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There is increasing interest in the role that evolution may play in current and future pandemics, but there is often also considerable confusion about the actual evolutionary predictions. This may be, in part, due to a historical separation of evolutionary and medical fields, but there is a large, somewhat nuanced body of evidence-supported theory on the evolution of infectious disease. In this review, we synthesize this evolutionary theory in order to provide a framework for clearer understanding of the key principles. Specifically, we discuss the selection acting on zoonotic pathogens' transmission rates and virulence at spillover and during emergence. We explain how the direction and strength of selection during epidemics of emerging zoonotic disease can be understood by a three Ts framework: trade-offs, transmission, and time scales. Virulence and transmission rate may trade-off, but transmission rate is likely to be favoured by selection early in emergence, particularly if maladapted zoonotic pathogens have 'no-cost' transmission rate improving mutations available to them. Additionally, the optimal virulence and transmission rates can shift with the time scale of the epidemic. Predicting pathogen evolution, therefore, depends on understanding both the trade-offs of transmission-improving mutations and the time scales of selection.

This paper attempts to identify leadership practices and qualities of school teachers as they engaged in effecting change initiated by a curriculum reform in Hong Kong. Based on interview data of teachers from nine schools, this paper shows how teacher leadership manifested itself in schools. Three approaches to teacher leadership were identified, each delineating how teacher leaders approached the implementation task--as a compliance exercise, an adaptive exercise, or as a capacity building exercise. This paper confirms that different levels of teacher-leader engagement in professional enquiries constitute different teacher leadership practices, which have differential impacts on teaching and learning practices and the effectiveness of school improvement efforts. Implications for developing teacher leadership in schools are discussed.

This paper attempts to identify leadership practices of school principals as they engaged in exploring and exploiting possibilities in and around the school contexts to develop school capacity for change. Based on interview data of school principals, this paper shows that the capabilities of school leaders to perceive and exploit situated possibilities to build school capacity are one of the key factors differentiating different levels of implementation efforts. Three school capacity-building practices are found to constitute efficacious principal leadership in contexts of educational change, namely fostering teacher learning in communities of practice and teacher participation in decision-making; promoting school-community connections to facilitate student learning through participation; and aligning external demands and schools' internal circumstances. Implications for developing efficacious principal leadership in school capacity building are discussed.

This paper attempts to identify leadership practices of school principals as they engaged in exploring and exploiting possibilities in and around the school contexts to build teacher capacity for change. Based on interview data of school principals, this paper shows that principals from different schools engaged in qualitatively different practices when they led their schools in building teacher capacity for school improvement. Three approaches to teacher development are identified, namely deficit approach, interactive-growth approach and participatory-growth approach, each delineating a unique set of teacher capacity building practices, teacher learning activities and contextual conditions in which they occur. Implications for developing efficacious principal leadership in teacher capacity building are discussed.

This paper attempts to identify the leadership practices and qualities of school principals engaged in implementing a curriculum reform in Hong Kong. Based on interview data of school principals, this paper shows that the types of instructional leadership practices that school principals adopt and the contextual conditions in which these practices occur are key factors explaining the differential effectiveness of implementation efforts. Six efficacious instructional leadership practices and two contextual conditions critical to their development were identified. This paper reconceptualises instructional leadership as a collective and transformational endeavour, functioning in communities of practice to support school development at different levels.

The personal development of students is an essential component of school guidance and counselling programmes, but no published research on guidance and counselling has investigated the effects of regular classroom teaching on students' self-efficacy for personal development. In this study, questionnaire items were constructed to measure classroom teaching, student self-efficacy for personal development and student use of deep learning strategies. Data were collected from 16,208 secondary school students in Hong Kong. Using structural equation modelling, regular classroom teaching was found to have a direct effect on personal development self-efficacy as well as an indirect effect through student use of deep learning strategies. Implications of these findings for implementing a whole-school approach to guidance and counselling are discussed. (Contains 1 table and 2 figures.)

This study attempted to investigate Hong Kong junior secondary students' conceptions of China before and after the 1997 handover of Hong Kong to China, with a view to finding out any changes in their conceptions, and if any, the factors that might have contributed to these changes. The study found that, over the years from 1997 to 2009, students still viewed China as backward in many aspects, and still held superficial, fragmentary and even contradictory and inaccurate conceptions of China, but their conceptions were getting more positive and deeper in 2009 than 12 years ago. This paper maintains that students' greater exposure to China's development in various aspects through various information sources played a prominent role in shaping their conceptions of China. The implications for learning and teaching are discussed. (Contains 5 tables and 1 note.)

Liberal studies is a new subject in the new senior secondary curriculum in Hong Kong. This study attempted to identify factors that shape liberal studies student teachers' decisions in lesson planning. Based on interview data and lesson plans developed by the student teachers, this article maintains that four factors interacted with the subject features of liberal studies to shape the student teachers' planning decisions, namely, teacher knowledge, curriculum requirements, materials and resources, and interaction with equal and more capable partners. This paper further looks into how teacher knowledge expresses itself at different stages of lesson planning. The findings suggest that to facilitate enquiry learning in students, liberal studies teachers need to adopt an enquiry stance in lesson planning. This paper argues that the limitations of liberal studies student teachers' content knowledge need to be addressed in teacher preparation programmes and suggests teacher networking as one way to strengthen novice liberal studies teachers' content preparation. The implications for teacher education are discussed. (Contains 1 table.)

Mentoring has been widely recognized as an important aspect of the professional preparation of beginning teachers. How mentoring is viewed bears important implications for how mentoring is to be practiced and experienced. This study investigated the views of mentoring held by mentors, mentored in-service teachers and university teachers in a mentoring scheme initiated by a university in Hong Kong. Ten pairs of mentors and mentored in-service teachers and three university teachers participated in in-depth individual interviews designed to explore their views of mentoring with respect to five themes: mentor selection and preparation; mentor roles and responsibilities; mentor-mentee relationships; the mentoring programme; and school-university relationships. The findings show that the dynamic interaction between mentors, mentored in-service teachers and university teachers shaped the learning opportunities for the mentored in-service teachers. This paper argues that teaching practice and mentored learning to teach play an important role in in-service teachers' professional preparation. To strengthen in-service teacher learning, key players in the mentoring scheme should attain a shared vision of mentoring for in-service teachers and work together to create an integrated curriculum for the learning of in-service teachers. (Contains 1 table.)

Using geographic information system (GIS) in teaching and learning geography is an important direction in the secondary geography curriculum in Hong Kong. In the present study, interviews were conducted individually with 28 geography teachers from different secondary schools in Hong Kong, with a view to finding their views on the inclusion of GIS in the secondary geography curriculum and the current state of GIS implementation in their schools. The study reveals that the level of use of GIS in geography teaching in Hong Kong was low, despite the fact that teachers generally found GIS to be an important geographical skill. In addition, teachers' understanding of how GIS could be used in teaching to enhance student learning in geography was limited. There is evidence that basic conditions, in terms of hardware and software, for using GIS in geography teaching were present in schools, and that teacher commitment was a critical factor determining whether or not GIS would be used. Teacher commitment was found related to teachers' sense of preparedness to implement GIS, the perceived practicality of its use in teaching and whether GIS use was mandated in the curriculum. (Contains 2 tables, 1 figure, and 3 notes.)

This paper attempts to identify leadership practices and qualities of school teachers as they engaged in effecting change initiated by a curriculum reform in Hong Kong. Based on interview data of teachers from nine schools, this paper shows how teacher leadership manifested itself in schools. Three approaches to teacher leadership were identified, each delineating how teacher leaders approached the implementation task – as a compliance exercise, an adaptive exercise, or as a capacity building exercise. This paper confirms that different levels of teacher–leader engagement in professional enquiries constitute different teacher leadership practices, which have differential impacts on teaching and learning practices and the effectiveness of school improvement efforts. Implications for developing teacher leadership in schools are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper attempts to identify leadership practices of school principals as they engaged in exploring and exploiting possibilities in and around the school contexts to develop school capacity for change. Based on interview data of school principals, this paper shows that the capabilities of school leaders to perceive and exploit situated possibilities to build school capacity are one of the key factors differentiating different levels of implementation efforts. Three school capacity-building practices are found to constitute efficacious principal leadership in contexts of educational change, namely fostering teacher learning in communities of practice and teacher participation in decision-making; promoting school–community connections to facilitate student learning through participation; and aligning external demands and schools’ internal circumstances. Implications for developing efficacious principal leadership in school capacity building are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The trend towards school-based teacher training in initial teacher education since the 1980s has contributed to the popular use of the term "mentoring" to signify the appointment of experienced teachers to undertake the supervision of student teachers during their teaching practice in schools. Nevertheless, different conceptions of mentoring prevail in the literature of teacher education, and there is still a lack of consensus on what mentoring is. In addition, the bulk of extant research and discussion on mentoring has been situated in the context of initial teacher education and little has been done in the context of in-service teacher education, let alone in-service teacher education presented in a distance mode. This study looks into conceptions of teaching-practice mentoring held by students in a distance Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) programme for in-service primary school teachers in Hong Kong. Ten in-service trainee-teachers from eight primary schools participated in in-depth individual interviews designed to explore their conceptions of teaching-practice mentoring with respect to five aspects. mentor roles and responsibilities; mentor-mentee relationships, mentoring programmes; mentor preparation; and school-university relationships. The findings indicate that mentees viewed teaching-practice mentoring as support provided by mentors to facilitate the professional development of novice teachers. In general, mentees considered teaching-practice mentoring useful and essential for their professional growth. However, mentees' conceptions of the most desirable mentor-mentee relationship and mentoring support differed from what they encountered and received in actual mentoring practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is increasing interest in the role that evolution may play in current and future pandemics, but there is often also considerable confusion about the actual evolutionary predictions. This may be, in part, due to a historical separation of evolutionary and medical fields, but there is a large, somewhat nuanced body of evidence-supported theory on the evolution of infectious disease. In this review, we synthesize this evolutionary theory in order to provide a framework for clearer understanding of the key principles. Specifically, we discuss the selection acting on zoonotic pathogens' transmission rates and virulence at spillover and during emergence. We explain how the direction and strength of selection during epidemics of emerging zoonotic disease can be understood by a three Ts framework: trade-offs, transmission, and time scales. Virulence and transmission rate may trade-off, but transmission rate is likely to be favoured by selection early in emergence, particularly if maladapted zoonotic pathogens have 'no-cost' transmission rate improving mutations available to them. Additionally, the optimal virulence and transmission rates can shift with the time scale of the epidemic. Predicting pathogen evolution, therefore, depends on understanding both the trade-offs of transmission-improving mutations and the time scales of selection.