While teaching assistants (TAs) have experienced various employment challenges, little research has been done to examine factors affecting their well-being. Based on an extended Control-Value model in studying teachers’ emotions and well-being, the present study examined the relationship between primary school TAs’ Control-Value variables in the context of formative feedback practice (abbreviated as TFBCV), their emotional well-being, and other well-being indicators. 305 TAs from 184 primary schools in Hong Kong participated in this survey study. Usually, there is at least one TA to support students with special educational needs in each mainstream school in Hong Kong. This sample represents 39% of primary schools in Hong Kong given that each school has one TA to join this study and these participating schools. The results supported our hypotheses that TFBCV has significant direct effects on both a combined positive emotion and the two discrete positive emotions (Joy and Love). TFBCV also has a significant indirect effect on job satisfaction via positive emotions. Interestingly, job stress was nearly uncorrelated with TFBCV and positive emotions. We discuss implications for extending teacher well-being research to include the ‘missing’ but essential piece of TAs in the current literature. Copyright © 2023 The Author(s).

This study investigated the mediation role of teacher resilience between job demands and resources and their well-being and job performance using a sample of 407 teachers from Hong Kong, SAR and mainland China. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling were employed to deal with the dataset. The results indicated that the professional dimension and the emotional dimension of teacher resilience were affected by decision latitude (potential control over the job tasks and conducts) and school support respectively and predicted teacher well-being. The motivational dimension and the social dimension of teacher resilience promoted teacher job performance, influenced respectively by task overload (negatively) and role demand (positively) along with school support. This model is the first attempt to represent the relevance of the Job Demands-Resources theory that teacher resilience can buffer negative job demands and boost positive job resources to promote their well-being and performance in a specific societal and educational context. Implications for cultivating teacher resilience to everyday challenges and adversities were proposed in order to assist teachers to not only survive, recover, and thrive, but also to establish a school resilience cascade (potential resilience chain affecting a system due to an act of teacher resilience) for these turbulent times. Copyright © 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Dialogic teaching has been demonstrated to be conducive to the development of such important competencies and skills as creativity, communication skills, and critical thinking skills. However, the literature confirms that teacher-student interactions in the classroom are predominantly monologic rather than dialogic across subjects, grades, and countries. This article reports the results of a study that assesses the effectiveness of a Philosophy for Children (P4C) programme in facilitating the development of dialogic and inquiry teaching in teachers in Hong Kong. In the study, training and support were provided for teachers to enable them to teach P4C to their students during Integrated Humanities and English lessons. P4C was found to help increase the teachers’ effectiveness in the classroom in terms of their ability to engage in dialogic and inquiry teaching, to develop relevant curricular materials for such teaching, to reflect on their own teaching, to recognise their students’ capacity for constructing knowledge through dialogic inquiry, to transfer the teaching strategies learned in P4C to other non-P4C lessons, and to identify and analyse philosophical concepts in the school curriculum. The findings of this study suggest that P4C plays a significant role in promoting the professional development of teachers. Copyright © 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

At present, there is a growing concern about cultivating virtue among youngsters in Hong Kong. Although moral and character education have been put on the education agenda, it is important to ensure that teachers have sufficient efficacy in moral and character education. Unfortunately, limited empirical evidence for this has been found within the Hong Kong context. Using a sample of 647 moral and character education teachers from 21 secondary schools in Hong Kong, this study examined teacher self-efficacy and its relations with teacher engagement and teacher emotional labour. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess the construct validity of each scale. Structural equation modelling was used to test the theoretical model, indicating a good model fit. The strongest predictor of teacher efficacy for moral education was teachers’ personal teaching efficacy. The findings are discussed with implications for future practice and research. Copyright © 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

In recent years, reflective writings have been increasingly incorporated into the higher education curriculum to enhance students' deep learning and to help assess their experiential learning outcomes. However, as reflective practices gain momentum worldwide, an under-researched question arises regarding whether teachers know how to assess reflection. Drawing on a teacher assessment literacy framework, this study explores how six novice university teachers in Hong Kong understand the assessment of reflective writings from three dimensions. Findings reveal that although teachers demonstrate a strong understanding of assessing reflection in a conceptual dimension (e.g. purposes and approaches of assessment), practically and socio-emotionally, teachers lack adequate knowledge and awareness to perform satisfactory assessment of reflection. The study subsequently discusses how and why certain dimensions of assessment literacy in reflection are prioritised in Hong Kong higher educationand provides a range of implications to improve future reflection practices and research. Copyright ©Routledge.

This qualitative multi-case study explores a group of university-based language teacher educators' boundary crossing experiences in Hong Kong. Informed by a conceptual framework on boundary crossing and drawing on data from in-depth interviews and field observations, the findings reveal the opportunities and challenges embedded in teacher educators' boundary crossing between university and schools, between the teacher education and academic community, and between local and external contexts. The study contributes new knowledge to our understanding of teacher educators' boundary crossing through two different forms, i.e., horizontal and hierarchical, as they navigate sociocultural differences between various communities. The paper concludes with practical implications on how to promote teacher educators' continuing development in university settings. Copyright © 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

The relative contributions of higher education and schools, and hence the conceptual and practical aspects of ITE, to student teachers’ professional learning have been an issue of concern in teacher education. This article reports a mixed-methods study showing the relationship between student teachers’ engagement with the practical and conceptual aspects of a Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) Programme in Hong Kong and different facets of their perceived professional competence. One hundred and thirty-two student teachers participated in the quantitative survey of whom seven were interviewed. The findings reveal that experiences associated with learning the pragmatic facets of professional practice were more valued by student teachers compared to learning the conceptual aspects of ITE. Yet, in terms of relationship with professional competence, student teachers’ engagement with the practical aspects of ITE was related to competence in classroom teaching, whereas their engagement with the conceptual aspects contributed to their mastery of professional knowledge, competence in classroom teaching and competence in interacting with stakeholders. The study illuminates the distinctive contributions of schools and higher education in ITE. While acknowledging the important role of schools in providing a setting for practical work, this study affirms the distinctive contribution of higher education in equipping student teachers with practical and conceptual tools in the preparation of professionally competent teachers.
[Copyright © 2015 Taylor & Francis.]

Many Hong Kong schools are concerned about how diverse learning needs of ethnic minority students could be better fulfilled. This study examines local teachers’ constructs of assessment classroom environments. Using qualitative data collected from semi-structured interviews with 32 teachers from three secondary schools, this study shows ways in which summative assessment influences teachers’ formative assessment practices. Cultural responsiveness in this study is not limited to the notion of multiculturalism. It can be constructed under the ethos of respect, care and equality. The culturally responsive approach to assessment described in this study foregrounds considerations of cultural influence in teachers’ beliefs regarding assessment. Principles of culturally responsive assessment identified include: (i) integrating the ‘part’ of assessment with the ‘whole’ of teaching, (ii) managing the diverse learning needs of students, (iii) removing language barriers from the assessment process and (iv) examining the influence of the public examination on teachers’ classroom assessment practice.
[Copyright © 2014 Taylor & Francis.]

This editorial provides an overview of the articles which are featured in this issue of Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice. This issue includes a number of contributions which deal, directly or indirectly, with teacher learning, and particularly with the development and role of teacher professional learning communities. It also addresses the issue of learning from teaching as teachers describe, analyze and reflect upon their teaching experiences in the classroom, including the connection between their behavior and beliefs and student learning. One of the ethnographic studies focuses on the development of a community of practice for sustainable professional development among 18 teachers of English as second language in Hong Kong. Another article discusses the complex role of special education teachers in Israel. All seven papers included in this issue, in a way or another, look at the complexities of teaching and learning. Overall, a number of overarching themes may be identified: the importance of analyzing teachers beliefs and practices; the key role of professional communities in enhancing teacher learning and change; the need for relevant professional development opportunities to support teacher learning and commitment to teaching; the pedagogies of teaching and their role in fostering teacher reflection and growth as well as student learning taking into account the diversity and guidance provided to them; and the link between the complexity of teaching and the dynamic of classrooms and school culture.
Copyright of Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2014.928118

As teacher educators, preparing student-teachers who are able to address diverse student needs is our main concern. It has been suggested in the literature that teachers who are adaptive to students' needs are those who possess adequate pedagogical content knowledge or pedagogical understanding. However, it is not uncommon for teacher educators to find student-teachers with diverse pedagogical understandings even at the point of graduation from the teacher education programme. This paper aims to explain and analyse the development of pedagogical understanding among student-teachers in an initial teacher education programme. The findings are drawn from a study conducted at the Hong Kong Institute of Education where in-depth interviews were carried out during the four-year programme. The findings from the three selected cases provide an explanation for why some individual student-teachers show continuous development, whereas others remain confused in their pedagogical understanding throughout the teacher education programme. While acknowledging individual differences in pedagogical understanding, we attempt to explain such differences by investigating the relationship between different dimensions of the student-teachers' learning such as the integration of pedagogical understanding with the teaching contexts, integration of feedback from lecturers and supporting teachers, and their focus of concern. The findings reveal that the three cases demonstrate different levels of pedagogical understanding and possess varying 'senses of agency'. Of the three cases, the first one, Peggy has the strongest sense of agency. Despite influences related to classroom management, diverse learning ability among pupils, and the teaching methods which pupils were accustomed to previously, she actively introduced rhythmic movements into her lessons, developed pupils' ability to learn gradually and achieved an impact on pupils' learning which was also recognized by her supporting teacher. The