This study aimed to explore pre-service teachers' perceptions and expectations of principals, how these perceptions may influence attitude and behaviour when they start in school and how pre-service teachers' perceptions of the principalship may have been formed. In general, pre-service teachers do not expect to receive assistance from the principal during their first months of teaching. Past experience of principals has resulted in clear expectations of principal support, particularly in respect to beliefs about the influence of hierarchy, school authority and principal's workload. Others, however, expect the principal to be receptive to and supportive of innovations. Some expect support from their colleagues whilst others believe they must rely on themselves. Furthermore, the sources of beliefs about the principalship are predominantly formed during pre-service teachers' experiences in school life and teaching practice. Many of their images of the principalship tend to be negative.
[Copyright of Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/135986600109444]

This study assessed multiple intelligences in a sample of 96 Chinese secondary school teachers in Hong Kong, and explored the consistency between these teachers' multiple intelligences and their areas of responsibilities. Teachers typically reported relative strengths in interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligences and weaknesses in visual-spatial and bodily-kinesthetic intelligences. While there were no gender or age group differences, arts/music/sports teachers indicated greater strengths in musical intelligence when compared with language and social studies teachers, and guidance teachers indicated greater strengths in both intrapersonal intelligence and interpersonal intelligence than did non-guidance teachers. Using the eight intelligences as predictors, teachers' interpersonal intelligence was the significant predictor of their self-efficacy in helping others. The implications of these findings are discussed in light of the current Hong Kong education reform movement and the inadequacy of teacher education programs in Hong Kong.
[Copyright of Educational Psychology is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0144341032000123778]

This case study aims to discover how journal writing promotes critical reflectivity over time. Six non-native pre-service teachers of English as a Second Language (TESL) in an undergraduate program in Hong Kong took part in a 12-month study from the time they took Internship, which entailed a 2-week placement, to the time they completed Practice Teaching, which entailed a 3-week placement. Before the commencement of the Internship program and after the completion of the Practice Teaching course, the teachers were assigned to write about successful English teachers, understanding and expectations of teaching English in the context of local secondary schools. During the five weeks of teaching practicum, the teachers made daily journal entries freely on any topics they wanted. All entries were coded for topics and reflective traits, and further analyzed for changes in content. Results show that while most reflective traits in the free journal entries were located in the area of evaluating teaching, those in the assigned entries concentrated on theories of teaching. Post-coding interviews were held to allow the teachers to verify the codings and interpretations. Discussion in the interviews cross-validated the findings that the six teachers wrote reflectively and that they became more reflective towards the end of the courses, indicating less simplicity in their understanding of the multitude of issues of teaching. Such findings suggest that journal writing as a coursework assignment in pre-service teacher education program fosters teachers' critical reflectivity over time and promotes understanding of the nature, theories, and praxis of teaching.
[Copyright of Reflective Practice is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1462394032000082268]