The paper aims to gain better understandings of preservice teachers’ social media integrations with various pedagogic strategies towards constructivist orientation for teaching practicum. A qualitative study of a group of preservice teachers integrating the social media for teaching in early childhood, primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong was conducted. A framework of pedagogy was integrated in the literature for exploration of preservice teachers’ teaching practices. The results reveal that YouTube social media was regarded as preservice teachers’ (1) common practices as part of initial pedagogic development; (2) social media integrations of various pedagogic strategies mainly towards didactic-oriented teaching instead of constructive-oriented one; and (3) preparedness in constructivist-oriented teaching with the YouTube social media integrations is needed. Implications for teacher educators and schools are discussed.
[Copyright © 2016 The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology.]

Based on the recognized status of the Hong Kong school system indicated in international studies, facilitating students with quality Integrated Learning (IL) is the crucial pedagogy for a new subject entitled Liberal Studies (LS) which has been implemented in secondary education in Hong Kong since 2009. This study uses case studies and semi-structured interviews of novice and experienced teachers to investigate the concerns and work of teachers in Small-Class Teaching (SCT) for IL in LS and explores how teacher leadership may help in terms of classroom context, learning community, improved practice, and outcome achievement. The findings reveal the common and diversified ideas and practices regarding SCT for IL in LS, which may provide valuable insights into teacher leadership for teachers and policy makers across the world.
[Copyright © 2016 SCHOLINK INC.]

Although the goal of developing school students’ understanding of nature of science (NOS) has long been advocated, little is known about how science teachers, a kind of major stakeholder in NOS instruction, perceive the values of teaching NOS. Through semi-structured interviews, this study investigated the views of 15 Hong Kong in-service teachers toward the values of teaching NOS. The values of teaching NOS as perceived by the teachers fall into two types. The first type is related to students’ learning of science in the classroom and involves (i) facilitating the study of subject knowledge, (ii) increasing the interest in learning science, (iii) aiding the conduct of scientific inquiry, (iv)meeting the needs of public examination, and (v) fulfilling the inherent requirement of scientific learning. The second type goes beyond learning science and includes (i) developing thinking abilities, (ii) cultivating scientific ethos, and (iii) supporting the participation in public decisions on socioscientific issues. Although rich relationships were perceived by these teachers between NOS instruction and students’ learning of science, few values were stated from broad social and cultural perspectives. Suggestions are made on designing programs to prepare teachers for teaching NOS.

This article offers a theoretical discussion on the current problems and future challenges of school capacity building in early childhood education (ECE), aiming to highlight some key areas for future research. In recent years, there has been a notable policy shift from monitoring quality through inspection to improving quality through school capacity building in early childhood institutions in the global discourse for quality. Reflecting this policy shift and its implications on school development, ECE in Hong Kong is used as an illustrative example to deliberate the issues of school capacity building in Chinese educational contexts. We identify three challenging contexts: (1) low professional qualification and minimal teacher education resulting in a deficit approach to processional development, (2) absence of school-based professional learning culture for empowering teachers as internal agents of change, and (3) hierarchical culture within a school and between university and school hindering the process of school capacity building. Corresponding to these challenges, we aim to propose two suggestions, including (1) empowering teachers in ECE through school-based professional learning community and (2) promoting authentic external support in the process of university–school collaboration. Finally, we further propose specific directions for future research on school capacity building in ECE in Hong Kong. In doing so, it will contribute to knowledge-based development in school capacity building in Chinese educational contexts.
[Copyright © 2016 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.]

In an effort to enhance the quality of teachers and teaching, and to lead internal curriculum development in primary schools, the Hong Kong Education Bureau created a new curriculum leader post entitled primary school master/mistress (curriculum development) or PSMCD for short. The main purpose of the study was to examine the perceptions of these curriculum leaders on their competence in leading the primary school reform. Using a stratified random sampling technique, 125 curriculum leaders were chosen to participate in the current study. Survey questionnaire and semi-structured interviews were conducted. The findings of the study suggest that PSMCDs in general supported the goals and the rationale of the reform. In addition, they also agreed that moderate progress had been made in implementing the curriculum reform in their school. Though progress had been made in many areas, our findings have highlighted several key challenges that these PSMCDs faced in performing their roles. These challenges include heavy workload, learner diversity in the classrooms, the use of diversified modes for assessment, and having too many reforms at the same time. Implications and recommendations are discussed.
[Copyright © 2016 The Author(s).]

This study examined the immediate and long-term effects of an Assessment for Learning intervention on pre-service sports coaches’ attitudes towards Assessment for Learning in sports. The hypothesis that the intervention had an immediate effect on the experimental group towards Assessment for Learning was only partially supported by this research. Nevertheless, the hypothesis that the intervention had a long-term effect was supported. This study has successfully shown that the intervention can be very effective in developing competencies in Assessment for Learning among pre-service sports coaches in Hong Kong. Through the intervention, the pre-service sport coaches made positive changes in attitudes towards Assessment for Learning, as used in sports teaching, and recognised its effect on student learning. Their positive responses serve as a “green light” for introducing Assessment for Learning for all in-service sports coaches and physical education teachers in Hong Kong.
[Copyright © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.]

Field experience at the Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd) is viewed as a central aspect to our programmes. The proposed chapter will discuss a project that aimed to enhance student teachers' professional development in FE by adopting mobile technology and cloud services. Also, the use of digital forms of FE documents such as TP supervision forms, FE portfolios, and reflective journals enables student teachers and Institute supervisors to build their own e-portfolio for further sharing of their professional practices within and outside the Institute.
[Copyright © 2016, IGI Global.]

Within the context of the Hong Kong (HK) diaspora, the legacies of colonial administration means the education of teachers follows a largely British template. However one is increasingly drawn to ask: can the West learn from the East? More specifically what cultural values are embedded in the HK teaching and learning paradigms that lead to success for HK PE teacher development? The aim of this study is to connect the pivotal concepts from Confucius’ perspective of learning, such as (benevolence), (ritual) and (propriety), and to consider them as the Bourdieuian concept of Within this analytical framework, this study seeks to understand professional knowledge development and identity construction within pre-service PE student teachers prior to entering the profession in Hong Kong. The study draws on data from group interviews with 6 Hong Kong PE student-teachers in their final year of study for a B.Ed in PE, and a critical content analysis of PETE curricula at a major teacher education institution in Hong Kong. The data, analyzed using coding and constant comparison, revealed themes related to students’ teacher practice, professional expectation, and knowledge and skills development. These emergent themes are discussed in relation to their impact on student teachers professional learning and identity formation within the HK diaspora. It is concluded that PE student-teachers still share some colonial characteristics and beliefs though there is evidence to suggest a slight shift in contemporary profile of a PE student teacher. A strong sense of perpetuating the tradition by imitating and respecting with their supporting teachers and lecturers pervaded the data with seemingly unawareness of an apprentice relationship. Suggestions are made for supporting beginning PE teachers as they transition to a complex and demanding professional context.

Mosston’s “spectrum of teaching styles” which composes of 11 pedagogical approaches in physical education, has been popularly promoted for maximizing students’ learning in the Western countries. However, very few of them have been put into practice and studied in Hong Kong. One of the teaching styles, reciprocal teaching style is thought to help tackle problems associated with large classes, limited equipment, and insufficient feedback to students. The purpose of the study was to investigate the perceptions and experiences of students and physical education teachers in reciprocal teaching. The factors that influence their teaching and learning were also examined. Four primary and secondary physical education teachers teaching in Kowloon, Hong Kong and New Territories and their four classes of students were purposely invited to take part in the study. The teachers were briefed the principles of the implementation of the reciprocal style and adopted reciprocal teaching implementing a 10-lesson unit. Qualitative data were collected by a combination of techniques: lesson observations, formal interviews of students and teachers, student reflective journals and teacher self-review. Constant comparison and analytic induction were used to organize and categorize the data. Findings indicated that the teachers were not used to the teaching format and encountered difficulties during the preparation. Experience, resources and tutors’ abilities were identified as major factors influencing the implementation and learning of students in reciprocal teaching. The help of teachers and the preparation of task card assisted both the tutors and tutees in the learning process. Most students held positive views of the reciprocal teaching and recognized the values of the approach. The more the teachers implement the approach, both teachers and students will get more familiar to the approach. Findings of the study hold implications in helping preservice and in-service physical education teachers

This study explores two higher education-based language teacher educators' teaching beliefs and how they implemented their beliefs in classroom practice. Drawing on data from in-depth interviews and classroom observation, the findings revealed the teacher educators' multiple and complex beliefs, which were derived from their past experiences and continued to be shaped and transformed through their professional work. The study also shows that while the participants tried to act in accordance with their beliefs in their teaching of teachers, they encountered some contextual obstacles (e.g. the 'publish-or-perish' system) which resulted in the gap between their beliefs and practice. Through their continuous reflections and agentive work, the teacher educators tried to close the gap and facilitate their students' learning to teach. This study concludes with some implications for current teacher education and higher education on how to promote language teacher educators' cognitive learning and continuous development.
[Copyright © 2016 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.]