Teachers and teacher salaries are the two major scarce resources in the provision of education. Teacher shortage problems are common and have been a concern in nearly all countries. High teacher attritions other than retirement have called public and government attention in enhancing retention of teachers as a way to solve teacher shortage problems. The shortage of teachers varies with subjects and levels. In Hong Kong, the shortage of quality English teachers has long been a social concern because of the importance for its citizen to attain high English proficiency levels to maintain the competitiveness as an international city.
The purpose of this study is to investigate the predictors affecting the retention tendency of inservice English teachers in Hong Kong secondary schools from the labour economics perspective with a quantitative survey. Through a more thorough understanding of the predictors affecting their retention tendency, policies can be formulated with a view to enhancing the retention of English subject teachers. The survey was carried out in September, 2002. Questionnaires were sent to 111 publicly funded secondary schools in Hong Kong. A total of 490 completed questionnaires have been collected from an estimated sample size of 1332 English subject teachers in Hong Kong secondary schools. The response rate is 36.8%.
The results show that three domains of predictors: compensation structure, working conditions and personal variables affect the retention tendency of English teachers to continue teaching English. The variance explained by the whole model is 0.211.
For the domain of compensation structure, the three factors extracted from the alternative bases for paying teachers including differential pay, competencies pay and teach load pay are significant predictors of their retention tendency.
For the domain of working conditions for teachers, the results show that the classroom teaching conditions and the school support are two extracted

The study aims at presenting the scenario of job satisfaction/dissatisfaction of kindergarten teachers in Hong Kong. New evidence from neuroscience suggests that early experience and positive, stimulating interactions with other people are crucial for optimum brain development of the young child. The quality of their teachers is of vital importance. With high job satisfaction, the teachers are motivated to work effectively in order to achieve good quality. It is envisaged that the knowledge about the elements of the teacher's job nature or the work environment may contribute to enhancing/reducing their job satisfaction/dissatisfaction.
Review of literature informed that the definition of job satisfaction tends to emphasize on affect. Yet there is no work-based study investigating the simultaneous contributions of belief and affective experiences. The key concern of this study is thus to bridge the gap by revealing the daily experiences of the target group.
The study investigated how and why the kindergarten teachers were satisfied with their work in the Hong Kong context. The feelings and thoughts of the kindergarten teachers were explored through their words. The result of the study provided an affective account as well as the cognitive evaluation of job satisfaction / dissatisfaction of the kindergarten teachers.
This study adopted the qualitative approach. Data collection was done through open-ended survey, in-depth individual interviews and focus group interviews. One hundred and seventy-five kindergarten teachers, including both former and currently working ones, served as informants. Three cases were found to provide more holistic views on their personal accounts. Triangulation, through the multiple sources of data, was employed to verify the study.
The findings obtained after the reduction and analysis of data were interpreted through the framework of Yin Yang. Within the framework, the elements, such as 'love' between teachers and children

This research explored student teacher's thinking in science and how they oriented to professional development from pre-service teacher education to beginning teaching. A more holistic view of teacher thinking with four focuses was embedded in this research: (1) conceptions of teaching and learning science; (2) planning; (3) teaching; and (4) reflections. The characteristics of these four aspects and their changes across time, the interrelationships of the four aspects and the change of their coherence in the longitudinal study were the main focus of the study.
An original group of 25 student teachers in Hong Kong were followed for three years, which included their two-year Certificate in Primary Education (Chinese) (Full-Time) Courses (1996-98) at the Hong Kong Institute of Education and their first year of beginning teaching in local primary schools in 1998-99. The student teachers were interviewed about their conception of teaching and learning science and what they had extracted from the experience. Also, they were asked to draw concepts maps to describe their thoughts during planning and were observed in their micro-teaching, school teaching experience and beginning teaching in local classrooms. After each of on these observations, they wrote journals to reflect on their teaching. The research approach involved in-depth qualitative analyses supplemented by quantification when necessary to allow clearer assessment of change in thinking.
In this longitudinal study, student teachers were found to espouse predominant or secondary constructivist conceptions of teaching and learning science to different degrees in different stages of study. Their planning became less intense in terms of lower complexity and fewer thoughts. Besides, teachers' development of constructivist teaching was evident and there was continuing evidence of confronting reflection among teachers throughout the three stages of the study.
An increase in the coherence between the different

Hong Kong educational system has faced drastic changes. In the past few years, there are various reform policies being implemented in view of the changes and needs in the new global economy. Grounded in the perspective of symbolic interactionism, the present life histories research studies the transformation of secondary school teachers' lives in the local context of education reforms, from 1997 to 2005. The results reveal how teachers narrate the teaching profession as pilgrimage, which explains the formation of the moral identity and the frame of reference of the practitioners.
Teachers treasure humanistic values, believe in development of young people through "life-to-life" long-term interaction, and trust in emancipation through education that delivers knowledge, fosters civic development and personal growth. However, in the context of education reforms dominated by the neoliberal, managerial and performativity discourse, the pilgrimage and its heritage have been threatened. The meso context, including the leadership style of principals and the organizational relationship among teachers, has impact on teachers comparable to that of the macro context of education reforms. It is through the meso context that education reforms are mediated, or distorted, in school level. Ontological narratives of teachers have become fragmented, as their character is being corroded in a context of education reforms and school culture that revitalize and redefine professional identity under the hegemonic discourse. Teachers engage in a reflexive project, which is a dynamic interaction of the self and the social context, with a role to be played by self-conscious emotions. Discussions would be made on the need for rebuilding the narrative identity of the teaching profession, together with the implications on implementation of education reforms in the local context.