In the past few years, the education sector, including teacher education, has encountered unprecedented challenges resulting from the global pandemic of the Coronavirus (COVID-19). In Hong Kong, it was fuelled by protests and campus occupation due to the unstable political situation. Many universities were forced to suspend face-to-face instruction and adopt online teaching. This volume is a response to the global transformation of teaching and learning from the face-to-face mode to the online mode triggered by these challenges, with a focus on teacher education in Hong Kong. This introductory chapter pulls together the narrative of the volume by detailing such challenges and showcasing how the challenges have accelerated the use of e-technology in teaching and learning online. It provides an overview of the chapters included in this volume and discusses how they contribute to the rationale of the volume and the various sections, which include challenges in teaching and learning in times of crisis, curriculum and pedagogical innovations, assessment and feedback practices, and the scholarship of teaching and learning in the teacher education context. Copyright © 2023 selection and editorial matter, Kevin Wai Ho Yung and Huixuan Xu; individual chapters, the contributors.

Based on a case study of an undergraduate course for a teacher education program at a university in Hong Kong, this chapter examines how technology-enabled case-based learning engages pre-service teachers behaviorally, cognitively, and emotionally and prepares them for teaching in schools. Qualitative data obtained from individual interviews with four pre-service teachers and online discussion threads were analyzed using a content analysis approach. This chapter describes how the use of 360-degree panoramic videos and asynchronous discussion forums supports the development of pre-service teachers’ problem-solving skills in tackling school students’ undesirable classroom behaviors, enhancing their reflective skills, and consolidating their content knowledge in classroom management. This study sheds light on how technology-enabled case-based learning may contribute to teacher education programs and prepare pre-service teachers for effective classroom management. Copyright © 2022 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

This study focused on Hong Kong mathematics teachers' experiences and challenges in online distance teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 109 frontline mathematics teachers participated in the survey. Their teaching experiences and challenges during the pandemic were investigated through an online questionnaire and followed up through in-depth interviews. The results show that most teachers believed that their way of teaching mathematics had somewhat changed and that they had tried to offer e-learning as an alternative teaching mode to maintain the quality of teaching during the pandemic. They also tended to focus on external factors rather than internal factors during online teaching. Teachers agreed that a paradigm shift had occurred in the role of teaching during this time of crisis. Although they had developed sufficient levels of technology use, these did not necessarily translate to competence in achieving instructional goals. Ultimately, teachers' personal experiences with online teaching and their beliefs about mathematics teaching are crucial factors affecting the role and effectiveness of online teaching. Copyright © 2023 selection and editorial matter, Kevin Wai Ho Yung and Huixuan Xu; individual chapters, the contributors.

Hong Kong students’ declining motivation levels in learning music have become an alarming issue and a challenge for music educators. At the same time, while expressing an interest in popular music, local students have limited opportunities to study the genre as part of their formal school curricula. It leaves the question of what kinds of teaching strategies and music materials should be constructed to provide students with educational and musical values in the school music curriculum. The present study explores the effects and responses of implementing popular music education in the local classroom, examines students’ motivational levels and, the psychology of music learning based on the self-determination theory.A teaching approach was created based on the concepts from informal learning practices with the addition of singing elements, namely the Sing by Ear project. The approach is tailored to the Hong Kong classroom music context, as instruments and spacious practice rooms are not required when resources are limited. The project aims to provide a comprehensive music learning approach in which confidence, and satisfaction, and musicianship through listening, creating, and performing could be earned collaboratively and simultaneously with the activity. The current research was administered under the explanatory sequential approach, which involves two phases of data collection: a quantitative phase followed by a qualitative phase. By employing the convenience sampling method, 323 participants (aged 11- 14) were invited to the three-month project. Students were involved in singing cover songs by ear instead of reading music notations in an a cappella setting. A mobile learning strategy was adopted due to the enforcement of social distancing measures following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.Data were collected by pre-test and post-test survey instruments and student interviews to determine (1) the extent of self-determination for having formal school music lessons

English, as a worldwide language, is the language most often used both online and offline. The implementation of e-learning practices widens learners’ horizons through different educational opportunities and enhances their learning abilities, and it reduces the costs of higher education. Upon reviewing the literature, some research gaps related with this study are listed. The first was that preservice English teachers sometimes lacked adequate knowledge and skills to choose the proper educational technologies for implementing e-learning in their field practices. The other was that some teacher educators over-focused on their choices of educational technologies and not on their implementation of e-learning in a precise subject. Although many studies have focused on the use of English learning strategies and skills, this research will focus on implementation of e-learning practices in preservice English language teacher education. Second, the existing research lacks adequate coverage of the training for preservice English teachers to become English language teachers, when that training is conducted through implementing e-learning practices in English language learning strategies. Meanwhile, other current issues are apparent: preservice English teachers do not have sufficient resources to lead their teaching process using supplementary digital resources. The methods designed and used to implement e-learning practices are vital aspects of those implementations. E-learning practices in preservice English language teacher education have been discussed extensively in Hong Kong and Mainland China. It is important that teachers nurture students’ digital literacy and their abilities for critical thinking and conducting logical presentations. Student teachers not only understand the pros and cons of e-learning practices in preservice English language teacher education, but also the general developments of teacher education. This study aims to investigate how e-learning practices

Objective: This research focused on the psychosocial influences that account for differences in academic achievement and motivation among ethnic minority and ethnic majority students in Hong Kong. Methods: A cross-sectional correlation was conducted on 154 students in total. Specifically, 86 ethnic minority students and 68 local Chinese students. Researchers assessed students’ ethnic identity, academic self-concept, perceived parental expectations, ethnic/ideal self-discrepancies, actual/ideal self-discrepancies, ethnic group, academic achievement and academic motivation. Results: A significant t-test indicated greater ethnic identity in the ethnic minority group. A moderated mediation model suggested that ethnic/ideal self-discrepancies predicted a negative correlation with academic motivation through the mediation of actual/ideal self-discrepancies; a stronger effect was shown in ethnic minority students. A significant mediation of academic self-concept was found between perceived parental expectations and academic outcomes. Moderated mediations revealed that ethnic identity produced a positive correlation with academic motivation in students between ethnic groups; a stronger effect was shown in ethnic majority students. Implications: Implementation of growth mindset interventions, frequent parent communication, heritage language classes and teachers of same ethnic origin in educational institutions are recommended. Conclusion: Ethnic identity, ethnic/ideal self-discrepancies and perceived parental expectations are notable psychosocial factors to consider in the academic outcomes of all students and especially those of ethnic minority descent. All rights reserved.

Background Depression is a mental illness common in university studies as they have high academic stress and their life transition. However, depression is being stigmatized by university students; hence they showed lower intention to seek mental health services when they are suffering from depression. Research targeting the short online stigma reduction program is scarce. Therefore, a short online psychoeducation training about depression which is regarding the theory of planned behavior, was employed in the current study to reduce university stigma towards depression and increase help-seeking intention.Method There were totally 40 undergraduate students in the Education University of Hong Kong divided into two groups to complete a pre-test survey, intervention, and posttest measure regarding depression. Among them, half were divided into the experimental group to receive psychoeducation training in the intervention stage, while another half were divided into the control groups to do the unrelated training to test and compare the effectiveness of psychoeducation training. The hypotheses were tested using mixed measure ANOVA.Result The results of the repeated measure ANOVA on SPSS suggested that university students who participated in the short online psychoeducation training could help reduce their threatening illness perception towards depression and increase their intention of seeking mental health service for depressive symptoms. At the same time, it did not indicate such result for those who did not participate in psychoeducation training. However, both two groups did not show a significant reduction in stigmatizing attitudes towards depression or improvement of acceptance towards students with depression. Thus, there was a trend of progress on these two components in the experimental group.Conclusion The current study indicated that the theory of planned behavior could serve as an approach for reducing threatening illness perception towards depression and increasing

Humility as a virtue has been receiving increasing scholarly attention in the fields of philosophy and psychology (particularly positive psychology). While humility is regarded as important for knowledge production, acquisition, and transmission, philosophical and psychological inquiries indicate that the concept of humility can significantly differ across social arenas and cultural traditions. However, despite its clear educational importance, humility as a moral concept is seldom explored empirically in relation to teaching and learning. This study seeks to extend our cross-cultural understanding of humility and its association with teaching and learning practices in schools. Based on semi-structured interviews with teachers in local and international secondary schools in Hong Kong, we comparatively explore how teachers understand the concept of humility and how their understandings shape their teaching practices in classrooms. This comparative approach can provide a deeper understanding of the differences and similarities between different teachers’ understandings of humility as an important moral concept. Furthermore, this study will shed light on how educators’ moral concepts are associated with their pedagogical practices. This will provide an alternative lens to reflect on and improve teaching and learning practices, and teacher-student relations in schools. Copyright © 2021 The Education University of Hong Kong.