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Teachers play a critical role in facilitating the career and life planning of secondary school students. This paper describes the development of the Career-Related Teacher Support Scale (Hong Kong Secondary Students Form). Based on data obtained from 493 students in Hong Kong, five types of career-related teacher support were identified with the most important form of support being teachers' knowledge about the world of work and study path requirements. A correlation model yielded the best fit to the data. No variance in response pattern appeared across genders, and the new scale was found to have good validity and reliability.

The COVID-19 global pandemic continues, and in Hong Kong numerous measures have been put in place to contain the spread of the coronavirus. One of the many facets of life that is being affected is education, with many face-to-face classes suspended and students having to go online for lessons. The virus continues to be active in the city, so our usual way of assisting secondary school students' character-building through visitation to elderly homes is restricted. Now we can only provide such service-learning in online mode. This paper explores how an online project helped adolescents in a boys' secondary school apply and adapt principles taught previously in their course dealing with positive character strengths such as kindness, love, social intelligence, gratitude, teamwork, and perseverance.

Meaning in Life Children Questionnaire (MIL-CQ) was developed with reference to Frankl's meaning triangle that has dimensions of Attitude, Creativity, and Experience. The current study translated MIL-CQ into Chinese (MIL-CQ-C), and evaluated its psychometric properties in a sample of 264 upper primary and secondary school gifted students in Hong Kong. Dimensionality of MIL-CQ-C was investigated via exploratory factor analysis using the robust weighted least square estimator. Measurement invariance across gender was investigated. Convergent validity was evaluated by testing MIL-CQ-C as the mediator of social connectedness in predicting presence of meaning in life and search for meaning in life. After removal of three items, exploratory factor analysis supported the original 3-factor structure with substantial factor loadings ([lambda] = 0.53-0.91) and good reliability ([omega] = 0.85-0.92). The MIL-CQ-C showed scalar measurement invariance across gender. The MIL-CQ-C was positively correlated with social connectedness, presence of meaning in life, and search for meaning in life. The MIL-CQ-C mediated the relationship between social connectedness and presence of meaning in life and search for meaning in life. The findings lend support to a valid 3-factor structure for MIL-CQ-C when completed by gifted learners in Hong Kong.

This small-scale exploratory qualitative study examined the career decision-making process of six talented engineering university graduates in Hong Kong. The aim was to investigate major influential factors and barriers that impact their career aspirations and their persistence in remaining in that career. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with each graduate to provide data that could be analyzed. The main focus was on the significance of social and cognitive variables, self-efficacy, interests and outcome expectations for the graduates' motivation and career decision-making process. The findings suggest that primary motivating factors for participants' career aspirations and career persistence strongly aligned with constructs from Social Cognitive Career Theory and Job Embeddedness Theory. Career interests were motivated by self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and interests, while "job embeddedness" promoted career persistence through fit and link to organizations and industry. Based on participants' responses, the study produced an insider's perspective on the career decision-making process of talented young engineers in Hong Kong.

The role of storybooks in offering an educational resource that promotes young children's cognitive and creative development has been recognised in the previous literature. The small-scale exploratory study reported here investigated children's senses of humour through pop-up storybook production. A workshop in Hong Kong, entitled Storybook Production: Your Own Pop-Up Storybook, was conducted with eight participants (girls, aged 7-9 years) as part of a summer programme in the Centre for Advancement in Inclusive and Special Education at the University of Hong Kong. During the workshop, the children were taught two core aspects of creative expression: narrative techniques and the pop-up effects involved in creating a storybook. The children created their storylines, infusing their senses of humour into scenes on storyboards and illustrations in pop-up books. They introduced humour in the form of the jokes and funny behaviours of their characters. Their final products provided evidence of talented young children's expression and understanding of humour.

This paper reports results of a recent exploratory study using the International Survey of School Counselor's Activities with two separate but equivalent samples of guidance professionals from primary schools in Hong Kong. An exploratory factor analysis using data from one sample (n = 76) identified 7 factors representing guidance and counseling roles: counseling services; practice improvement; services to parents; prevention programs; advocacy and systemic improvement; educational and career planning; and, discipline and administration. Confirmatory factor analysis using data from the second sample (n = 76) supported this 7-factor solution. A previous international study involving school-based counselors from 10 countries had identified five underlying dimensions to the counselor role. The difference between the factor structure in the original international study and that in Hong Kong may be due to cultural factors and different counseling practices. Future research is needed with a larger sample for further confirmation.

Passion and perseverance for long-term goals (often referred to as grit) has been found to be associated with well-being in typically developing students and adults. However, previous studies primarily relied on a two-factor model of grit, underpinned by "perseverance of effort" and "consistency of interests." This model has received considerable theoretical and methodological criticisms. The research examined the association of an alternative model of grit underpinned by "perseverance of effort" and "adaptability to situations" as key dimensions, with students' life satisfaction in Chinese gifted adolescents in Hong Kong. Structural equation modeling via maximum likelihood estimation approach demonstrated that "perseverance" was linked to higher levels of life satisfaction. "Adaptability" was indirectly linked to increased life satisfaction via the intermediate variable -- career development self-efficacy. Results indicate that perceived confidence in career-related activities might serve as a mechanism through which grit may be linked to higher well-being in gifted students.

The education system in Macao now implements the principle of equal opportunities for learning for all children, including those with special educational needs. This principle gives rise to the notion of 'one curriculum framework for all' -- meaning that all children in mainstream and special schools follow a common curriculum, but with necessary adjustments and accommodations made for those with learning difficulties. This paper reports on a consultancy project initiated by The Education and Youth Affairs Bureau of Macao SAR to guide special schools on curriculum reforms and help teachers prepare students with special educational needs to learn through the mainstream curriculum. Workshops and symposia were conducted for special education teachers to familiarize them with the new paradigm shift. Over a period of 3 years, 33 teachers from mainstream and special schools were involved in writing Supplementary Guides to the mainstream curriculum, and a Learning Ability Progress Framework. By using the Learning Ability Progress Framework, teachers were able to adopt a more student-centered learning approach to conduct lessons that are inclusive of all learners. This reform represents a milestone in progress for special education in Macao as it moves towards a more inclusive subject-based curriculum.

We explored Chinese adolescents' perceptions of the types of career-related teacher support they had experienced and found helpful. Four focus group discussions were conducted with 30 15-18-year-old high school students in Hong Kong, China. Students perceived the most helpful forms of teacher support for career planning to be those that related to emotional connectedness, information resourcefulness, accessibility, and encouragement of student autonomy. The group discussions also indicated that any support from teachers that helped with stress relief was a very important type of teacher support under the exam-driven teaching culture in Hong Kong. Implications of these findings include enhancing the quality of teacher support in secondary schools.

Approximately one-third of countries in the world are regarded as small states. There are also subnational jurisdictions, or small territories, that share similar characteristics of small states. Their small size renders them vulnerable to changes in the global economy, and this, in turn, has an impact on trade, business, and employment. In this paper, we review the characteristics of small states and territories with reference to Macao and the influences on people's career development. Career paths in small states and territories tend to be characterised by the need for greater flexibility and readiness for adaptation. For this reason, career development practitioners in those settings are recommended to embed the notion of career adaptability within the services and training they provide.

It is vital to foster children's ability to cooperate with others, communicate effectively, and exercise self-control. These competencies represent a set of transferrable skills required in many aspects of daily life and along any career path. In Hong Kong, a play-based training programme was launched to support parents to target these areas of social competence. The programme taught 414 parents to use group games that foster social skills development in children aged 4-5 years. Parents completed culturally-appropriate questionnaires before the programme started, one week after the programme ended, and three months after the programme ended. Paired sample "t"-test analyses revealed significant improvements in children's social skills. Implications for using play-based social learning experiences are discussed.

The aim of this study was to evaluate relationships among the primary school students' social connectedness to parents, teachers and peers, and their career and talent development self-efficacy (CTD-SE). CTD-SE encompasses talent development, career exploration and the acquisition of good work habits. Results suggest that the connectedness with parents and teachers was significantly related to the three types of CTD-SE, while peer connectedness was only associated with career exploration SE and work habit formation SE. Additionally, there was significant interaction between school grade level and parent connectedness on talent development SE. A stronger relationship between parent connectedness and talent development SE was found for Grade 3 than Grade 5 students. Implications for further research and practice are discussed.

Preparing adolescents for transitioning from school to work has become a priority across all developed countries due to the increasingly difficult labour market conditions and changes related to technological advances. Most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic has created additional uncertainties in the world of work. This article reviews the concept of career-related teacher support (CRTS) and illustrates the different roles that school teachers can have in influencing students' career planning and decision making. The information should be beneficial to teachers, counsellors, researchers and policy-makers seeking to optimise school-based career guidance and counselling practices. Brief suggestions are also provided for future research and practice.

It is well established that COVID-19 pandemic is associated with arousal of feelings of hopelessness and negativity in adolescents regarding future career development outcomes. However, the current literature has yet to clarify the roles teacher social support play in facilitating students' positive career development during the pandemic. This study investigated the effects of career-related teacher support (CRTS) on ameliorating students' feelings of hopelessness and increasing their career self-efficacy among 402 senior secondary students (Grades 10-12) in Hong Kong, China. Results from mediated moderation analyses showed that academic ability was only weakly related to career self-efficacy. Hopelessness was not a significant moderator concerning the link between academic ability and career self-efficacy when CRTS functioned as the mediator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computational thinking (CT) currently has been mainly explored using programming robots and conducted in K12 education. In early childhood education, arts have a significant place in children's learning, expression and cognitive development. Specifically, creating pop-up storybooks is a child-friendly activity. Our study aimed to explore the combination of CT and art, and to develop talented children's CT abilities through a multimodal literacies educational approach, which referred to using different skills (i.e., writing, drawing, making, and storytelling) in the art activity. A total of 12 talented children were selected to participate in a pop-up storybook production workshop using a convenience sampling method. We adopted an observation method to capture talented children's CT behaviors, generating a total of 180 min of activity videos and collecting fieldnotes and the children's worksheets and artworks for the data analysis. Based on a content analysis, we found that talented children enhanced their CT development in multiple modes and practiced seven CT skills. In conclusion, our study emphasizes the importance of art in children's education and provides new insights for subsequent research on children's CT education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has become an attractive destination for international medical students, particularly those from developing countries in Asia and Africa. These students are known to face difficulties in adapting to Chinese medical universities and they tend to score poorly on subsequent examinations to enter the medical profession in their home or in a third country. To date, limited research concerning the factors that affect the academic performance of this group of students in China has been conducted. In particular, there have been very few comparisons between high and low achievers to identify the factors that high- and low-achieving international medical students in all years of study perceive as affecting their academic performance. A qualitative research approach was implemented at two medical universities. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 high achievers and 22 low achievers in their second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and post-graduation years. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and coded using a thematic analysis approach.A few key overlapping factors were identified: social support, learning motivation and interest, exam preparation and strategies, time management, and coping. The high achievers manipulated these strategies successfully while the low achievers did not. The high achievers demonstrated efficient learning methods (efficient use of class time, good note-taking habits, preview and review strategies, expanded learning, self-study and group learning, deep learning, choosing an appropriate study location, and focusing on basics and concepts). They also achieved a good balance between studying and leisure. The low achievers mentioned learning challenges, health issues, English language barriers, and problems with online classes. This study allowed us to identify important factors that international medical students at Chinese institutions perceive to influence their performance. The findings contribute to the literature on the topic and provide a solid basis for practice and policy development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Limited research has been conducted so far to explore how meaning in life can promote key academic and psychological benefits in a school context. The research reported here aimed to address this issue by assessing how meaning in life is associated with dimensions of connectedness, academic self-efficacy (Study 1) and personal self-efficacy (Study 2). Participants were two samples of Hong Kong secondary school students. Study 1 revealed that meaning in life was associated with a higher level of connectedness to parents, school, peers, and teachers, and academic self-efficacy (study skills, time management, critical and creative thinking, and involvement in learning). Most connectedness dimensions were linked to lower academic self-efficacy, apart from connectedness to school. Study 2 showed that meaning in life was linked to higher levels of connectedness and personal self-efficacy dimensions (positive self-concept, problem-solving, self-management, and self-reflection). Apart from connectedness to school, other connectedness dimensions were associated with lower personal self-efficacy. Across studies, meaning in life had indirect effects on both self-efficacy through the mediating influence of connectedness. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

A student's 'meaning in life' and his/her connectedness to school, friends and family are believed to be factors that influence the development of life skills. Teachers could be aware of these factors in their endeavours to foster 'whole-person development' in their students. In this small-scale study, twelve secondary school teachers participated in three focus groups and reported their perceptions of students' meaning in life, connectedness and life skills. In general, they believed that having a definite goal means students have found preliminarily the meaning in life and the source of motivation. The teachers also observed that high achievers tend to set goals for "future" achievement, whereas the goals and aspirations of low achievers are much more "short-term." Teachers suggested that development of students' connectedness and life skills can be facilitated by the opportunity to converse with teachers, and the creation of a caring culture in schools that makes students feel valued. Conversely, parental expectations and strong academic orientation of the school may restrict students' personal goal-setting. The findings have practical implications for teachers, counselling professionals and other support staff in schools because specific guidance activities can be devised to strengthen students' connectedness, meaning in life, and life skills.

China is advancing in its bid to internationalize higher education, but little is known to date about the life satisfaction of overseas students in that country. Life satisfaction can be understood as the extent to which individuals' experiences in a host country help them achieve their personal goals and satisfy their expectations regarding acculturation. This paper examines past research, especially international literature, to provide an overview of factors that may influence the life satisfaction of international students in countries other than their own, and looks particularly at those matters that may also affect overseas students in China. Comparisons are made between variables identified in general and those in Asia, and specifically China. The findings have implications for policy-makers and university practitioners seeking to improve educational quality and counseling support services for international students.

This study provides insights into how Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong interpret the concept of "meaning in life." Data were collected from nine focus groups involving 57 junior secondary school students (age range: 13 to 16 years). It was found that students tended to interpret meaning in life as equivalent to "having a plan for a career" and "setting life goals." Information collected suggests that a reciprocal relationship exists between possession of meaning in life, connectedness, and life skills development. Students also indicated how guidance activities in school supported development of meaning in life.

This study examined Chinese technical education students' (N = 18) perceptions of career-related support received from teachers using thematic analysis. Six themes emerged from the interviews: enhancement of self-improvement and self-exploration, informational support, career-related role models, instrumental support, emotional support and support for autonomy. In relation to career development students mentioned teachers of three types as giving the most support: professional (trade) teachers, class teachers, and career guidance staff. These findings contribute to the literature by identifying the types of career-related teacher support most valued in technical education in Mainland China. Recommendations for research and practice are included.

In the 21st century, along with fine arts, media art has become an important genre for young children. Undoubtedly, early visual arts give children a powerful language with which to express themselves aesthetically, cognitively and creatively through the use of symbolic representations. However, digital play remains a controversial issue in early childhood education, causing many schools to delay implementing digital arts. Recently, a number of international scholars have studied how digital technologies relate to children's learning experiences at school, arguing that open-ended digital devices (eg, tablet computers, cameras and video recorders) may allow children to produce more creative content, such as drawings, photos and films. This study explored the role of video art in early visual arts education by using digital devices in a summer workshop in Hong Kong on video making, applying the digital play framework to the data collected. The findings revealed that the children who participated were able to explore the professional device through epistemic play. Meanwhile, they were able to use film language to share their toy-playing stories and make their own 1-minute video through ludic play. In this study, the children engaged in concurrent exploratory activities, using a digital video recorder and toys to create innovative and imaginative play. The findings of this study increase practitioners' and leaders' awareness of the role of digital play in early childhood education.

This case study provides an overview of current policy, practices and problems concerning inclusion in one international secondary school in Hong Kong. A total of 13 interviews were conducted with the school management team, teachers, students and parents, supplemented by 12 classroom observations and two "student-shadowing" exercises. Findings suggest that the school has been reasonably successful in raising teachers' awareness of inclusive education principles, creating a whole-school culture of inclusiveness, and forming a partnership with parents. However, the commitment of individual teachers to implementation of inclusive practices in their own classrooms varies. Some teachers are not adaptive enough in their teaching approach, and have difficulties differentiating instruction and learning activities. Improvements are also needed in the way that teachers work with their education assistants (classroom aides). Implications for improvement are discussed.

The authors provide an overview of past and present trends in career guidance, career education, and vocational training in Hong Kong. Particular attention is given to evaluating career education policies and how these have evolved and affected practices in secondary schools over the past few decades. Topics also covered within the paper include students who drop out, mentor systems, teacher training, vocational training vs. university education, and parent involvement. Two representative case studies are used to illustrate successful programmes. The future development of career education and vocational training in Hong Kong is anticipated, and implications for school-based career counselling practices are considered.

This paper explores the importance of self-regulation and the role of feedback in encouraging such regulation from social cognitive and socio-cultural perspectives. The effects and value of various influences within the social and cultural environment are reviewed. In the context of inviting schools, thought is presented to the issue of how the "Five Ps" (People, Programs, Policies, Places, and Processes) all provide various forms of feedback and input that could encourage self-regulation. In particular, the authors discuss how a reporting system that provides detailed and personalized feedback to students in an inviting setting can be one important way of facilitating students to reach their full potential as autonomous learners. Suggestions for consideration by school staff, and for future researchers, are provided.

This article describes the use of the Chinese translation of the revised Inviting School Survey (ISS-R; Smith, 2005; Smith & Bernard, 2004) to measure the invitational climate of seven invitational secondary schools in Hong Kong. The five subscales of Chinese version of ISS-R were found to be valid and reliable in a sample of 706 Grade 11 students. Students' perceptions of the invitational climate in the key areas of people, places, processes, policies, and programs (5P's) were analyzed. It is suggested that indications of invitational climate in the 5P's could facilitate teachers' and administrators' consideration in improving invitational practices to cater for the needs of different groups of students. (Contains 4 tables.)