This article reports on a qualitative study conducted at primary schools in Hong Kong exploring the use of microlearning to support the self-directed continuing professional development (CPD) of English language teachers. Microlearning refers to short, concise, and easily consumable segments of learning about a knowledge point or skill. These activities tend to be multimodal and delivered through digital platforms, making them accessible anytime and anywhere. Currently, little is known about teachers’ perceptions of microlearning. To address this gap, we developed and delivered a mobile course that followed a microlearning approach and covered various aspects of digital technologies and English language teaching. Eight primary school English teachers engaged in the course and shared their perceptions of the experience in semi-structured interviews. The findings suggest that they found microlearning to be more enriching and conducive to developing their digital competence than traditional CPD. It allowed them to address their immediate needs, develop practical skills, and integrate technology into their practices. The study provides important insights into the use of microlearning to support self-directed CPD. Copyright © 2024 The Open University.

Since the public release of ChatGPT in November 2022, generative AI tools—capable of creating human-like content such as audio, code, images, text, simulations, 3D objects, and videos—have gained significant attention. While the impact of these tools on language teaching and learning has been widely speculated, the perspective of language teacher educators concerning their influence on initial language teacher education (ILTE) remains unexplored. This study investigates how teacher educators, who play a crucial role in adapting ILTE to technological advancements, perceive the effects of generative AI tools on ILTE. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with thirteen English language teacher educators from all four Hong Kong government-funded universities offering ILTE. Findings reveal that participants believe generative AI tools will substantially affect the ILTE curriculum, instruction, and assessment. However, most participants believed they lacked the confidence and competence to address the implications of generative AI tools effectively. This study highlights the need for further research and training to support teacher educators in adapting ILTE to the emerging influence of generative AI. Copyright © 2024 The Authors.

Developing cultural inclusiveness has been a prominent agenda in European and North American teacher preparation programmes. Beyond these societies, however, discussion on teacher education programme diversity remains tokenistic. Hong Kong, a city often marketed as Asia's World City, is not an exception, given the relatively recent history in the representation of minority groups and the enactment of an anti-racial discrimination ordinance in 2009. This lacuna thus raises questions about teachers’ preparedness to engage with the growing concerns for educational equity for ethnically diverse learners. This chapter describes and reflects on an informal learning programme within a Hong Kong university that has taken up the challenge of engaging pre-service teachers more explicitly about cultural diversity. The informal programme applies a ‘to know, to care, to act’ approach in collaboration with a social enterprise to offer students virtual experiential learning opportunities with ethnically diverse communities. The programme aimed at developing learners’ global competence as aspiring teachers of diverse learners. In doing so, this chapter advances theoretical arguments about merging global and multicultural education frameworks. This is a means to foster contact and learning between pre-service teachers and ethnically diverse learners and provides a pathway for promoting cultural inclusion in schools. Copyright © 2024 selection and editorial matter, Paul Downes, Jim Anderson, Alireza Behtoui and Lore Van Praag; individual chapters, the contributors.

This article presents a study that examines the impact of a Philosophy for Children (P4C) program on teachers in Hong Kong, specifically focusing on its effectiveness in fostering dialogic and inquiry-based teaching approaches. While dialogic teaching has been acknowledged as beneficial for cultivating vital competencies such as creativity, critical thinking, and communication skills, existing literature reveals a prevalent tendency towards monologic teacher-student interactions across various subjects, grades, and countries. By providing training and support to teachers, enabling them to implement P4C in Integrated Humanities and English lessons, this study aimed to evaluate the program’s effectiveness in enhancing teachers’ classroom practices. The results indicated that P4C significantly contributed to improving teachers’ ability to engage in dialogic and inquiry-based teaching, thereby enhancing their overall effectiveness in the classroom. These findings highlight the significant role of P4C in promoting teachers’ professional development and its relevance to innovative teaching pedagogies in higher education. Copyright © 2024 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Student-centered pedagogy (SCP) is highly considered for its potential to facilitate cognitive learning in Computational Thinking (CT) education. However, there is a noticeable gap in understanding its influence on students' cognitive development from a multilevel perspective. This study delves into cognitive learning theories and aims to bridge the existing gap by introducing a three-level conceptual model to illustrate how the influence of SCP on students' cognitive CT abilities is mediated through the cognitive learning processes. This multilevel approach simultaneously explores SCP within the intricate school environment where factors at the school, teacher, and student levels are closely intertwined. Data was collected from 82 programming teachers and their 2433 students across 43 Hong Kong primary schools. Using multilevel modeling, results indicate that the adoption of SCP is significantly anchored by school support on teacher professional development (TPD), which in turn enhances students’ cognitive learning (i.e., active, interactive, constructive, and reflective learning) in class, further contributing to their enhanced cognitive CT abilities. The findings underscore the nuances of SCP adoption in school scenarios, advocating for strategic approaches to maximize student achievements in CT education. Recommendations for future research are discussed. Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Teachers fostering future-ready graduates need to master updated pedagogical and technological knowledge, so teacher professional development (TPD) is essential. Conventional TPD activities such as seminars and workshops are limited as they require specific time blocks and lack flexibility. The current study investigated TPD through microlearning courses in online and blended learning modes as an innovative TPD approach in Hong Kong. We applied a qualitative approach and thirty-two preservice teachers in the English language education program participated. The data were collected using questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, and observations for data collection. The pre-service teachers’ digital competencies were evaluated against an observation protocol based on the SAMR framework and TPACK model. The effects of microlearning and the participants’ digital competence needs were also identified. The results revealed how preservice teachers perceived the integration of technology and the challenges they encountered (e.g., design of learning tasks and time management). Based on the findings, personalized and hands-on training is recommended to fulfill teachers’ diverse learning targets in applying specific technology and deepen their understanding of technology use. Furthermore, as more conceptual frameworks for assisting microlearning in TPD are necessary, this study can help enrich the underpinning theories for the microlearning design of TPD. Copyright © 2024 International Forum of Educational Technology & Society, National Taiwan Normal University, Taiwan.

With the unique character of Hong Kong in a postcolonial context, where eastern philosophies and approaches meet those of the west, it could be presumed that it is an ideal system for generating innovative ideas and practices (Bautista et al. in Int J Res Educ 46:203–260, 2022; Lu and Campbell in Practice 3:67–72, 2021). However, understanding the role, influence, and impact of teacher education as a career-long pursuit in Hong Kong remains both contested and under-theorised (Bautista et al. in Int J Res Educ 46:203–260, 2022). While Hong Kong enjoys a complex and sophisticated teacher education infrastructure which includes a range of opportunities and legislated time to dedicate to the varied forms of teacher education throughout a teachers’ career, such opportunities are frequently reported on as a being too demanding, rigid, or unrelated to practice (Lu and Campbell in Practice 3:67–72, 2021; Pang et al. in Asia Pac J Educ 36:231–247, 2016). This chapter begins by exploring the context of Hong Kong, and the nature and functions of teacher education. Following this, varying conceptualisations of teacher education, professional learning, and agency, with a particular focus on Hong Kong, are explored. Finally, this chapter explores new ways of understanding the role of teacher agency in the context of teacher education and the implications of this for policy, practice, and research as we imagine the future possibilities of teacher education and education more broadly. Copyright © 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.