An important feature of Hong Kong's education reform over the past decade has been the articulation of the 'no loser principle.' It was meant to signal that all students are valuable and will benefit from both basic and senior secondary education. Yet barriers remain for the 2.9% of students under age 15 who can be classified as ethnic minorities. There is a declining participating rate as students move from primary to tertiary level, the medium of instruction remains alien to most of these students, and there are no curriculum provisions to meet their special needs. This paper will examine both the policy context in which provisions for ethnic minority students have been made in Hong Kong schools and also classroom practice that operationalises this policy on a daily basis. The purpose is to make an assessment of the extent to which the 'no loser principle' can be said to apply to ethnic minority students.
[Copyright © The Hong Kong Teachers' Centre].

15-year free education has been implemented in Macau and some parts of Mainland China in recent decade. In light of the implementations, local early childhood educators and experts have since been debating whether Hong Kong should follow suit to offer the 3 years of early childhood education (ECE) for free on top of the existing 12-year free education. With reference to the policy implementation and outcomes in Macau and Mainland China, as well as the ECE context in Hong Kong, this paper seeks to (1) delineate the dilemmas in the debate about 15-year free education in Hong Kong; and (2) suggest how free ECE could be offered in a context-appropriate manner. We will discuss the issues based on the “3A1S” theoretical framework, which looks into the affordability, accessibility, accountability, and sustainability of ECE. Practical solutions for settling the ceaseless debate about 15-year free education in Hong Kong will also be proposed.
[Copyright © 2014 Hong Kong Teachers' Centre]

Students need to be endowed with generic skills so as to meet the challenges of an ever changing and knowledge-based information society like Hong Kong. Traditional education systems that focus on memorization and examination cannot satisfy these new demands. So there is a need for the shift of learning and teaching (L&T). This paper shares the experience of launching "Peer Tutoring" in Advanced-Level Pure Mathematics subject in one school. It focuses on how peer tutoring influences students' learning behaviors and attitudes, learning effectiveness and skill promotion. The change of roles for students and teachers, advantages and limitations of peer tutoring will also be discussed.
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A questionnaire was administered to 106 in-service teacher education students of a university in Hong Kong to study their motives and commitment in teaching. Three motive factors were identified accounting for their choice of teaching as a career: "intrinsic/altruistic", "extrinsic/job condition" and "influence from others", amongst which, the strongest one is "intrinsic/altruistic" motive. Four factors influencing teachers' commitment were found, viz. "students' learning and school development", "demands on teaching and school practices", "teaching as a career choice", "teacher-pupil interaction and attitudes". Further analysis of the commitment factors highlighted the supporting and discouraging elements associated with school heads and collegial support, students' learning outcomes, behaviour and attitudes in learning, parents' demands and educational policy changes. All of which deserved the attention of the education authority to address with appropriate measures. Pearson correlation analysis showed that "intrinsic/altruistic" motive was significantly related to the four commitment factors, suggesting the relative importance of "intrinsic/altruistic" motive upon teacher's commitment in teaching. This should be noted by schools and universities in the process of recruiting prospective teachers.
本港一所大學的106位在職教師學員接受一項調查，以了解他們從事教學的動機及承擔感。調查顯示，他們從事教學工作的動機有三個因素：分別是「內在/利他」、「外在/工作條件」和「受他人的影響」，其中以「內在/利他」動機最強。另外，調查發現有四個因素影響教師對教學的承擔和投入感，分別是「學生的學習和學校發展」、「對教學要求和學校的運作」、「選擇教學為職業」、「師生互動和態度」。分析影響教師對教學的承擔因素有支持及令人沮喪元素，它們和校長及同事的支援、學生學習成果、行為及學習態度、家長要求及教育改變有關。上述所有因素值得教育有關人士留意，並運用適當措施處理。皮爾遜相關分析顯示「內在/利他」動機和前述四項承擔因素有明顯相關，啟示「內在/利他」動機對教師教學工作承擔的重要性，值得學校和大學師範機構在挑選職前和在職教師學員時作參考。
[Copyright of Hong Kong Teachers' Centre Journal is the property of Hong Kong Teachers' Centre at http://www.edb.org.hk/hktc]

This paper sketches major developmental processes of building a web for workplace professional communication through Chinese and English languages at a tertiary institution in Hong Kong. The strategic development of the web comprised three phases, namely, pre-design, design and post-design ones. In the pre-design phase, learners' needs in terms of the levels of web support and the necessary contents were assessed. Together with a comparative analysis of similar relevant webs offered by tertiary institutions in Hong Kong, the tentative assessment results were employed to generate a site plan for the web. In the design phase, when the web pages were written, a number of strategic factors were taken into consideration. In the post-design phase, the web was tested, modified and finalized through an evaluation survey. Eventually, new research issues relating to online distance learning and its further web advancement will be briefly addressed.
[Copyright of Hong Kong Teachers' Centre Journal is the property of Hong Kong Teachers' Centre at http://www.edb.org.hk/hktc]

The paper highlights the determinants for demand for private supplementary tutoring and their interrelationships in a case study of Hong Kong. Reviews of past local and international literature reveal several research gaps related to tutoring studies and lack of theoretical explanations for the emergence of tutoring demand. Based on relevant interview and survey data, some socio-economic and socio-cultural patterns of tutoring demand are depicted in terms of a multi-level socio-cultural argument for its nature and determinant relationships via some conceptual indicators. New issues and challenges to various educational fields are finally addressed.
[Copyright of Hong Kong Teachers' Centre Journal is the property of Hong Kong Teachers' Centre at http://www.edb.org.hk/hktc]

A study of teachers' feelings about school life is important for educational administrators and policy makers since school life will determine what teachers feel, which in turn determine what teachers do. When more literature on teachers 'school life and feelings accumulates, understandings of school processes and how to improve school will be better. An instrument, Teachers' School Life Questionnaire, was developed for this study. LISREL and multilevel modeling techniques were used to analyse the data obtained from a sample of554 teachers from 44 secondary schools. The major findings of the study indicate that school characteristics had more effects on teachers' school life than did teacher characteristics and the four subscales of teachers 'feelings about school life were in a causal order as: order and discipline, sense of community, job satisfaction and teacher commitment with the former variable promoting the latter both directly and indirectly.
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The paper attempts to explore the origin of Direct Subsidy Scheme Schools (DSS) policy in Hong Kong and its development in the past fifteen years. It focuses on the different aspects of financial and administrative arrangement of DSS schools. Finally, several experiences are illustrated to demonstrate how DSS schools in still a new round of competition among schools in basic education section.
本文旨在探討「直接資助學校」政策在過去十五年來的源流與發展，討論內容主要是集中於直資學校的財務安排與教育行政上的優劣之處，最後，以不同的直資學校經驗來反映出「直接資助學校」如何在香港的基礎教育體制中帶來新一輪的競爭。
[Copyright of Hong Kong Teachers' Centre Journal is the property of Hong Kong Teachers' Centre at http://www.edb.org.hk/hktc]

The development of a highly qualified and committed teaching force is one of the core issues in on going world wide educational reforms. In order to meet the new challenges, certain reforms on teacher education and professional development have been recently introduced in Hong Kong. Among these, the Advisory Committee on Teacher Education and Qualifications (ACTEQ) initiates a new proposal on the internship and registration of beginning teachers. This paper attempts to examine the proposal from an international perspective. Both its pros and cons are going to be discussed. It is argued that the internship of beginning teachers should be introduced as a way of improving teacher development of Hong Kong at both individual and school levels.
首年入為新任教師帶來衝擊，妥善的入職培訓有助提升教師的效能。師訓與師資諮詢委員會於二零零三年倡議在香港建立新入職教師的見習與註冊制度，然而直至目前為止，仍未落實有關政策，致令新任教師缺之支援。本文偕鑒外國經驗，旨在探討教師見習與註冊是否可行，並分析師徒式的成效，期望為香港的師訓發展開啟新方向。
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In the era of education reform in Hong Kong, on various government documents, different concepts and functions of assessment were introduced to the community. The importance of formative assessment was emphasized. This paper aims to study the student teachers' implementation of formative assessment in General Studies lessons during their teaching practise. Commonly used assessment methods, alignment of learning and assessment activities, student teachers' intervention after receiving feedback from pupils, difficulties encountered, perception of the student teachers on formative assessment and pupils' feedback are reported in this study. It is hoped that the study will provide insight into the practice of formative assessment in primary General Studies classrooms as one aspect of the professional development of General Studies Teachers.
[Copyright of Hong Kong Teachers' Centre Journal is the property of Hong Kong Teachers' Centre at http://www.edb.org.hk/hktc]