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Drawing on the concept of teacher buoyancy which is teachers' capacity to deal with the everyday challenges that most teachers face in their teaching, this qualitative study investigates the capacity of ten early career teachers to derive sustenance from overcoming minor and frequent challenges in their everyday work. A semi-structured interview was used to investigate early career teachers' adaptive and proactive experiences dealing with frequent challenges at work. Findings indicated that early career teachers utilised problem-focused strategies, cognitive-related strategies, and well-being and emotion-related strategies, and mobilised different personal and contextual resources to sustain themselves in the realities of their professional work and life. This study advocates the enhancement of teacher buoyancy as a capacity among early career teachers to empower them to stay on top of recurrent problems, and suggests potential implications for teacher education programmes and professional development for early career teachers.

This article presents a qualitative study which presents professional competence development in an undergraduate initial teacher education (ITE) programme in Hong Kong. Fifteen student teachers participated in two rounds of interviews, one after the first ITE fieldwork and another after the second ITE fieldwork in a five-year Bachelor of Education Programme. The interviews placed focus on the 'context-specific' aspects of professional competence, namely "Competence in Classroom Teaching" and "Competence to Work in Schools," as well as student teachers' experiences in different aspects of the ITE fieldwork context. The findings provide important insights into re-conceptualising professional competence development with an integrated analysis which explicates the dynamic interaction between the teaching context, the school context and the student teacher's approach to learning. Three distinctive patterns of competence development in terms of student teachers' perceived change in the two 'context-specific' aspects of professional competence were identified. The insights from the integrated analysis also extend Mutton, Burn and Hagger's (2010) study by connecting different patterns of professional competence development with the interaction between student teachers' approaches to learning from experience and factors in the ITE fieldwork context. Enhancing and constraining conditions for professional competence development and implications for ITE stakeholders are discussed.

The theory-practice debate has been a perennial issue in initial teacher education (ITE). By reporting a mixed-methods study in an ITE programme characterized by a university-based 'theory-first' approach in Hong Kong, this study offers useful empirical evidence to analyse the theory-practice issue. 346 student teachers of a BEd Programme participated in the quantitative survey, 15 of whom were interviewed. The quantitative findings showed significant positive correlations between three types of perceived professional competence and two aspects of student teachers' engagement with the theory-practice link. The qualitative findings offered an in-depth understanding of the ways in which student teachers connected theoretical knowledge learned in ITE coursework and practical experience in ITE fieldwork in developing their professional competence: (1) theoretical knowledge as a guide for professional decisions and a tool for reflection on practice; (2) practicalizing theoretical knowledge: adapting theoretical knowledge to practice situations. In the process of engagement, theoretical knowledge was transformed and adapted to practice situations when student teachers coped with the challenges of the teaching contexts in their ITE fieldwork. While affirming the value of student teachers' engagement with the theory-practice link, the findings of the study shed light on ITE practices for preparing student teachers for such engagement.

This article reports a comparative study on the reasons for pre-service student teachers becoming teachers in Hong Kong and Macau. The study adopted a mixed methods research design, with 459 and 137 student teachers completing a questionnaire on teaching motivation and 35 and 15 student teachers joining a follow-up interview in Hong Kong and Macau, respectively. The study found that student teachers in both societies share commonality in their altruistic and intrinsic motivations, i.e. a sense of vocation. The difference in student teachers' motivation reflects the contrasting perceptions of teachers' work and the teaching profession in connection with the different educational systemic factors in Macau and Hong Kong. Government-initiated quantitative expansion and quality enhancement in education set the backdrop of an aspiring teaching profession with promising prospects as perceived by the student teachers in Macau. In contrast, the move towards "centralized-decentralization" with a focus on excellence, competition and accountability in education at a time of teacher surplus results in a demanding profession with gloomy prospects as perceived by the Hong Kong student teachers. These differences add to our understanding of how the development trajectories of different education systems and teaching professions influence young people's motivation to become teachers in different societies. The study also provides insights for initial teacher education and offers suggestions for the education communities of the two societies.

Early career teachers (ECTs) face great stress arising from the demands of the teaching job which are translated into everyday challenges. This article reports a mixed-methods study which examined teacher buoyancy, focusing on how ECTs harness personal and contextual resources when facing the everyday challenges of teaching. The quantitative data analysis showed six factors which constituted the personal and contextual dimensions of teacher buoyancy. The qualitative findings offered an in-depth understanding of these dimensions. ECTs counted on the emotional, cognitive, and behavioural emphases of personal resources in making immediate to short-term responses to everyday challenges. Striving for professional growth and Taking care of one's well-being were distal personal resources that enhanced ECTs' potential to manage these challenges. Accessibility to contextual resources and ECTs' utilisation of these resources constituted the dual facets of the contextual dimension of teacher buoyancy. Implications for initial teacher education and induction of ECTs are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports a mixed methods study on the contribution of various aspects of pre-service student teachers' learning in initial teacher education (ITE) to their professional competence in a Five-year Bachelor of Education Programme in Hong Kong. Special attention is given to how student teachers' non-formal learning in higher education contributes to their professional competence, an under-researched area in teacher education. A total of 282 student teachers participated in the quantitative survey, 18 of whom were interviewed. Although "Undergraduate Learning Experience: Formal Learning and Non-formal Learning" was not the most highly rated factor, multiple regression indicated that it was the only ITE professional learning factor that significantly predicted all dimensions of professional competence. This supports the hypothesis that non-formal learning as a part of learning in higher education makes a significant contribution to student teachers' professional competence. The qualitative findings showed that non-formal learning provided opportunities for service learning, co-curricular activities, and student exchange programmes with different objects of engagement. Student teachers constructed pedagogical content knowledge, general pedagogical knowledge, and knowledge of context through hands-on experiences, professional dialogue with practitioners, and observations of others' practice. Such knowledge contributed to their competence in classroom teaching and to work in schools. Implications for ITE are discussed.

Competence to work in schools is an important dimension of professional competence, although it is often a neglected dimension of teacher development. This article reports a qualitative study that examined student teachers' learning experiences in initial teacher education (ITE) in relation to competence to work in schools. In-depth interviews were conducted with 12 student teachers on an undergraduate ITE programme in Hong Kong. The findings of the study show that competence to work in schools is characterised by student teachers' deep contextualised learning. In addition, it offers a deeper understanding of this competence in the ITE context by identifying its three facets, namely understanding of the micro-political realities of schools, social capital building and social strategies. The study provides insights for ITE and schools to support student teachers' development of their competence to work in schools, including the design of ITE curricula, ITE processes and co-curricular activities in undergraduate studies. Moreover, it suggests the importance of developing schools as growth-fostering and positive micro-political sites for ITE fieldwork and teacher induction.

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.

Education systems around the world need to recruit highly motivated individuals to become teachers and prepare professionally competent teacher education graduates to take up these broadened and deepened roles and responsibilities with a deep and lasting engagement to the profession. This article reports on a mixed-methods study that examines types of teaching motivation in relation to various facets of professional competence and planned engagement in future teaching. One hundred and thirty-two student teachers of a postgraduate diploma in education programme participated in the quantitative survey of whom seven were interviewed. The quantitative data analysis shows the positive association between "intrinsic-altruistic motivation constellation" and selected facets of professional competence, with "intrinsic-multifaceted and stimulating job nature" as the most distinctive type of teaching motivation. To complement the quantitative findings, the qualitative data analysis reveals two professional orientations of the "intrinsic-altruistic motivation constellation", namely (1) student-centred orientation and (2) subject-centred orientation. In addition, three types of professional development aspirations are identified: "classroom engaged careerists", "highly engaged persisters" and "pessimists". The study provides insights into the design of appropriate ITE practices to support professional learning in the light of student teachers' motivations. It also suggests the importance of matching career opportunities and beginning teachers' professional development aspirations and supporting "pessimists" in the face of the stringent job market.

With the constructivist view of learning as a conceptual lens, this paper examines student teachers' professional learning in initial teacher education (ITE). A mixed-method study was conducted with student teachers of a Bachelor of Education Programme in Hong Kong. The quantitative element of the study reveals that student teachers held a constructivist conception of teaching and learning, and this conception was related to their learning experiences in different aspects of the ITE Programme, including the core components of the formal curriculum, informal and hidden curriculum, field experience and non-local experiences. The qualitative findings added further understanding of the dynamics and complexities of student teachers' development of the constructivist conception through learning in ITE coursework and fieldwork as well as their active construction of the professional artistry of teaching. Implications for enhancing student teachers' professional learning in ITE in support of the constructivist conception of teaching and learning are discussed. (Contains 3 tables.)