Language teacher educators all around the world work in multiple countries and institutions throughout their careers across institutional, national, and academic cultures. As higher education becomes more transnational in some regions (including Hong Kong), it has also become more common for language teacher educators to construct transnational identities. This autoethnographic self-study shares the author's transnational identity as informed by professional tensions he experienced while transitioning to a new institutional and academic culture in Hong Kong as a language teacher educator. As he narrates his story, he unpacks how his philosophies and practices informed one another as he constructed his professional identities in different cultural contexts and contact zones and elaborates on his identity work while revising his practices in his new professional contact zone. As an early-career language teacher educator, he shows how engaging in autoethnographic narrative helped him to adopt a reflexive lens to critically examine his professional engagements across academic cultures and discourses. Copyright © 2025 Wiley.

Despite the broadening participation in post-secondary education (PSE) worldwide, the conundrum of disproportionately low PSE enrolments among minority student populations continues to command scholarly attention. Yet, there is a lack of empirical research on the identities of secondary school teachers in the context of minority choice and access to PSE. Taking a critical poststructuralist conceptualisation of teacher professional identity as the complex interplay of macro discourses and policies, school contexts, and individual agency, this study interviewed 11 senior secondary school teachers in Hong Kong and explored the ways in which they perceived and enacted professional identities when navigating dominant ideologies, institutional conditions, and PSE-going possibilities of minority students. The findings revealed their in-situ identity as PSE-for-all educators against the institutional backdrop of the numerical majority of minority students in the study school that also celebrated its demographic and cultural diversity and inclusion. However, the findings also reflected their saviourist tendencies that perpetuated the ethnic, classed, and gendered stereotypes towards minorities in Hong Kong society. Such contradictory identities signified their agentic demarcation from external structural inequalities and ‘minority deficiencies’, thereby seemingly dismissing their responsibility or culpability for the PSE under-representation of minorities. Copyright © 2025 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

This study aimed at exploring kindergarten teachers’ perceptions and usage of digital devices in their classrooms. A multiple case study (n = 4) was conducted to investigate how in-service experienced (n = 22) and novice (n = 24) kindergarten teachers interpreted the functional significance of digital devices, including the needs and challenges faced when applying digital devices in visual arts activities in their classrooms. A non-randomised convenience sampling strategy was used to recruit four local kindergartens in Hong Kong, whose teachers were invited to participate in focus group interviews. In total, 540 min of interview data were collected. We examined the in-service teachers’ perceptions of the affordances of digital devices in terms of (1) transparency, (2) challenge and (3) accessibility. Based on the teachers’ responses in the interviews, the findings indicated issues related to the use of digital devices in terms of these three areas here. The informants shared how their understandings of film language limited their intentions and usage patterns (including frequency of use) with respect to digital videos. Nevertheless, they admitted that digital videos were important tools for facilitating children’s learning and communication with their parents. This study reflects the current situation of technology education in Hong Kong, including how teacher educators perceive the usage and roles of digital videos in early arts education. Copyright ©2024 Routledge.

This study aimed to explore ESL teachers’ perceptions of online teaching during the COVID-19 outbreak in Hong Kong. A qualitative multiple-case study approach was employed, focusing on the online teaching experiences of three teachers in primary school contexts. Through semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis, rich data were collected and analysed. The findings revealed five prominent challenges faced by the teachers, including inadequate infrastructure, limited technical support and training, classroom management issues, teachers’ limited technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPCK) in ELT, students’ unreadiness and lack of parental support. The study also identified three opportunities arising from online teaching, such as changes in teachers’ attitudes and beliefs in technology, opportunities for teacher learning and experimenting with online teaching practice for pedagogical innovations. Despite the significant challenges encountered, the teachers perceived the online teaching experiences as opportunities to enhance their teaching competence with technology. This study has substantial implications, calling for strategic governmental measures to improve online learning in schools, highlighting the need to integrate technology-focused pedagogies into teacher education, revising outdated school curriculums to enhance students’ digital literacy, providing financial support for disadvantaged students, encouraging parental involvement in online learning and fostering collaborative professional learning communities to enhance English teachers’ TPACK. Copyright ©2024 Taylor & Francis.

Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2019 data revealed that Grade 8 science teachers in several Asian countries (Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, and South Korea) reported lower job satisfaction levels than the international average. For example, while Japanese Grade 8 students ranked among the highest in science achievement on the TIMSS 2019, their science teachers reported the lowest job satisfaction composite scale score compared to the other 63 participating countries. Using teacher questionnaire data from TIMSS 2019, we utilized correlation analysis and multiple linear regression to uncover the answers to this research question: Which factors contribute to Japanese Grade 8 science teachers' job satisfaction? The results from the analysis indicate that working in a safe and orderly school environment was the strongest predictor of Japanese Grade 8 science teacher job satisfaction. The number of working hours, amount of perceived pressure exerted by their students' parents, participation in professional development focused on science curriculum, and adopting a constructivist orientation to science teaching were the other significant factors that predicted job satisfaction. Findings from this study have implications for Japanese educational policy stakeholders, school administrators, mentor teachers, science department leadership, and those invested in science teachers' professional development. Copyright ©2024 International Council of Associations for Science Education.

Despite the rise of online professional development (PD) for early childhood educators, few studies have examined their perceptions of the usefulness of learning resources. We developed an online PD centered on teacher-child interactions, based on the critical features of high-quality PD. The PD was composed of 10 units with a variety of learning resources, including video lectures, research notes, testimonials, classroom videos, quizzes, reflection activities, and sharing activities. We examined teachers’ perceptions of the usefulness of such learning resources and explored potential differences based on key demographic variables. Participants were 137 in-service Hong Kong kindergarten teachers. Evaluation surveys and semi-structured interviews were utilized after course completion. Classroom videos, which provided real-life examples, were perceived as most useful resource to improve teaching practices. Participants also considered video lectures, research notes, and testimonials as extremely useful resources, and reflection activities and sharing activities as useful resources. Quizzes emerged as the least useful resource, especially when these involved fact-based questions. Teachers’ perceptions were not influenced by their demographic backgrounds. We conclude that teachers place a higher emphasis on online PD resources that offer practical examples compared to those focus on theoretical knowledge and self-reflection. The current study filled an important gap in the early childhood teacher education literature, specifically in the area of online PD, offering theoretical, practical, and policy-related insights. Copyright © 2025 Author(s).

Teachers generally feel themselves ill-prepared to handle diversity issues and their sense of multiculturalism is rather limited. Their knowledge needs in this particular aspect seem not yet to have been identified. To address this issue, the lived experiences and the reflection on their knowledge needs of 33 native Chinese teachers in Hong Kong were collected. Findings show that although three knowledge areas emerged based on different types of reflection, the social action approach of knowledge, embedded in critical reflection that can foster their multicultural mindset, was not a core concern of teachers studied. Consequently, that has been an obstacle for them to foster their multicultural mindset. Teachers studied were interested in pursuing hands-on knowledge and skills with practical reflection but gave little attention to reflecting on the broader goals of multicultural education with a whole-school approach. Viewing this, an in-service teacher education programme that involves changing personal beliefs and provides an increase of self-awareness based on critical reflection that will lead teachers to enact as cultural gatekeepers is proposed. Furthermore, by identifying and addressing teachers’ knowledge needs, this study may be able to shed light on the global discussion on ways to foster teachers’ multicultural competency. Copyright ©2025 Taylor & Francis Ltd.

Gratitude is usually conceptualised psychologically and approached through interventions largely detached from pedagogy and the wider context of school. However, its roles in learning and socialisation differ across cultures, and may impact teachers’ perceptions and practices. We interviewed teachers in Hong Kong. International school teachers emphasised the importance of gratitude in developing interpersonal relationships and saw performative acts of gratitude as lacking genuineness. Local (public) school teachers valued explicit gratitude, which they saw as essential for maintaining social harmony. These differences suggest that gratitude serves different functions in the two school systems. We discuss implications for gratitude education. Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd.

Online professional development (PD) can be a sustainable and easily scalable alternative to provide early childhood teachers with training opportunities. However, there is limited research on teachers’ levels of satisfaction and engagement in online PD initiatives. Understanding teachers’ levels of satisfaction and engagement is crucial, as these may influence the effectiveness of online PD in benefiting teachers and ultimately young children. This study aimed to examine Hong Kong kindergarten teachers’ satisfaction and engagement in a music-and-movement (M&M) online PD course. This study involved 56 participants who received an 11-week online PD course. Questionnaires were administered after course completion. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and t-tests. Participants had high levels of satisfaction with the course, particularly those with no or some M&M background, who were more satisfied with the course content and instruction. Participants had moderate-to-high levels of engagement in the course, particularly those with no or some M&M background, who were more emotionally engaged. We conclude that sustainable and easily scalable online PD initiatives can result in high levels of satisfaction and engagement among kindergarten teachers, especially those with limited M&M background. This study supports the idea that online PD can be responsive to teachers’ needs and preferences. Copyright © 2024 by the authors.

The rapid development of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools has given rise to a growing discussion of the potential challenges and benefits that the use of these technologies may present in the field of education. This study examines the acceptance of the use of GenAI tools for teaching and learning among primary and secondary school teachers in Hong Kong. It uses an extension of the technology acceptance model (TAM) with a modified framework that incorporates two key factors: self-efficacy and subjective norm. Data were collected from a sample of 367 primary and secondary school teachers in Hong Kong using questionnaires containing items for six constructs: self-efficacy, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, attitude towards using, subjective norm, and behavioural intention. The results show that fostering teachers' self-efficacy, perceived usefulness, and attitude is essential for successfully increasing their behavioural intention to use GenAI tools. Subjective norm was also found to influence teachers' behavioural intention. To enhance teachers' effective use of GenAI for teaching, teacher development programmes should focus on equipping teachers with comprehensive conceptual knowledge and skills and an understanding of the application of these tools to teaching and learning. Policy support to create a conducive environment for the use of GenAI in teaching and learning would also be beneficial. The study has theoretical implications in its extension of the TAM model as well as implications for enhancing teachers’ AI literacy and developing pedagogies for the meaningful use of GenAI tools for teaching and learning in K–12 settings. Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.