This paper draws on the experiences of nine secondary school teachers in Hong Kong who conducted practitioner research (PR) in their Liberal Studies classrooms. The purpose of the study is to 1) investigate the impact and effectiveness of PR as a teacher professional development strategy and 2) identify effective support from the university team addressing the challenges relevant to an Asia-Pacific context. The study employed a qualitative design. Data were drawn from teacher interviews, meetings between the research team and the teachers, school documents and field notes. Findings suggest that while contextual challenges exist, PR is an effective approach for teacher professional development. Teachers perceived the direct impact of PR as observing the improvement of pupil performance and engagement, and a readiness to adopt new teaching strategies. Teachers also reflected on the benefits of professional development as related to the use of evidence to support reflection on pupil learning and teaching, and redefining teachers’ roles. The findings provide insight into designing effective support and collaborative strategies for PR. With the support of the findings, a feasible approach to PR as a teacher professional development strategy relevant to an Asia-Pacific context is proposed. Copyright © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Web 3.0時代帶來了幼兒園教師培養與培訓方式的變革。本文對香港大學教育學院基於魔燈（Moodle）2.0平台構建的PBL²課程模式作了較詳細介紹，並剖析了這一課程模式所蘊含的幼兒園教師培養與培訓的變革意義。這一課程模式對內地開展幼兒園教師培訓有一定借鑒意義。 The Web 3.0 era has brought up with many revolutions in early childhood teacher education. This article aims to introduce the Moodle-based PBL2 Model used by Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong and analyzes its significance for early childhood teachers’ cultivation and training. This model also has its educational implication for the reform of teacher training in Mainland China. Copyright © 2014 浙江教育報刊社.

According to the Hong Kong Education Bureau, the number of students with special education needs (SEN) has been on the rise. In order to cope with an increasing demand for inclusive education, professional training programmes aiming for pre-service teachers to educate students with SEN have increased locally. Guided by the theory of planned behaviour, this study aims to investigate the relations between Chinese pre-service teachers' views and self-efficacy in implementing inclusive education in Hong Kong. A total of 94 Chinese pre-service teachers were recruited at a public university to complete an online questionnaire. Controlling for age, teaching experience, and relevant training, differential effects were found between pre-service teachers' views and self-efficacy. Specifically, teachers' positive attitudes towards inclusion were related to their greater self-efficacy in implementing inclusive instructions and managing students' behaviours. Teachers' fewer sentiments about inclusion were related to their greater self-efficacy in collaborating with parents and professionals. Teachers' fewer concerns about knowledge, workload, and overall feasibility were also related to their greater self-efficacy in collaboration and behavioural management. These findings broaden the literature and inform policy makers the need to strengthen teachers' efficacy by reducing practical barriers and increasing their positive attitudes towards inclusion. Copyright © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

This study examined the relationships between teachers' perceptions of faculty trust, professional learning communities, and their professional learning among a sample of 2106 Hong Kong kindergarten teachers. It analysed the differences between the effects of faculty trust in various stakeholders (i.e., colleagues, parents, and the principal). The results show that while trust in colleagues exerted a positive effect on teacher professional learning, the direct effects of trust in the principal and trust in parents were non-significant. Meanwhile, professional learning communities positively mediated the effects of teachers' perceived faculty trust on their learning. Implications for teacher learning in kindergartens are presented.
[Copyright of Teaching & Teacher Education is the property of Elsevier Ltd.]

Effective teaching and learning strategy is one of the most important topics in the field of teachers' professional development. Teachers' education and pre-service teachers' training programmes provide necessary coursework, field experience, and student teaching internship experience to pre-service, potential, and second career teachers who are seeking initial license status. Due to the rapid developments in Hong Kong, China, school teachers face challenges, difficulties, and social problems due to excess enrolment of teachers from different backgrounds. The regular curriculum and material also fail to cover all these issues. The current study applied the seminar technique as recommended in Polya's "Four-Step Problem-Solving Model" with targeted discussion topics and engaged 12 STEM pre-service teachers at one of the Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) programmes. The results indicated that beyond regular coursework, field experience, and internship experiences embedded in the curriculum, additional seminars allowed the participants to establish inter-disciplinary teaching strategies and critical thinking skills. The results of this study serve as a blueprint for teachers' education programme leaders and school administrators to establish similar seminars and conduct such sessions for their pre-service and in-service teachers to refresh and advance their teaching and learning strategies.
[Copyright of International Journal of Education and Practice is the property of Pak Publishing Group.]

This study used border theory to understand the learning experiences of student teachers transitioning from campus-based learning to classroom teaching. For teacher candidates learning to teach English as a second language in primary schools in Hong Kong, crossing institutional borders during practicums was highly complex, due to the conflicting expectations, agendas and cultures of university classrooms and elementary schools. School-based mentors played an important role in maintaining or dismantling institutional borders, thus enabling or constraining knowledge transfer across domains. The findings may help educators to create a third space in which student teachers can connect campus-based learning to school practice.
[Copyright of Teaching & Teacher Education is the property of Elsevier Ltd.]

Aim: To enable participants to understand the latest development of teacher education in Hong Kong, this paper aims to: (1) review the literature on the Hong Kong Teacher Competence Standards (TCSs) and the standards' implications on teacher education; (2) outline how the field experience (FE) learning framework with the application of electronic portfolio was developed to meet the TCSs; (3) report the pilot studies on the framework; (4) discuss how the framework enhance student teachers’ learning in FE; and (5) conclude and recommend the further development of the framework.Content: To uphold a high standard of teacher education for the benefit of our society, the public is greatly concerned with whether or not teachers can meet Teacher Competence Standards (TCSs). Field Experience (FE) is a cornerstone of teacher education that interconnects with theory and practice to achieve the most effective learning outcomes and meet the TCSs. An outcome-based FE learning framework was developed with an emphasis on using an electronic portfolio (ePortfolio) as a lifelong professional development tool in the context of Hong Kong. This paper will outline the design rationale, development process and three-round pilot studies of the framework after reviewing the literature on TCSs and the standards’ implications for teacher education. The findings of the studies show that the framework facilitates the student teachers to demonstrate their achievements of a teacher's holistic work in school with the learning activities used in the ePortfolio, in turn, to meet the core domains of TCSs despite some of them found difficulties in understanding the school context and applying theories. How the framework enhances FE learning will be critically analysed from the TCSs and professional development perspectives, and followed by recommendations on future development of the framework for meeting the TCSs.The Ambition of Teacher Education: This paper echoes the cutting edge and innovative practice

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to contribute to a better understanding of the international mobility of mainland students in special administrative regions of China and in places outside China.Design/methodology/approach - There have been studies using the framework of push–pull and reverse push–pull factors to explore the movement of mainland students to North America, Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong. This study follows up by exploring such research directions in Macau, which is another special administrative region of China. Different from previous studies, the sample of this study came specifically from 130 students enrolling in teacher education undergraduate programs in Macau.Findings - In this study, using data collected from questionnaires and interviews, the factors affecting mainland student teachers’ choice of Macau as a place for their undergraduate studies are examined. Other related issues such as the challenges these students face and their intentions after their graduation are also studied.Originality/value - The data collected for this study were primary and original, drawing specifically from students enrolling teacher education programs. Following the various studies on the global movement of mainland students, this study aimed at understanding mainland students’ mobility pattern in one of China’s special administration regions, Macau. In this regard, cultural identity and cultural factors were considered on top of other factors. Copyright © 2019 Emerald Publishing Limited.

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.