Education is a caring enterprise. As human beings we want to care and to be cared for. Caring is important in itself (Nodding, 2000, p7). When we discuss teaching and teacher-learner relationship, it is important to see that teachers not only have to create caring relations in which they are the carer, but that they have a responsibility to help their students develop the capacity to care (Nodding,1992, p.18). Teaching is a caring profession, children are likely to achieve more of they are valued and cared for. In school, children create discipline problems that can be solved by a caring teacher. In a caring classroom, children learn more and response to group more. The overview of the Generic Teacher Competencies Framework of the Advisory Committee on Teacher Education and Qualifications (2003) pointed out that pastoral care for Students as one of key dimensions in the Student Development Domain. In light of the recommendations of the report, this small-scale research examined the views of caring on student teachers at the Hong Kong Institute of Education through questionnaire survey. Major findings indicate that about 90% of student-teachers considered the following characteristics are essential for caring teachers: keen understanding of child development, having good communication skills, guiding children in social problem solving, fond of school children, and enjoy participation of activities with children. Moreover, within the twenty-four response items in the questionnaire on caring teachers, the following five are rated as more important than others in the teaching process: respect every pupil, care about needs and safety of pupils, teach pupils to be responsible for their own behavior, earn the trust of pupils, and develop a good teacher-pupil relationship. In addition, a case-study was used to ascertain the notion of caring of a student-teacher before, during and after her teaching practice. In her narratives and in-depth reflection, the student-teacher showed

This paper explores the autobiographical narratives of a cross-cultural life as a way of studying and understanding teacher’s identity and knowledge development. Crossing cultures and identities, the paper explores how experience is central to informing and shaping teacher knowledge. The experiences from the autobiographical narratives take place in the United States, China, and Hong Kong and move back and forth between East and West over a span of three generations. Positioned within an educational and curricular context, the research study explores the complexities of cross-cultural lives and their place in the curriculum. The inquiry explores what it means to live cross-cultural lives and how our personal experiential histories are integral to understanding an evolving and contested teacher knowledge.

Professionalism has been a focus of educational study in recent years, with researchers trying to find out if teachers demonstrate certain qualities, mainly external, of being a professional teacher. Instead of focusing on professionalism, this paper narrows its focus to the internal aspect of teacher professional development, examining the development of Hong Kong student-teachers’ professional beliefs, about which the student-teachers hold strong opinion, and which affect their decision-making and are subject to change. This present paper is based on a pilot study involving a total of eight student-teachers. Qualitative research methods, including autobiographies and in-depth interviews, were used to conduct the research. This paper attempts to identify and describe the patterns of development of Hong Kong student-teachers’ professional beliefs, to compare the differences between various patterns and to highlight some key factors influencing professional beliefs. Implications from the study would shed light on future research on the development of student-teachers’ professional conviction.

The development of institute-school partnership to facilitate the implementation of the field-based component of initial teacher education programme has been a dominant theme in teacher education. This paper outlines the development of the Honorary Teaching Adviser Scheme of an initial teacher education programme for cultural and technology subject teachers of secondary schools in Hong Kong. It presents the process of how inputs from a cross-section of stakeholders are integrated in the development of the Scheme. The integration is done through consultation and collaboration between the teacher education institution and the school community. Consulting different groups of stakeholders lays the ground for the introduction of the Scheme. The stakeholders include academics from different departments of the teacher education institution, academics from local and overseas higher education institutions as well as principals and teachers of the school community. Collaboration is done through inviting members of the school community to work on piloting the Scheme before its full implementation. Insights gained from consultation and piloting the Scheme inform its further development. The attempts on consultation and collaboration represent a move from a unidimensional model of institute-school partnership to some form of complementarity (Bines & Welton, 1995). Such development involves a complex process of managing change and redefining roles and responsibilities of higher education and school personnel in initial teacher education.