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Reflective teaching has long been regarded as playing an important, and potentially empowering, role in teachers' professional learning. The study reported in this paper considered the longer-term significance of teachers' self-reflective learning in the course of their daily emergency remote teaching during COVID-19, and how this supported teacher agency. This small-scale case study sought to explore, in depth, teachers' perceptions of how their professional learning was realised through reflective practice during emergency remote teaching. Three teachers from primary, junior high, and high schools in mainland China participated in the case study during the spring and fall semesters in 2020. They considered the accommodations they made for emergency remote teaching and the corresponding implications for their professional learning and sense of agency. Data were collected via four-monthly, semi-structured interviews, resulting in a total of five interviews per teacher. These charted the progress of their emergency remote courses in the spring, and allowed for final reflections via a follow-up interview in the fall. Data were analysed thematically. The resultant four themes and eight categories related to aspects including pedagogical strategies, home-school communication, classroom management, and teachers' technological literacy. Within these, approaches to blending online and offline coursework, valuing sociocultural concerns in classroom interaction, and developing adaptive mindsets were among areas identified as relevant to teachers' professional learning beyond the emergency remote teaching situation. The findings highlight the multiple ways in which professional learning took place through reflective teaching in the remote teaching environment. They draw attention to the importance of situating some professional learning in everyday practice. Understandings gained during remote teaching have broader implications for educators' professional learning and growth in pre-tertiary education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research examining the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on students' learning indicates that educational inequities have increased. To strengthen the provision of support for students going forward, and contribute to efforts to reduce inequity, there is a need to deepen understanding of how emergency remote teaching (ERT) is experienced by learners. This study sought to explore the lived experiences of junior secondary students in China during the COVID-19 pandemic through the lens of three different groups: teachers, students and parents. It aimed to investigate how factors around schools, teachers, parents and students might relate to matters of educational equity. Participants were eight students with a mean age of 15.5 years, the students' mothers, and ten teachers from different schools across three different provinces in China. They took part in semi-structured interviews in which they discussed their ERT experiences and perspectives. Interview data were analysed using a qualitative, thematic approach. According to the analysis of participants' perceptions, differences in access to school learning resources, and extent of support and guidance from schools were noteworthy factors in relation to educational equity. In addition to parental support, encouragement and individualised feedback from teachers mattered for students' wellbeing and their studies. Furthermore, students' motivation, self-discipline and capacity for self-regulated learning were considered to influence learning outcomes during ERT. Our study underscores the need to provide additional targeted support to disadvantaged schools and students in times of educational disruption. It also highlights the importance of pedagogical support and guidance for all teachers, parents and students. Such provision might enhance students' capacity for self-regulated learning, and equip teachers and parents with the skills needed to support children's learning and wellbeing in challenging circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Middle leaders are well placed to exert a positive influence on teacher learning, due in part to their proximity to the classroom. However, to maximise that potential, more needs to be understood about the complex connections between instruction-oriented middle leadership and professional learning, particularly in non-Western contexts. This study, undertaken in a Chinese context, investigated how middle leaders, specifically those who headed teaching-research groups (TRGs), enacted their instructional leadership to influence teacher learning and build teacher capacity. A qualitative, multi-case design was employed. Participants included 6 vice-principals, 18 TRG heads and 24 classroom teachers. Data collection, in the form of semi-structured interviews, observations, and field notes, was conducted over four months in six schools in China. Data analysis involved the synthesis of participant narratives to identify how middle leaders made sense of, and promoted, teacher learning through their instructional leadership. Analysis allowed themes and sub-themes to emerge, suggesting four domains of leadership practice: (i) nurturing teacher job-embedded learning, (ii) creating a climate conducive to teacher learning, (iii) engaging teachers in school-based action research and (iv) mobilising external resources to develop teachers. From this, an early-stage conceptual model was created, describing how middle leaders used their instructional leadership as a primary pathway of influence, and how they emphasised relational bonds and organisational structure to stimulate teacher learning. The findings provide insights into middle leadership in the Chinese context, yielding a view into core practices of middle leadership for teacher learning, and drawing attention to teacher development practices that are relevant in other contexts internationally. Tapping into the potential of the middle leader to support teachers' professional learning can contribute to wider school improvement, ultimately benefitting all learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background:This article critically discusses the key tensions and challenges arising from the educational policy borrowing in China, through its current education reform. Focussing on the new curriculum reform (NCR), the paper highlights the interactions and conflicts between foreign and local ideologies and practices. Sources of evidence:The main sources of evidence that form the basis of the analysis for this article were research data from an open-ended questionnaire and semi-structured interviews conducted with 166 school principals, vice-principals and teachers from China between 2013 and 2015. Main argument:It is argued that the NCR has borrowed selective ideas and practices from elsewhere, such as a school-based curriculum, student-centred pedagogy and formative assessment. It is further suggested that the borrowed policies are mediated and moderated by the ideological attitude of the Chinese educational stakeholders, stemming from the notion of ‘theory-ladenness’ within an exam-oriented paradigm. Conclusions:The example of China illustrates the effects of an ideological attitude on educational policy borrowing that challenges the notion of universally appropriate ways of teaching, learning and reforming an educational system. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: Hong Kong is currently a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. It has autonomy over many policy areas, including finance and education. It is a community of seven million people, which has changed its focus and identity significantly over the last 25 years, from predominantly manufacturing to a service and knowledge economy with particular strengths in financial services. Purpose: This paper will consider the market for teacher education places and the market for teachers, and explore the career intention and commitment implications of high numbers of well qualified applicants applying for teaching in the context of reduced work opportunities elsewhere, an increasing higher education focus on intake scores and the challenge, for the teaching profession and the education system, of teaching becoming less secure work. Sources of evidence: Governmental and institutional publications and data, along with research and survey findings, together with comparative literature underpin the reactions to past, present and possible future effects on teacher education in Hong Kong. Main argument: Given its financial focus, Hong Kong would be expected to suffer significantly during the recent financial crisis and that this would impact across all its sectors including Education and Teacher Education. In addition to the financial crisis, other changes have affected teacher education in Hong Kong, including major reforms in curriculum and school and higher education structure and a significantly diminished birth rate reducing posts in teaching, and raising concerns about job security. Conclusions: Hong Kong is a very prudently managed economy with substantial reserves and a commitment to ‘small government’ and the impact has been different from many other systems. Places on teacher education programmes remained unchanged. Applications for teacher education programmes however increased significantly during the crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper is based on research investigating Hong Kong Chinese teachers' and students' perceptions of junior secondary students' concerns and of the causes of students' difficulties. Responses from 2,045 secondary students and 214 teachers revealed that both students and teachers had similar systems of beliefs about students' concerns and the causes of students' difficulties. As dimensions of most students' concerns, both groups referred to study and educational future; friendship; physical appearance; relationships at home, with peers and at school; and psychological well-being and maladjusted behaviour. Both groups in various degrees attributed students' difficulties to students themselves, the family, school or peers. Employing Moscovici's theory of social representation as a conceptual framework, the findings illustrated that students' concerns and causal attribution are social representations shared by both student and teacher groups. Mismatch between students' and teachers' perceptions was more a divergence of views than a disparity. Students' and teachers' different social identities and their protection of group self-esteem are offered as an explanation for the mismatch in perception. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New teachers enter schools with already established beliefs about principals.This paper reports on the nature and primary influences on what a group of Hong Kong pre-service teacher participants believe about principals. The nature of beliefs reflect underlying personal constructs that relate to interpersonal communication and management. Influences include past school principals, school leaders and parents. Beliefs were attained using a modified personal construct interview and analyses of participant stories. Findings highlight a close association between the leadership/management style of the principal whom participants would like to beand mothers, and the interpersonal behaviour of fathers and the principal whom participants would not like to be. The authors argue that reforms are needed in the course design of teacher education, teacher induction and programmes of professional development for principals. These reforms must address the influence personal history has on an individual's thinking about teaching, interpersonal communication and leadership - a reform process that begins with teacher educators and principals reframing their beliefs and associated practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current global movement in the reform of education seems to focus on a number of issues that include standards, quality and teacher preparation. With regard to the latter, while teacher education curricula in most parts of the world attempt to strike a balance between content and professional training, the emerging scenario is that of training expert teachers. Three types of knowledge identified as necessary for expert teaching are content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge. For Hong Kong to embark on a satisfactory and effective public education reform, it is essential that its most valuable human resource (i.e. teachers) must be comprehensively and adequately developed. Attention must be paid to both pre-service and in-service to raise an excellent quality-oriented teaching force. Teacher educators and researchers make important and well-informed decisions about what should be included in pre-service and in-service teacher development programmes. However, it is also important to take into account the teachers' own perceptions about the areas in which they feel confident and knowledgeable and those inwhich they do not. One practical avenue of sourcing such information is the teacher in training who is learning to acquire and display expertise. This paper reports on an investigation using a sample of 183 science and mathematics trainee teachers. A 60-item instrument, the Science and Mathematics Expert Teacher Preparation Survey (SMETPS),was developed to gather data on trainee teachers' perceptions of their current knowledge and what they think they need to know to become expert teachers. The data, analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics, indicated some of the areas in which trainee teachers identified the need for future professional development that would contribute towards expert training. Several issues which emerged from the results are discussed, with reference to implications for current efforts in expert teacher training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The standard of English of Hong Kong students is a matter of considerable debate. Academics, business people and others bemoan the deterioration of English-speaking skills and the declining quality of students. Explanations for this situation include the introduction of mass education, the lack of trained English teachers and an exam-centred curriculum. Yet, little research has been undertaken concerning student intellectual ability and English skills. This short report examines the English skills of 146 undergraduates using the ACER Word Knowledge Test - Form F , and their abstract reasoning ability using Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices. The results show that Hong Kong students, while low in English skills are superior in intelligence. Although exploratory and subject to qualification, the research has implications for the teaching and continued use of English in Hong Kong schools and universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small cohorts of pre-service teachers (PSTs) have been successfully undertaking teaching practicums in a range of international settings for more than 40 years, as part of their initial teacher education studies. Most research into these international teaching practicums (ITPs) has concentrated on the benefits for western PSTs and their western academic mentors, but limited attention has been paid to the experiences, benefits and challenges of non-western practicum partners. The study addresses this gap in the literature by focusing on Chinese students' perceptions of a three-week international teaching practicum in China. The purpose of the study was to examine the experiences of Chinese students who were taught by Australian PSTs as part of an international teaching practicum in China. Using content analysis methods and a border-crossing theoretical framework, this small scale qualitative case study analysed, in depth, the reflective writing of Year 7 (12- to 13-year-old) and Year 11 (16- to 17-year-old) students from three schools across two different cities in China. The analysis indicated that students enjoyed the practicum experience, with many of the older students showing a nuanced appreciation of the cultural and pedagogical contrasts between the Australian PSTs' teaching of English and that of their usual Chinese teachers. While some students were concerned that the Australians' teaching did not adequately prepare them for high-stakes national tests, others reported that their whole attitude to learning English had changed so that English was now one of their favourite subjects as a result of being taught by the Australian pre-service teachers. Through investigating local Chinese students' experiences of an international teaching practicum, this study contributes to the now substantial body of literature that affirms the value of such intercultural education programmes. The study argues for the value of intercultural 'crossing over' experiences for non-western as well as western practicum partners, and urges educational researchers to listen to the voices of local students when researching international teaching practicums. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In the past decade, educational settings worldwide have experienced a significant increase in the number of school-based teaching assistants (TAs). The deployment of these TAs has been accompanied by reports of confusion and uncertainty about their roles and responsibilities within schools. While the need to reframe the role and purpose of TAs is recognised, it remains unclear how this can be best achieved. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to explore the ways in which one group of TAs deployed in Hong Kong schools construct their professional identities, to understand the constraints and enablements to these processes, and to consider how different stakeholders might be able to best support this identity work. Sample: The primary participants in this study are nine English language teacher assistants employed at different schools across Hong Kong. Other participants include full-time English language teachers who have experience of working with one of these TAs, as well as students who attend English language classes in which these TAs participate. Design and methods: A qualitative multiple case study approach is adopted. In-depth interviews with TAs, teachers and students are used to gain a contextualised interpretation of the primary participants’ experiences of constructing professional identities within schools. A multilevel, multidimensional theoretical framework, which considers identity construction as both a discursive and experiential accomplishment, is then used to understand the constraints and enablements TAs experience in constructing these identities. Findings: Results indicate that TAs face challenges in constructing their professional identities at institutional, interpersonal and intrapersonal levels within Hong Kong schools. In addition, the TAs believe that exercising agency to contest their positionings within schools is often insufficient to place them on a trajectory towards become a teacher. The results also suggest that the identity conflicts TAs experience can lead some to question their decision to pursue a teaching career. Conclusions: These results imply that in order to attract and retain TAs, educational authorities need to, first, problematise identity positions such as ‘TA’ and ‘teacher’ and then reconceptualise these identities in ways that allow for a multiplication of the identity positions potentially available to all stakeholders involved in teaching within Hong Kong schools. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: There is currently ongoing debate in Hong Kong between the teachers’ union and the Government on the reduction of large class size (typically more than 40 students) in secondary schools and whether smaller class sizes might facilitate improvements in teaching and learning. In fact, many Hong Kong secondary schools have already started to experiment with class size reduction. This study seeks to investigate from the students’ perspective how class size reduction might alleviate one key psychological aspect of learning in Hong Kong and Asia, namely language learning anxiety. Research has shown that language learning anxiety can have a debilitating effect on students’ classroom behaviour, and this study seeks to examine whether exposure to learning in a smaller class informs such findings. Purpose: This small-scale exploratory study aims to examine whether, and how, class size reduction might help to alleviate language learning anxiety, which has long been seen as an obstacle to second language acquisition. Method: This study employed multiple case studies in four Hong Kong secondary schools. Each case constituted one teacher teaching English language to first language Chinese students in a reduced-size class (where class size was between 21 and 25 students) and a large class (where class size was between 38 and 41 students) of the same year grade, and of similar academic ability. Multiple interviews were conducted with the four teachers, and data stemmed from group and individual interviews with 231 students. Student interview questions focused on their perspectives and experiences of studying in large and reduced-size classes. A total of 78 lessons were also observed across the four case studies. The data were analysed to identify any emergent patterns and themes. Findings: The research findings indicate that students reflect on their experiences of studying in reduced-size classes in a mature and confident way. Students reported that smaller classes promoted a strong sense of security within their classroom community and seemed to weaken students’ fears of negative evaluation from their peers and teachers. Students also reported that they felt more confident about participating in English lessons and these perspectives were supported by evidence from classroom observations. Conclusions: This small-scale exploratory research study suggests that the student voice can provide insights into language learning classrooms. Data from the case studies reveal that students’ sense of anxiety can be reduced in smaller classes and that class size reduction may assist in breaking down cultural barriers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: The research literature linking children's educational outcomes with levels of parental involvement has in many instances resulted in the location of disadvantage being placed on lack of parental involvement, something that has been the case with South Asian parents in Hong Kong (Au, K., Multicultural issues and literacy achievement, Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Association, 2006; Jeynes, W.H., A meta-analysis – The effects of parental involvement on minority children's academic achievement, Education and Urban Society 35: 202–218, 2003; Hau, K.T., Tracking the adaptation and development of non-Chinese speaking children (NCS) in mainstream schools, Retrieved from http://www.edb.gov.hk/FileManager/EN/Content_7065/exe_summary%20eng.pdf, 2008; Tsung, L., Zhang, Q., and Cruickshank, K., Access to majority language and educational outcomes: South Asian background students in postcolonial Hong Kong, Diaspora, Indigenous and Minority Education 4, 1–16, 2010). Purpose: This small-scale research study examines the educational involvement of Pakistani and Nepalese parents, and explores the difficulties and challenges South Asians face to succeed in school. Design and methods: In-depth interviews were conducted with 10 South Asian parents (five Nepalese parents and five Pakistani parents). Interviews were semi-structured and consisted of open-ended questions about parents’ educational aspirations, ability in tutoring children with homework, and arrangement of home-learning activities. Transcribed interviews were subjected to content and thematic analysis. Results and discussion: The findings indicate that South Asian parents, despite high aspirations for the education of their children, feel that they lack the linguistic and cultural capital valued by the mainstream society in Hong Kong. This prevents effective involvement in the education of the children. Conclusion: Understanding the perspectives of the parents offers insights into ways in which access to educational outcomes can be denied in school contexts. It is suggested that there needs to be a greater focus on how inclusion/exclusion operates in school contexts in Hong Kong. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: Recent government initiatives in Hong Kong have focused on raising the participation of students from South Asian backgrounds in mainstream schools, to encourage their further integration into Hong Kong's educational system and society. These students' learning in mainstream schools takes place within the context of the central curriculum and, thus, students face the challenge of learning Chinese as an additional language. Mainstream schools sometimes provide additional support, including the provision of bilingual teaching assistants to address the specific needs of the students from South Asian backgrounds. Purpose: This exploratory study aims to investigate the roles of bilingual teaching assistants in Hong Kong. Method: Interviews were held with two bilingual teaching assistants from the South Asian community in Hong Kong who were working in a mainstream secondary school. Teachers from the school were also interviewed. Open-ended interview questions focused on perceptions of the roles and responsibilities of bilingual teaching assistants in Chinese-language-medium classes. The data were analysed to identify any emergent patterns and themes. Findings: The research findings indicate that the bilingual teaching assistants from the South Asian community not only took on the role of helping the learners from South Asian backgrounds in Chinese language acquisition, but also acted as cultural mediators between mainstream school culture and the culture of the South Asian community in Hong Kong. Conclusions: This small-scale exploratory research study suggests the importance of the role of bilingual teaching assistants in promoting equal access to quality education for ethnic minorities in Hong Kong. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Whilst past studies have established the joint influence of student learning experience and study behaviour on academic achievement, few attempts have been made to determine their causal ordering in a longitudinal framework. Purpose: This study explored the reciprocal relationship between learning experience and study behaviour, and examined their relative impact on university students' academic performance. Sample: Participants were 396 undergraduate students from a university in Hong Kong (191 men, 205 women). Design and methods: Students' learning experience and study behaviour were evaluated using the Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) and the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI). A two-wave cross-lagged structural model was constructed to examine the reciprocal effects between learning experience and study behaviour measured over a 12-month period. Results and conclusions: The findings showed that after controlling for previous academic achievement, student learning experience measured at Time 1 exerted significant influence on study behaviour measured at Time 2, and study behaviour measured at Time 1 also exerted significant impact on learning experience at Time 2. Both constructs were significantly predictive of current academic performance. Conclusions: Results from this study outlined linkages between learning experience and study behaviour in influencing academic achievement. As the current study is based on students from a single university, further studies with different student populations are recommended. The implications of fostering motivation and enhancing university learning experience are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The latest report by the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), issued in 2006, indicated that Hong Kong Primary 4 Chinese students outperformed children from 45 countries and provinces in reading comprehension tests that measured their higher-order reading proficiency. However, the study gave no indication of how factors such as attribution beliefs, motivation and strategy use might contribute to reading proficiency. Purpose: The purpose of the study was to examine the relationships between students' implicit beliefs about intelligence and ability, i.e. their 'attribution beliefs', and their motivation, metacognitive awareness of reading strategies and reading comprehension. Sample: The subjects consisted of 120 Grade 5 Chinese students (55 boys and 65 girls) from one Hong Kong primary school that uses Chinese as the medium of instruction. The school represents a typical primary school located in a Hong Kong urban area, with most students coming from low-income families. There was a wide range of academic ability and the average age of the students was 12.2 years. Design and methods: A quantitative approach was adopted in the research. Students were required to complete three questionnaires and two reading comprehension tests. The three questionnaires measured students' implicit beliefs about intelligence and ability, and their self-reported motivation and metacognitive awareness of reading strategies. The reading comprehension tests measured students' higher-order reading proficiency. Multiple regression analysis techniques were used to examine the relationship between students' beliefs and motivation, metacognitive awareness of reading strategies, and how they predicated students' reading comprehension. Results: The findings showed that students' implicit beliefs about intelligence and ability, and their intrinsic motivation and metacognitive awareness of the use of reading strategies were associated with their reading comprehension. Conclusions: These findings suggest that the Chinese children who considered intelligence and ability as controllable were more likely to be intrinsically motivated to learn to read and to use various reading strategies to tackle problems when constructing meaning from text, resulting in a better understanding of text. However, as all the participants in the present study came from one Hong Kong primary school, caution should be exercised in generalising the findings of the present study to all Chinese primary students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]