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This study explores the professional learning of ten pre-service teachers from Hong Kong and ten host teachers in a school in China who participated in a teaching abroad project. The participants' professional learning during the project is conceptualised within five knowledge domains of quality teaching for the twenty-first century: personal, contextual, pedagogical, sociological and social. The findings suggest that by immersing pre-service teachers in an unfamiliar teaching environment, they can learn professional knowledge for teaching in an increasingly complex world. This complements the knowledge they are acquiring in their domestic courses and practicums. Furthermore, through the pedagogical exchange of ideas, the host teachers are also found to benefit. We recommend that teaching abroad opportunities be included in initial teacher education (ITE) programmes and that host teachers' professional learning are considered in their development.

This paper examines a ubiquitous yet under-studied area of language pedagogy, namely materials usage. It explores teachers' enactment of curriculum materials by focusing on English language education (ELE) teachers' use of prescribed textbooks to plan and deliver lessons at the tertiary level in Mainland China. A qualitative multi-case study involving three Chinese ELE teachers represents the design for this study. The interactive patterns of teachers' enactment at the pre-lesson phase were generated along with four domains of influential factors. The implications for materials development and professional development are also addressed.

The question of how class size impacts on student learning has been debated for some time, not least because it has substantial financial implications for educational policy. The strength of this debate notwithstanding, results from numerous international studies have been inconclusive. The study from which this paper stems sought to conceptualise the effects of class size on teaching and learning processes, an under-researched area in this field. To do that, the study explored qualitative differences in learning processes in large and small classes, drawing on social learning theory and the conceptual framework of community of practice to elucidate any differences. The data set includes classroom observations and interviews with students and teachers in four pairs of large and reduced-size English language classes in four Hong Kong secondary schools. Findings show that students were more motivated and engaged in their learning in the small classes studied. They also showed that the characteristics of a community of practice were more evident in the smaller classes. This paper concludes that it is the conditions that foster the development of a community of practice that have a critical role in bringing about high quality learning and that these conditions tend to be more easily met in smaller classes although there is no necessary relationship between the two.

The issue of beginning teachers leaving the profession in the first few years of their career represents a global problem, and while discrepancies exist over precise numbers, there is consensus that the attrition rate of new teachers is high. This paper reports on a narrative inquiry into two beginning teachers who left the profession after just 1 year of practice, only to return 2 years later. By examining this continuum from attrition to retention through the lens of the two teachers' narrative accounts it is possible to gain some insights into how new teachers' personal and professional landscapes intertwine. Findings reveal that these beginning teachers' experiences of their school contexts combined with their personal stories in the first year of practice shaped their professional identity culminating in them leaving and then rejoining the teaching fold. Insights gleaned may have significant implications for beginning teachers, school leaders, teacher education institutions, and policy makers.

This study explores the professional learning of ten pre-service teachers from Hong Kong and ten host teachers in a school in China who participated in a teaching abroad project. The participants' professional learning during the project is conceptualised within five knowledge domains of quality teaching for the twenty-first century: personal, contextual, pedagogical, sociological and social. The findings suggest that by immersing pre-service teachers in an unfamiliar teaching environment, they can learn professional knowledge for teaching in an increasingly complex world. This complements the knowledge they are acquiring in their domestic courses and practicums. Furthermore, through the pedagogical exchange of ideas, the host teachers are also found to benefit. We recommend that teaching abroad opportunities be included in initial teacher education (ITE) programmes and that host teachers' professional learning are considered in their development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines a ubiquitous yet under-studied area of language pedagogy, namely materials usage. It explores teachers' enactment of curriculum materials by focusing on English language education (ELE) teachers' use of prescribed textbooks to plan and deliver lessons at the tertiary level in Mainland China. A qualitative multi-case study involving three Chinese ELE teachers represents the design for this study. The interactive patterns of teachers' enactment at the pre-lesson phase were generated along with four domains of influential factors. The implications for materials development and professional development are also addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The issue of beginning teachers leaving the profession in the first few years of their career represents a global problem, and while discrepancies exist over precise numbers, there is consensus that the attrition rate of new teachers is high. This paper reports on a narrative inquiry into two beginning teachers who left the profession after just 1 year of practice, only to return 2 years later. By examining this continuum from attrition to retention through the lens of the two teachers’ narrative accounts it is possible to gain some insights into how new teachers’ personal and professional landscapes intertwine. Findings reveal that these beginning teachers’ experiences of their school contexts combined with their personal stories in the first year of practice shaped their professional identity culminating in them leaving and then rejoining the teaching fold. Insights gleaned may have significant implications for beginning teachers, school leaders, teacher education institutions, and policy makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]