This paper reports the results of a qualitative study that used in-depth interviews to understand the experiences and perceptions of six pre-service teachers as they engaged in microteaching at a tertiary institution in Hong Kong. Using a framework grounded in dialogism and positioning theory, the study describes the ways in which different discourses offer, as well as deny, positions to the pre-service teachers as they planned and implemented microlessons. The results suggest that competition between these discourses to position pre-service teachers can result in microteaching being associated with negative emotional experiences, such as disappointment, isolation, and frustration. This emotional dissonance is shown to lead some preservice teachers to question the efficacy of microteaching. The paper therefore argues that it is imperative for teacher educators to support pre-service teachers’ engagement in microteaching by revealing the presence of these discourses and by exploring how the latter can exercise agency by accepting, resisting, or rejecting the positions made available to them during their microteaching experience. Suggestions for future research are also considered. Copyright © 2023 Edith Cowan University. All rights reserved.

Few studies have empirically explored the specific elements of schoolteachers’ feedback literacy in spite of its crucial role in supporting student learning in classrooms. To address this research gap, individual interviews were conducted with 20 teacher educators in Hong Kong. The interviewees were asked to explicate the mind maps of schoolteacher feedback literacy that they had previously drawn. Data analysis revealed that the participants perceived schoolteacher feedback literacy as a three-dimensional concept, comprising knowledge, competence and disposition with specifications. In addition, the participants believed that schoolteacher feedback literacy was gradually evolving from a qualified level to a fully professional level over time. In their views, understanding subject content knowledge and developing positive feedback dispositions were prerequisites for developing feedback competencies. The findings of this study enhance the understanding of schoolteacher feedback literacy from the perspective of teacher educators and offer guidance for providing effective feedback training in teacher education programmes. Copyright © 2022 Edith Cowan University. All rights reserved.

This study investigates the perceptions of teaching competency in multicultural classrooms held by 421 teachers at 16 schools in Hong Kong. The aims of the study are (a) to use confirmatory factor analysis to validate a culturally appropriate version of the Multicultural Teaching Competency Scale (MTCS), (b) to assess three types of multicultural-teaching competency, and (c) to provide recommendations for teacher-education institutes and policy makers on developing effective training in multicultural education. The results indicate that a tripartite model assessing skills, knowledge, and relationships, the core features of multicultural-teaching competency as assessed by the MTCS from a Hong Kong sample. The teachers all identified multicultural-teaching relationships as the most important component of multicultural-teaching competency. Future researchers should examine the concurrent validity of the MTCS and the cultural contexts of multicultural-teaching relationships. Recommendations are also made for incorporating the Confucian beliefs of fairness, justice, and equity into multicultural classroom. Copyright © 2020 Edith Cowan University. All rights reserved.

Human development is a cultural process, and language serves as a cultural tool is closely related to virtually all the cognitive changes. The author addresses issues of language in education, and suggests that changing the medium of instruction should not be understood as purely a pedagogical decision. The connection between culture and language is examined for understanding why Hong Kong Chinese learners are stereotyped as passive learners. Through exploring personal experience with a student teacher, the author exemplifies how narrative inquiry is found to be a pragmatic approach to support teachers to become reflective thinkers. This study argues that narrative methods can serve as pedagogical strategies in teacher education since narrative can help both teachers and learners reflect on, question, and learn from their storied experiences.
[Copyright © 2017 Edith Cowan University.]

The value of student voices in dialogues about learning improvement is acknowledged in the literature. This paper examines how the views of students regarding School-based Assessment (SBA), a significant shift in examination policy and practice in secondary schools in Hong Kong, have largely been ignored. The study captures student voices through a survey of 423 Secondary 5 students and interviews with 45 students in 3 schools concerning the use of SBA in the high-stakes assessment for the English Language subject. Results suggest a wide range of student perceptions of, and responses to SBA and related feedback. In general, students indicated that they did not appreciate SBA and were unable to capitalise on the feedback. The paper argues that the intentions of SBA can be threatened if these negative tendencies are not addressed through teacher education, and calls for a dialogic model that allows student participation in debates about learning improvement.
[Copyright © 2015 Australian Research Council.]

This paper explores the self-appraisal of teacher commitment and their associated emotional experiences in the first 10 years of teaching among three generations of Hong Kong teachers. Findings affirm previous view that high commitment level of teachers is characterised with psychological attachment to the commitment objects. However the relationship between increased teacher commitment level, time investment in work and psychological attachment to teaching is found uncertain in the changing contexts, leading to the authors' conceptualisation of satisfied and dissatisfied commitment among teachers staying in the profession. Implications from the new understanding of teacher commitment are discussed.
[Copyright of Australian Journal of Teacher Education is the property of School of Education, Edith Cowan University. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2011v36n7.6]

This inquiry aimed to examine the benefits of having international field experience for a group of Hong Kong postgraduate student teachers who joined a six-week immersion program in New Zealand. Through participants' reflections, interviews and program evaluations, the present investigation found that the overseas field experience not only enriched their cultural understanding, pedagogical knowledge and skills, but also enhanced their language awareness, classroom language and recognition of different English varieties.
[Copyright of Australian Journal of Teacher Education is the property of School of Education, Edith Cowan University. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2011v36n10.4]

While an individual's personality is related to his or her well-being, little research has examined kindergarten teachers' personality. This research was the first to investigate Hong Kong kindergarten teachers' personality types using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). Three hundred and seventy-one kindergarten teachers voluntarily responded to the MBTI. Findings showed that Hong Kong kindergarten teachers were predominantly of the sensing-feeling-judging personality types, characterised by being realistic, conventional, and considerate to others' feelings. In addition, principals and head teachers in kindergartens tended to be extroverted. Results also suggested a very low percentage of intuitive kindergarten teachers, indicating that teachers' personality types might be field-bound. Implications of these findings in relation to teacher education are discussed.
[Copyright of Australian Journal of Teacher Education is the property of School of Education, Edith Cowan University. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/]

This study investigates the challenges sixteen non-native preservice English as a second language (ESL) teachers in a Bachelor of Education (English Language) (BEdEL) program from Hong Kong experienced in an eight-week teaching practicum. Qualitative data from semi-structured interviews and reflective journals were collected from all 16 participants to obtain a detailed description of the participants' perceptions of their field-based practicum experiences. Results indicate that the preservice teachers' practicum was characterised by a reality shock due to difficulties in experimenting with pedagogical practices they were taught in the BEdEL program, and a lack of sense of control in class. This reality shock could destabilise the already anxious student teachers and have adverse effects well beyond the eight-week teaching practicum. Inadequacy in English language competence also appeared to affect not only these student teachers' teaching performance but also how they established and maintained their teacher role and relationship with their students. Implications of the results for strengthening current ESL teacher preparation programs in non-native English speaking contexts are discussed.
[Copyright of Australian Journal of Teacher Education is the property of School of Education, Edith Cowan University. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2013v38n3.3/]