This article presents a qualitative study which presents professional competence development in an undergraduate initial teacher education (ITE) programme in Hong Kong. Fifteen student teachers participated in two rounds of interviews, one after the first ITE fieldwork and another after the second ITE fieldwork in a five-year Bachelor of Education Programme. The interviews placed focus on the ‘context-specific’ aspects of professional competence, namely Competence in Classroom Teaching and Competence to Work in Schools, as well as student teachers’ experiences in different aspects of the ITE fieldwork context. The findings provide important insights into re-conceptualising professional competence development with an integrated analysis which explicates the dynamic interaction between the teaching context, the school context and the student teacher’s approach to learning. Three distinctive patterns of competence development in terms of student teachers’ perceived change in the two ‘context-specific’ aspects of professional competence were identified. The insights from the integrated analysis also extend Mutton, Burn and Hagger’s (2010) study by connecting different patterns of professional competence development with the interaction between student teachers’ approaches to learning from experience and factors in the ITE fieldwork context. Enhancing and constraining conditions for professional competence development and implications for ITE stakeholders are discussed. Copyright © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

In the past few decades, increasing demands have been placed on developing students' autonomy and critical thinking skills. To enhance students' agency in learning, teachers have been encouraged to adopt alternative pedagogical practices. The revamp of pedagogy needs to be reflected in assessment as it is an integral part of instruction. Practising teachers, however, lack assessment knowledge due to inadequate training during the pre-service preparation programmes. The enhancement of assessment knowledge is being urgently called for, which demands the professional development of teachers. This study seeks to investigate the impact of a professional development programme organized by a university in Hong Kong on the development of assessment knowledge of four teachers in two elementary schools. Findings indicate that the acquisition of assessment knowledge is a long-term achievement, which requires ongoing professional development efforts. Copyright © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

This study explores 16 non-native English teachers' beliefs and practices about pronunciation teaching in Hong Kong. Drawing on data from the teachers' written reflections and follow-up interviews, the findings suggest that these non-native English teachers understood the importance and goal of pronunciation teaching but appeared unconfident and ill-prepared in their teaching. Their lack of confidence was not only a result of insufficient training but also of their non-native English teacher status influenced by specific institutional and sociocultural contexts. Important implications for EFL teacher education and professional development are drawn. Copyright © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press; all rights reserved.

This study aims to investigate and compare the relationship between immersion and motivation in two different groups of student teachers who enrolled in an immersion programme. With a group of student teachers whose social and cultural backgrounds are different – one group is from Mainland China and one is from Hong Kong – though they both are of Chinese ethnicity and speak the same Chinese variety, the reasons behind their studying a postgraduate programme and going on an immersion can be different. The method of data collection adopted for this study was a qualitative paradigm. In-depth interviews, both pre- and post-immersion, were conducted. Participants were also encouraged to send e-mails to the researcher during immersion that reflected on their experience. Results show that Mainland participants were motivated by desires to enhance their pedagogical knowledge in EFL teaching in order to satisfy implementation constraints in their homeland. In contrast, Hong Kong participants were primarily interested in improving their language proficiency in order to satisfy the mandatory language assessment required for graduation. Both groups, however, saw cultural enrichment as their secondary reason for undertaking immersion, in that it allowed them to better understand the culture behind the language and thus become better English teachers. Copyright © 2019 Academy Publication.

The knowledge and pedagogies of e-learning in English language learning in teacher education courses would be developed and transformed by student teachers via pre-service learning experiences. The strategies of e-learning in the English language learning of student teachers in the teaching education courses and their own teaching practices lead to a widespread discussion in Hong Kong and Mainland China. It not only benefits educators and student teachers to intuitively understand the strategies of e-learning in English language learning but also helps student teachers to refine their e-learning strategies in English language learning in further teaching practices. This study aims to compare the implementations and transformations of strategies of student teachers to e-learning in English language learning from pre-service learning experiences in Hong Kong and Mainland China. One hundred student teachers were involved. The mixed-method approach would be adopted in the research including questionnaires, interviews, observations and analysis of weekly teaching dairy. The findings would help educators and student teachers to know the general situation of strategies to e-learning in English language learning through their pre-service learning experiences in Hong Kong and Mainland China. Meanwhile, the results of this study will give some suggestions to student teachers for future in-service teaching and learning experiences. Copyright © 2018 The Asian Conference on Education.

Learning Study has been employed in pre-service teacher training in Hong Kong since 2007. This presentation by pre-service teachers introduces their use of Variation Theory in and learning from three Learning Study projects in Hong Kong.Project 1 focuses on the teaching map reading skills for understanding Hong Kong landscapes in General Studies of primary four. Two lessons were designed and taught collaboratively by a group of six preservice teachers in 2016. In order to reach the object of learning, i.e., the ability of reading a map, four critical features were confirmed according to the pre-test: the names of the three map symbols (CF1), the functions of the map symbols (CF2), the names of the eight directions in Chinese (CF3) and understanding the questions about directions (CF4). Throughout the two lessons, Variation Theory was the main method to highlight the critical features for students. The pedagogical design of Lesson 2 was revised after the postlesson reflection based on the post- test and observation of Lesson 1. It was confirmed by the pre- test and post- test results that, improvement of students’ability in map reading was bigger in Lesson 2 than Lesson 1.Project 2 focuses on teaching the use of adjectives to primary two students. After a pre-test was conducted, the critical features identified were 1) function of nouns, 2) function of adjectives, 3) the positioning of adjectives and 4) the practical application of adjectives. A total of two lessons were deliberately designed and co-taught by a team of pre-service teachers. It was found that Lesson 2 achieved better improvement in the post-test than in the pre-test, compared to Lesson 1. The key factors producing such differences included blackboard management, activity formats and reiteration of concepts. The results suggest the need to consolidate variation theory and its relevant facilitating factors in order to achieve the most suitable pedagogical design wherein students learn the object of learning

The present action research examined the effectiveness of one pre-school teacher professional development with the focus of deep understanding of autism behaviour and the practical application of three evidence-based strategies: social story (auditory means), TEACCH (visual support) and positive behavior support. The purposive and self-selected samples of 27 pre-school teachers and their students be diagnosed with or suspected of having autism were recruited (N=32) from seven local kindergartens. The teacher participants of the experimental group completed one two-day workshop and received school-based consultations with the input from autism experts. The teacher participants of the control group received delayed teacher training. The teacher participants completed two instruments in Chinese, the Aberrant Behavior Checklist and the Checklist for Learning, Social and Emotional Adjustment (Kindergarten version) to measure the student performance. The teacher participants completed another two self-reported instruments in Chinese, the revised 10-item Attitudes and Concerns about Inclusive Education Scale (SACIE-R) and the 18-itemTeacher Efficacy for Inclusive Practice Scale (TEIP). The data indicated that the student participants of the experimental group reduced the challenging behavior and at the same time they showed improvement in learning and peer interaction. For the teacher participants of the experimental group, they showed more awareness about the inclusion needs of their students on the spectrum. They also recognized the function of having expert input to further enhance teaching efficacy for inclusive practice. The preliminary outcomes here confirmed the positive impact of the holistic and practical approach to pre-school teacher professional development for supporting learning diversity.本硏究以行動研究探討一項著重知識及實踐的學前老師專業培訓，培訓內容包括深度理解自閉症特徵及實戰執行三項有循證數據的支援策略：社交故事（直接、具體的口頭指令）、TEACCH（視覺提示）及正向行為支持。參加者為來自七間幼稚園的 27 位老師及其 32 位有自閉症診斷或懷疑個案的學生。實驗組的老師完成兩日的工作坊和接受有自閉症專家參加的校本諮詢。比較組的老師於研究完成後接受培訓