The COVID-19 global pandemic continues, and in Hong Kong numerous measures have been put in place to contain the spread of the coronavirus. One of the many facets of life that is being affected is education, with many face-to-face classes suspended and students having to go online for lessons. The virus continues to be active in the city, so our usual way of assisting secondary school students' character-building through visitation to elderly homes is restricted. Now we can only provide such service-learning in online mode. This paper explores how an online project helped adolescents in a boys' secondary school apply and adapt principles taught previously in their course dealing with positive character strengths such as kindness, love, social intelligence, gratitude, teamwork, and perseverance. Copyright © 2023 Routledge.

This exploratory study aimed to examine university teachers' conceptions and articulation of care amidst online teaching. The pandemic-initiated sudden changes to online platform-based teaching and consequently caused many teachers to critically reflect on those affective and relational behaviors and interactions that are possible during physically-embodied pedagogy, but that are either no longer possible or even undesirable online. This has resulted in a research gap that we feel this study addresses, by drawing on the reflections and experiences of nine caring academic and teaching staff in a Hong Kong public university. Thematic analysis of these reflections relating to the practice of, and barriers to, care emphasised the overarching theme of the centrality of presence about, and for, students. This overarching theme was complemented by two sub-themes relating to 'lacking physical presence as a barrier to care' and 'building an online presence for articulation of care'. On the basis of these exploratory findings, we offer preliminary arguments relating to a caring pedagogical approach underpinned by a deepening of presence and learning collaboration. This paper, we argue, adds to the body of knowledge in the under-researched area of teacher care amidst online teaching, and suggests a future theorisation of online care within higher education pedagogy. Copyright © 2023 Taylor & Francis.

School counselling is a well-established means of supporting the mental health of children. Counsellors are most effective when they collaborate with parents, so it is important that parents have a good understanding of and access to school counselling services. Despite this, little is known about parents’ perceptions of counselling in Hong Kong schools. We interviewed 27 parents in Hong Kong to investigate how they perceived the counselling services provided by their children’s local and international schools, and analysed the data thematically. International school parents recognised the potential of school counselling as a means of support for their children and wanted to work more closely with counsellors to a greater extent than local school parents. Parents were confused about the roles of counsellors and experienced stigma and concerns about confidentiality which inhibited them from engaging with counselling services. Our findings suggest that school principals should work with counsellors to establish and communicate roles more clearly. Greater recognition of counsellors’ professionalism, and clearer role differentiation between counsellors and other mental health and educational professionals may improve parental engagement with and support for school counselling. Copyright © 2023 NAPCE.

A student’s ‘meaning in life’ and his/her connectedness to school, friends and family are believed to be factors that influence the development of life skills. Teachers could be aware of these factors in their endeavours to foster ‘whole-person development’ in their students. In this small-scale study, twelve secondary school teachers participated in three focus groups and reported their perceptions of students’ meaning in life, connectedness and life skills. In general, they believed that having a definite goal means students have found preliminarily the meaning in life and the source of motivation. The teachers also observed that high achievers tend to set goals for future achievement, whereas the goals and aspirations of low achievers are much more short-term. Teachers suggested that development of students’ connectedness and life skills can be facilitated by the opportunity to converse with teachers, and the creation of a caring culture in schools that makes students feel valued. Conversely, parental expectations and strong academic orientation of the school may restrict students’ personal goal-setting. The findings have practical implications for teachers, counselling professionals and other support staff in schools because specific guidance activities can be devised to strengthen students’ connectedness, meaning in life, and life skills. Copyright © 2020 NAPCE.

This article highlights findings from a case study research investigating factors that foster the academic achievement of community college students in Hong Kong. Data was collected from in-depth interviews with six community college students in a middle-sized, self-funded community college. The findings illustrate nuanced facets of teacher care that are conducive to students’ academic and personal development, including (i) teachers as important transmitters of knowledge; (ii) teachers as care-givers; (iii) pedagogical care; (iv) teachers as advice-givers, and (v) teachers as role models. The research has practical implications for practices within community colleges and teacher training in the sub-degree sector. Copyright © 2019 NAPCE

Many Hong Kong schools are concerned about their growing numbers of ethnic minority students. When these students are enrolled in Hong Kong secondary schools, how their cultural diversity is catered for becomes critical. This article examines how teachers narrate the cultural diversity of ethnic minority students, who come from Pakistan, India, Nepal, the Philippines and Thailand. Qualitative data were collected from interviews, through which the narratives of twenty-four teachers from four secondary schools were explored. The study showed that to address cultural diversity, a 'connected' classroom should be established by promoting interpersonal relationships, developing adaptive teaching strategies, keeping the balance between guidance and discipline and strengthening home-school collaboration. Implications for the development of teacher education will be presented.
[Copyright of Pastoral Care in Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02643944.2013.811697]

This small-scale study aimed to explore how the reporting and feedback system in an inviting school in Hong Kong attempts to facilitate students' learning and development. In particular, the study examined how students in an inviting setting felt about the reporting system in relation to their own learning and development. Any associations between feedback given to students and their subsequent development of greater self-regulation were considered. Data were generated from individual and focus group interviews with a small sample of Grade 7 and Grade 10 students. The results revealed four key aspects of the school context that students regarded as helpful to facilitate the function of the reporting system. The potential relationship between feedback and reflection, and the roles these play in the acquisition of self-regulation in students, are discussed.
[Copyright of Pastoral Care in Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02643944.2012.671344]

Abstract Hong Kong schools are concerned about how students with behavioural problems could be supported. This article reports the findings of a study investigating teachers’ constructs of students’ resilience. Specifically it examines how it could be promoted through school guidance and factors affecting the development of students’ resilient capability. Twenty-four teachers from four secondary schools were interviewed. Their constructs of resiliency were explored from the perspective of social constructivism and the narrative approach was also employed. The study identifies the challenges school guidance faced in developing resiliency are identified. Also four means through which school guidance could be made more resilient are suggested, including helping students explore the natural tendencies of students’ inner-strength, developing a resilient approach to behaviour management, including the resiliency into whole-school guidance curriculum, and building connections between school, home and community. The findings also show that the construct of resiliency was culturally grounded upon Confucianism. The direction for future research is given
[Copyright of Roeper Review is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02643944.2011.626067]

This study explored Chinese adolescents' perceptions of their own life skills development and the importance they place on such skills. The study also investigated the within-school and outside-school influences that may help develop and enhance life skills development. Six focus groups involving 52 high school students were conducted, using a set of predetermined discussion topics. Results revealed students' awareness of many salient life skills, including those related directly to academic development, 'learning to learn', personal and social growth, and future career planning. The students were also able to suggest practical strategies that schools might use to further enhance students' life skills development. Contextual factors influencing the development of life skills appear to include not only experiences within the school curriculum and the guidance and counseling program, but also talent development opportunities, and family and peer relationships. The implications of the findings are discussed with particular reference to implementing comprehensive school guidance and counseling programs in Hong Kong.
[Copyright of Pastoral Care in Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02643944.2010.528015]

Promotion of students' spiritual development is one of the goals of pastoral care in schools. The heritage of Chinese calligraphy is traditionally used as a way to enhance an individual's self-reflection and cultivation, and has an educational value in spiritual development. This study aims to examine the cultural meaning of Chinese calligraphy and its practices in general, and specifically its connection to spiritualism. The methodologies of narrative approach and textual analysis were employed. Accordingly, the narratives of five practitioners' personal experiences, including the researcher's, captured in unstructured interviews, plus selected historical texts on calligraphy will be examined. This article suggests that calligraphy serves more than a utilitarian function. The value of spiritualism underlying this art has also been used as a practice of personal development and spiritual discipline, which leads practitioners to reflect in their mind and heart. This value is universal, and can be agreed upon in a pluralistic society and applied to all schools with different cultural backgrounds and also outside of religious traditions. Lastly this article draws school practitioners' attention to the importance of calligraphy for spiritual development of students and its implications for the promotion of pastoral care and spiritual education.
[Copyright of Pastoral Care in Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02643940902733886]