last 25 years, from predominantly manufacturing to a service and knowledge economy with particular strengths in financial services.
Purpose: This paper will consider the market for teacher education places and the market for teachers, and explore the career intention and commitment implications of high numbers of well qualified applicants applying for teaching in the context of reduced work opportunities elsewhere, an increasing higher education focus on intake scores and the challenge, for the teaching profession and the education system, of teaching becoming less secure work. Sources of evidence: Governmental and institutional publications and data, along with research and survey findings, together with comparative literature underpin the reactions to past, present and possible future effects on teacher education in Hong Kong.
Main argument: Given its financial focus, Hong Kong would be expected to suffer significantly during the recent financial crisis and that this would impact across all its sectors including Education and Teacher Education. In addition to the financial crisis, other changes have affected teacher education in Hong Kong, including major reforms in curriculum and school and higher education structure and a significantly diminished birth rate reducing posts in teaching, and raising concerns about job security.
Conclusions: Hong Kong is a very prudently managed economy with substantial reserves and a commitment to "small government" and the impact has been different from many other systems. Places on teacher education programmes remained unchanged. Applications for teacher education programmes however increased significantly during the crisis.
[Copyright

The gap between the theory and practice of teaching is an issue of concern in teacher education. Although researching this gap is not new, few studies have been conducted in Hong Kong. It is worth investigating the contemporary Asian models of teacher education that can provide reference to the international literature. This paper examines this theory-practice gap by reporting a study that researched the inconsistencies between student teachers' best teaching strategies and their most commonly employed ones. Specifically, we investigated: (1) the considerations that contribute to the inconsistencies in the student teachers' conceptions of teaching; and (2) the enhancing factors of the teacher education programme which help to close the gap between the theory and practice of teaching. Through examining the interview data, the findings revealed three main dimensions of consideration attributing to the inconsistencies in the conceptions of teaching: pre-training experience, teaching context and student needs. These considerations lead to expansive or constraining impacts on the student teachers' selections of teaching strategies. Influences from the teacher education programme that might close
[Copyright of Journal of Education for Teaching is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02607470903462222]

This paper describes the development of an improved scale for measuring sentiments, attitudes and concerns about inclusive education in pre-service teachers based on an examination of data gathered from 996 pre-service teachers from five tertiary institutions using a modified version of the Interactions with People with Disabilities scale (Forlin, Jobling & Carroll, 2001; Gething, 1991, 1994), the Concerns about Inclusive Education Scale (Sharma & Desai, 2002), and the Attitudes Toward Inclusive Education Scale (Wilczenski, 1992, 1995). Based on the results of principal component analyses, conceptual judgments made by the research team, and a critique of content and format from an "expert group", a new scale, the Sentiments, Attitudes and Concerns about Inclusive Education scale (SACIE), is developed. The rationale behind the development of the scale is discussed.
[Copyright of International Journal of Special Education is the property of Hindawi Publishing Corporation.
Access via Directory of Open Access Journals: http://www.internationaljournalofspecialeducation.com/]