Background: Recently, studies have found that more and more teachers in Hong Kong express negative feelings toward their work, such as feelings of dissatisfaction, exhaustion, meaningless and powerless. These negative emotional experiences may affect both their well-being and the quality of their teaching. In order to have a better understanding of this phenomenon, researchers employ the sociological concept of emotion management. Therefore, this paper reviews different sociological perspectives on the phenomenon in order to give recommendations for educational reforms and policies and for further research on teachers' emotional experiences at work in Hong Kong. Aims or focus of discussion: This article considers two major sociological approaches to understanding emotion management in teaching: Conflict theory and symbolic interactionism. At the end of the discussion, implications for educational reforms and policies and recommendations for further research are suggested respectively. Arguments/comments/suggestions: The article argues that symbolic interactionism is a more appropriate approach to understanding emotion management of teaching than conflict theory because it considers the effects of both structural conditions and teachers' agency on teachers' emotions. Thus, it may provide a more comprehensive and realistic account and framework for our investigation. Conclusion: The article suggests that we should study teachers' emotional experiences at work in Hong Kong from a symbolic interactionist perspective of emotion management of teaching. Accordingly, we should try to answer the following questions: What are teachers' expectations about their work? What are the conditions of their work? Are there gaps between their expectations and reality? What are the constraints that affect the realization of their expectations? What emotions do they actually experience at work? In order to answer these questions more effectively, this article recommends adopting in-depth

Background: Collaborative Action Research has been a popular form of research method conducted by the BEd (Hons) in-service and pre-service students studying the early childhood education at the Hong Kong Institute of Education. With a thorough understanding of the theory and practise of the collaborative action research by these novice teachers in this form of research methods, they could be benefited by an understanding on how they might develop a genuine school-based curriculum for an educational change in their schools. Aims: This paper aimed to provide guidelines on how to conduct a Collaborative Action Research for facilitating school-based Curriculum Development by theory and practise. A case study on how to carry out a collaborative action research is quoted for reference of those who would conduct this kind of research for the first time. The insertion of this case study is to highlight the meaning of 'collaborative' in an action research; it is not suffice to provide chances for teachers to voice out their opinions. What needs more to be done is to incorporate voices of teachers when formulating the plan in next action research cycle. With a thorough understanding of the theory and practise underpinned the Collaborative action research, it is anticipated that the novice teachers would gain in knowledge of what a "child-centred" curriculum and its pedagogic application would be like. In view of the variation in practices among today's teacher researchers, the theoretical and philosophical perspectives of Action Research will be reviewed to inform practitioners of the historical roots of their practise. What has been mentioned by Coulter (2002) as the essence of what constituting an authentic education "action' research would be revisited. Arguments: Allied with Coulter's argument in his What Counts as Action in Educational Action Research (2002), the author of this paper is keen to reiterate the differentiation of the three forms of Action research. In order

Background: Seventeen pre-service teachers from The Hong Kong Institute of Education involved in a service education project during the summer vacation in 2008. They spent seven weeks in an orphanage and a commune in Vietnam to provide various services for disabled children and to help constructing a house for the poor villagers respectively. They learned how to cope with challenging environment through developing service leadership, problem solving and communication abilities in a different cultural context. Aims: To reveal what respondents have experienced, reflected and gained through involving in the cross-cultural service exposure project and how such fruitful learning experiences can be enhanced. Sample: All seventeen pre-service teachers involved in the project. Method: Content analysis was conducted on service-learning journals, day logs and writings prepared by the students after the service-learning experience. Results: The analysis based on respondents’ reflective writings revealed that the development of genuine relationship among participants through mutual care, their generic skills, leadership abilities and cultural competencies are enhanced while they work collaboratively and support each other to overcome difficulties. Conclusion: As a multicultural service-learning co-curricular activity, participants can acquire new knowledge, change attitudes and develop constructive behaviors through a genuine and caring environment and reflection. They are perceived to attain gains in leadership abilities, cultural competence skills and professional commitment.
[Copyright © 2009 New Horizons in Education.]

Background: Mosston’s “spectrum of teaching styles” which composes of 11 pedagogical approaches in physical education (PE), 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. This article concerned a report of a pilot study on one of the teaching styles, reciprocal teaching. Aims: The study aimed to examine students’ and teacher’s experiences when engaging in learning and teaching in reciprocal teaching. Sample: 3 classes of 80 male students (Form 3 : 31 students, Form 2 : 26 & Form 1 : 23)from a local secondary school and their PE teacher were invited to participate in the study. Methods: Attached to the action research perspective, 3 teaching units of gymnastics, swimming and handball were conducted in the form of reciprocal teaching. Data composed of students’ reflective journals and interviewas well as teacher’s self review were collected at the end of the teaching units. Findings: both the teacher and students experienced reciprocal teaching positively. Students perceived their learning as active and comfortable. They were satisfied with their mastery of skills, taking peer tutoring roles, engaging in observing, taking care of others and seeing their partner’s improvement. They also encountered with those dissatisfying experiences of boring, simple and repetitive learning content, difficult skills and the undesirable learning attitude of some of the students that they feared of ending up with discipline problems and learning nothing. Their articulation with their improvement in collaboration, communication and presentation skills, building up confidence, team spirit and learning attitude of trying hard was found. Conclusion: The reciprocal teaching might solve some of the current PE problems of passive learning, little collaboration and weak accountability of learning as well as empowering students in their learning. Students’ worries concerning reciprocal

Background: In line with the increase of using value-added assessment information to evaluate learning gain made by learners in different parts of the world, the Education Bureau in Hong Kong has recently introduced a system that provides value-added information of secondary school students. However, not many teachers have a clear knowledge and understanding about value-added assessment. Aims: This paper provides a brief review of the meaning and the importance of value-added assessment in education. Then it provides an example of how to find out the academic attainment that one can reasonably expect from individual students and how to produce two types of school-based value-added estimations with reference to their own prior attainment or development ability measures. The paper also evaluates the use of descriptions in the value-added grid for making interpretations of the value-added assessment results. Sample: 60 schoolchildren in a primary school in England. Research method: Linear regression models. Results: The findings indicated that the descriptions in the grid were applicable for interpreting the assessment results, but attention had to be paid when making speculations about the positions of individual schoolchildren’s past attainment in reading. Conclusion: This paper functions as a simplified example and a timely resource for teacher learning and development concerning value-added assessment. It also reflects the importance for teachers and school administrators to equip themselves with a good understanding of the nature, potential value and meanings of value-added estimations.
[Copyright © 2009 New Horizons in Education.]

Curriculum policy in Hong Kong is moving towards school-based curriculum development. This is reflected by the introduction of the School-based Curriculum Project Scheme by the Education Department in 1988. The aim of the Scheme is to encourage teachers to produce curriculum projects which meet the learning needs of pupils and schools. However, the Education Department selected and reproduced some of the school-based curriculum project materials for dissemination to all Hong Kong schools. This paper is a report of the study which analyses the collection and use of the disseminated projects by schools and the perceptions of the school teachers towards these projects.
[Copyright © 1998 New Horizons in Education.]