Portfolio assessment, as an alternative writing assessment approach, has received growing attention in the past few decades. Although the benefits of portfolio assessment are well validated, there is a dearth of empirical research on how portfolio assessment can be sustained over time and the support teachers need to sustain portfolio assessment practice in their teaching contexts. To fill this significant void, the present study examines the influences that contribute to the sustainability of portfolio assessment in second-language writing. Drawing on data from interviews with the principal, English department chair and four English teachers from one elementary school in Hong Kong, as well as classroom observation and teachers’ team meeting observation, the study revealed that administrators’ role in dispersing decision-making authority to teachers, exploiting learning opportunities and providing a stimulating environment for teachers, and the sharing of common vision and goals, as well as collective flows of learning among team members, are the cornerstone of transformation and sustainability for the practice of portfolio assessment. The paper concludes with practical implications on how the innovative attempts in portfolio assessment can be sustained over time. Copyright © 2024 The Author(s).

The present study examined the association between pre-service teachers’ mindfulness and critical thinking dispositions, as indexed by engagement, cognitive maturity, and innovativeness in critical thinking. A total of 72 Chinese pre-service teachers were recruited from Hong Kong to complete an online questionnaire cross-sectionally. Hierarchical regression analysis indicated that mindfulness was differentially associated with critical thinking dispositions. As important dimensions of mindfulness, mindful presence was positively associated with engagement in critical thinking, whereas mindful acceptance was positively associated with cognitive maturity in the regression models. However, neither mindful presence nor mindful acceptance was related to innovativeness in critical thinking. As a covariate, gender was not related to dimensions of mindfulness and critical thinking dispositions. The present findings inform the literature on the relation between pre-service teachers’ mindfulness and critical thinking dispositions, particularly in the Chinese context. As a major implication, policymakers should be made aware of the importance of strengthening pre-service teachers’ mindfulness, such that they could have a greater disposition to teach critically as they enter the workforce. Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). 

This paper investigates problems of space in Hong Kong kindergartens. It reports survey findings of a policy study relating to the Kindergarten Education Scheme (KES). KES emphasizes holistic development and child-centred pedagogy, which require larger and more flexible spaces than traditional desk-based learning. The study aimed to explore kindergartens’ responses to the resulting challenges around providing adequate space within Hong Kong’s high density urban environment. Questionnaires were sent to principals of 751 KES kindergartens. 325 valid questionnaires were collected (response rate: 43.5%). Analysis comprised descriptive statistics, inferential tests of relationships between operation mode and other variables, and coding of open-ended question responses. The paper highlights three key findings: (i) kindergartens reported a wide range of challenges relating to space; (ii) most augment their provision by using public spaces outside the premises, but these spaces come with their own challenges; and (iii) there were significant differences in the extent of reported problems between kindergartens operating in different modes, with long-whole-day kindergartens experiencing greater difficulty and disparity. Situating these findings in the historical context of Hong Kong’s uneven urban development, we argue that policy improvement of spatial provision will require reducing pressures on kindergarten spaces, rather than merely setting out spatial standards. Copyright © 2023  Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Social capital accrued via cross-racial/ethnic networks plays an important role in the adjustment, persistence and success for minority groups of university students. Yet, few studies offered insight into how intercultural social capital impacts learning and socialising experiences among minority students in non-Western contexts. Drawing on interviews with minority university students in Hong Kong, this study canvassed their intercultural networking, its influences and institutional factors that conditioned its accessibility. Findings showed that participants garnered a full array of social capital in ethnic minority cliques, whereas their connections with institutional agents were more inclined to pastoral care rather than academic advising and mentor services. This study unearthed a campus environment wherein a monolithic Chinese/Cantonese culture and de facto racial/ethnic-segregation contributed to their restricted academic/social engagements with other counterparts and added to the manifestations of marginalisation in the literature that has been preoccupied with racial lines around the Black-White binary in Western contexts. Copyright © 2024 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

This study examined the interrelationships among parental play belief, household playfulness, kindergarten play behaviors, and social competence in a sample of Hong Kong Chinese children. Participants were teachers and parents of 140 children (52.1% boys, mean age = 4.35). Parents reported their parental play belief and their child’s playfulness through a questionnaire, while teachers reported children’s kindergarten play behaviors and social competence. Multiple regressions and path analytic model revealed that children’s kindergarten social play, rough play, and reticent behaviors were correlates of their social competence; and that children’s social spontaneity, social play, and reticent behaviors act as potential mediators underlying the relationship between parental play belief and social competence. These findings suggest that parents holding positive play belief may promote their child’s social competence by shaping children’s household playfulness and kindergarten play behaviors. They also highlight the utility of promoting parental play belief, children’s social spontaneity, and kindergarten social play. Copyright © 2024 The Author(s).

Teachers fostering future-ready graduates need to master updated pedagogical and technological knowledge, so teacher professional development (TPD) is essential. Conventional TPD activities such as seminars and workshops are limited as they require specific time blocks and lack flexibility. The current study investigated TPD through microlearning courses in online and blended learning modes as an innovative TPD approach in Hong Kong. We applied a qualitative approach and thirty-two preservice teachers in the English language education program participated. The data were collected using questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, and observations for data collection. The pre-service teachers’ digital competencies were evaluated against an observation protocol based on the SAMR framework and TPACK model. The effects of microlearning and the participants’ digital competence needs were also identified. The results revealed how preservice teachers perceived the integration of technology and the challenges they encountered (e.g., design of learning tasks and time management). Based on the findings, personalized and hands-on training is recommended to fulfill teachers’ diverse learning targets in applying specific technology and deepen their understanding of technology use. Furthermore, as more conceptual frameworks for assisting microlearning in TPD are necessary, this study can help enrich the underpinning theories for the microlearning design of TPD. Copyright © 2024 International Forum of Educational Technology & Society, National Taiwan Normal University, Taiwan.

With a focus on the neglected ‘L2 learning experience’ component in Dörnyei’s L2 Motivational Self System (L2MSS), this study investigated secondary students’ L2 motivation in the context of online English private tutoring (EPT). Through narrative inquiry, students narrated their EPT experience online and reflected on it in comparison with that in the face-to-face environment. Through an initial questionnaire, in-depth interviews and follow-up conversations with 12 senior secondary students in Hong Kong, the study revealed the participants’ generally negative L2 learning experience in online EPT. This negativity stemmed from constant distractions and poor concentration, limited interaction with the tutor and peers and insufficient learning support in the online environment. These experiences disengaged and demotivated the students in the language learning process. The findings contribute to our understanding of the L2 learning experience component in L2MSS and the impact of L2 contexts on students’ L2 motivation. The study indicates that, for our participants, there are some irreplaceable elements in face-to-face tutoring (e.g. physical proximity, facial expressions), lack of which affected students’ engagement and motivation. This highlights the importance of researchers and practitioners in language education taking into account learners’ situated contexts and immediate learning environment when conducting relevant studies on L2 motivation. Copyright © 2024 Association for Language Learning.

This longitudinal study examined the interactive effects of individual- and classroom-level teacher−child relationships on developing externalizing, internalizing, and prosocial behaviors in kindergarten children over time. On two occasions separated by about 1 year, data were collected from 473 kindergarten children (52% boys, Mage = 4.36 years) and their class teachers and mothers in Hong Kong, China. Class teachers reported the closeness and conflict in their relationships with each participating child of their class at Time 1, and mothers reported the child’s externalizing, internalizing, and prosocial behaviors at Times 1 and 2. Results indicated that controlling for child age, gender, grade, maternal education, and prior levels of child adjustment, individual-level teacher−child closeness was negatively associated with internalizing behaviors, and individual-level teacher−child conflict was positively associated with child externalizing behaviors over time. Classroom-level teacher−child closeness and conflict emerged as moderators. The longitudinal association between individual-level teacher−child closeness and externalizing behaviors was negative in low-closeness classrooms but not in high-closeness classrooms. However, the longitudinal association between individual-level teacher−child conflict and child prosocial behaviors was negative in low-conflict classrooms but not in high-conflict classrooms. Despite the statistical significance of the cross-level interaction effects, they were of small effect sizes and explained only very small amounts of variance. Theoretically, our findings demonstrated the interplay of the individual- and classroom-level teacher−child relationships in shaping children’s psychosocial adjustment over time. Practically, our findings highlighted the importance of enhancing teachers’ awareness of the affective quality of their relationships with children at both classroom and individual levels, which could potentially impede or promote

This narrative study explored pre-service teachers’ critical learning experiences in Hong Kong during the Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill movement and how these experiences transformed their perspectives on the teaching profession. Forty pre-service teachers participated in the study, including 16 local participants and 24 originally from mainland China. Using Jarvis’s transformative learning model, this study identified four categories of narratives: society-centred, person-centred, relation-centred, and witness-lens narrative accounts. These narratives demonstrated the participants’ various approaches during the transformation process, including reflection, emotion, and self-identification. Changes resulting from these experiences varied from radical perspective-taking to no change occurring. The Hong Kong locals mainly presented society-centred narrative accounts, whereas the majority of participants from mainland China reported person-centred narrative accounts. Their varied previous lifeworld experiences and self-identification explained the differences. The present study highlights the importance of including emotion and identity instead of taking a single constructive perspective when explaining the process of transformative learning. In addition, it shows that the process and outcomes of transformation do not naturally follow a positive direction of growth. Future studies should examine teacher’s transformation using a narrative approach and longitudinal design. Copyright © 2024 The Author(s).

As Philosophy for Children (P4C) is increasingly favored as an educational approach in other regions, the absence of P4C in traditional schools in Hong Kong raises controversy regarding its benefits for Hong Kong students. This paper investigates the potential of implementing P4C in Hong Kong by exploring the features of values education in Hong Kong primary schools. The study employs Stake’s curriculum evaluation model for systematic evaluation and suggests that P4C helps bridge the gap between the Intended Curriculum and the Observed Curriculum in the Transactions and Outcomes aspect, addressing the shortcomings of Moral and Civic Education (MCE). This study discusses the possibility of using the P4C approach for values education by comparing P4C and MCE educational principles, pedagogies, and learning outcomes. The two share similarities, indicating the possibility of integrating P4C into values education. Copyright © 2024 The Author(s).