Currently, there are rigorous school-improvement interventions which have one goal in commonVthe improvement of instruction and student learning in schools. New system of accountability expects schools to produce specific improvements in a self-assessment and evaluation basis. A mechanism of school planning prioritizing and reporting is in place to ensure that the focus is on activities directly related to student achievement and improvement strategies. However, normative structures inside schools, such as the privacy of classroom practice and the culture of teaching are often determining factors not only in the implementation of policy, but, more importantly, in the school's overall effectiveness in fostering children's learning. It will be of concern to develop teachers to generate and focus attention on information relevant to teaching and learning, motivate individuals and schools to use that information and expend effort to improve practice, and build the knowledge base necessary for interpreting and applying new information to improve practice. This study aims to explore the views and practices of school improvement among pre-school teachers in Hong Kong, and to examine emergent visions and innovations adopted in practices in the process of school-based self-assessment. Of particular interest is a close-up study of the context in which teachers are expected to learn, and the impact of school support incentives on teachers' work in delivering high quality ECE. A combined quantitative and qualitative methodology will be applied, and the researchers and participants will work collaboratively over 30 months to collect data on school improvement. This action research process will involve 4 cycles of data collection and analysis; the focus of the enquiry will be the strategic plans and activities undertaken by ten schools in implementing self-assessment and school improvement plans.

This study is an investigation in using action research and the VMS (Valuable-MuddiestSuggestion) method to improve the teaching and learning of a new General Education course for Early Childhood Education student-teachers. According to Kemmis and McTaggart (1992), to do action research is to plan, act, observe and reflect in continuous cycles with more careful, more systematic, and more rigorous way. Based on research evidence, self-assessment is asserted by some to be an essential skill for effective learning and lifelong learning, and this skill should be developed in university courses (Black & William, 1998; Boud, 1995; Cowan, 1998). VMS method is used to engender dual self-assessment of students and teachers in the course. Participants were undergraduate students enrolling in a Bachelor programme at the Hong Kong Institute of Education. The VMS method is designed to record students’ responses in each lesson on their “valuable (V) learning experience in the lesson”, “the muddiest (M) point in the lesson” as well as “suggestions (S) for improvement”. Records of their valuable learning (V), their muddiest point (M), and their suggestions (S) can be assessed and analyzed by the students themselves and the teacher to explore the learning experience of the students as well as the content and pedagogy of the lesson. The results of the study is encouraging. The action research cycles with dual self-assessment give valuable hints and insights to the students for self-directed learning to clarify their muddiest point and to the teacher for self-assessment and reflection on content and pedagogy of teaching.

Understanding student teachers’ development of conceptions of teaching and learning is critical for teacher educators. Drawing from the findings of a four-year longitudinal study in Hong Kong, this paper examines the trajectories of the student teachers’ changing conceptions of teaching and learning approaches throughout their undergraduate programme. Three types of trajectories: guided touring, experiential detouring and self-guided touring, as the changes in both conceptions of teaching and learning approaches, are presented. The results suggest that three factors: faculty, learners’ attitudes towards learning and ability to integrate different learning resources, influenced the development of the student teachers’ trajectories. This study adds to the international body of knowledge on the interconnected development of conceptions of teaching and learning approaches. The paper concludes with the implications for teacher education.
[Copyright © 2015 Taylor & Francis.]

This study tested how collaboration, as a component of school capacity and a potential mediator, affect the relationship between principal leadership and teacher professional learning in Hong Kong primary schools. To investigate teacher perceptions of principal leadership and school capacity, two questionnaires were combined to use. The online survey was administered with a sample of 970 teachers from 32 primary schools. The orthodox regression based dour-step causal approach (Baron & Kenny, 1986) integrated with the bootstrapping method, was adopted for mediating analysis, with the composite score of principal leadership as the predictor. Upon the affirmation of the presence of the mediating effects, significance and strength were further assessed. This study stepped further to test the overall effect of the seven core areas of principal leadership, as independent predictors, on teacher professional leaning via the possible mediating effects of collaboration. The findings affirmed that, collaboration did play a mediating role between the relationship of principal leadership and teacher professional learning in Hong Kong primary schools.

The pre-school sector in Singapore and Hong Kong (both British colonies in the past) have traditionally been regulated by two different government organizations : kindergartens come under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education(MOE)/Education Bureau (EB) while child care centres are regulated by Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS)/Social Welfare Department (SWD) respectively. Such a system is not unusual in the international landscape of early child care and education (ECCE) where "education" and "care" are seen as separate and hence, regulated by different government agencies. This paper will trace the historical development of teacher education and development in both the former British colonies. However, the focus of the paper will be on recent initiatives which will be discussed within the context of recent policy changes spearheaded by a Steering Committee on Preschool Education (SCPE) in the late 1990s in Singapore, resulting in outcomes such as the establishment of a Preschool Qualification Accreditation Committee (PQAC) and the development of a recommended curriculum framework Nurturing Early Learners (2003). Parallel developments in Hong Kong could be traced within the context of developments leading to a comprehensive education reform that has impacted on early childhood education as well, with similar outcomes, such as the development of A Guide to Pre-primary Curriculum (1996), subsequently revised in 2006. Another important Hong Kong initiative - the Preschool Education Voucher Scheme - deserves mention. These recent initiatives have resulted in a movement towards enhancing teacher quality and professional development. The question remains: Are these initiatives sustainable?

Mentoring has been seen as an ongoing effort to professionalize teaching in teacher education since the 1980s. It is commonly believed that collaborating mentors and student teachers can benefit through the dynamics of school- based mentoring. Reflectivity is said to be one mechanism by which changes occur both in the student teacher and the mentor. Ethnographic research methods incorporating direct observation and interviews were employed in studying mentoring practices in initial teacher education. The mentors are language teachers who acted as mentors for students of the Bachelor of Education programme at The University of Hong Kong. An analytical framework, developed from the literature, is used to interpret and illustrate the effects of mentoring practices on the mentors' development of expertise in teaching; in terms of reflection, practical knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge. Results indicate that student teachers' practices in learning to teach become an object about which mentors engage in reflection. Reflection through conversations plays a key role in experienced teachers' development of expertise in teaching. Such reflection requires three kinds of capacities: theorizing practical knowledge, pedagogical reasoning and collaborative inquiry.

The stress that negatively affects teachers has been found to influence the turnover rate in the teaching profession. Recent research has shown that mindfulness-based programmes effectively promote well-being while addressing psychological distress. In this study, the authors investigated the effects of a six-week mindfulness-based programme on pre-service teachers in Hong Kong (N = 70). The authors hypothesised that a six-week mindfulness-based programme would increase mindfulness and well-being while reducing stress and symptoms of depression. Both intervention and control groups were assessed at baseline and post-intervention. A univariate analysis revealed a significant increase in mindfulness and well-being. A regression analysis indicated that mindfulness was a significant predictor of well-being, stress, anxiety and depressive symptoms. Qualitative data reflected that the mindfulness programme was beneficial to and feasible for pre-service teachers. Such a programme could be implemented in teaching education to promote well-being and stress management while preventing burnout among teaching professionals.
[Copyright © 2015 Teacher Development.]

課室情境的研究資料能助教師評估課室的氣氛，發揮他們的教學潛能，改善或改變課室的氣氛，有助教師的專業發展。Fraser (1986) 提議老師可在各學科和各年級的課堂中反思課室的情境，了解課室的氣氛，以提高教學效能，達專業發展，這對常識科教師尤其重要。自一九九六年九月開始這一新課程已成為香港的小學的共同核心課程中的一科。教師除了設計「以兒童為中心」的學習活動以輔助兒童學習 (香港課程發展議會1994)，亦應不斷評估課室的氣氛，以改善自己的教學，提高教師的成就感 (Fraser, Barry J. & Walberg, Herbert L. 1991)、作終身教育的一環。本研究邀請在香港教育學院接受在職訓練的常識科教師和學生，利用課室情境量表反思他們的常識課課堂氣氛，藉所獲資料評估反思常識科的教與學，供其他常識科教師作不斷評估、專業發展之參考。