Early childhood inclusive education (ECIE) has been advocated in Hong Kong and other societies for decades. Anecdotal evidence, however, suggests that there might be some gaps between teachers’ beliefs and their practices regarding ECIE in Hong Kong. Although a large number of studies on the implementation of ECIE have been conducted in western countries, there are very few in a Hong Kong context. Therefore, this thesis is dedicated to the investigation of Hong Kong kindergarten teachers’ beliefs and practices regarding ECIE with two studies. Study One was designed to be quantitative in nature, examining Hong Kong kindergarten teachers’ beliefs and practices of ECIE by surveying 184 practitioners. Responses revealed that Hong Kong teachers: (1) shared mixed beliefs in both inclusive education and special education; (2) had positive attitudes toward children with special education needs; and also (3) had positive attitudes toward inclusive practices. However, most of them reported that they had failed to put ECIE into practice. Further analyses found a significant school type effect: the teachers in special child care centers (SCCC) and kindergartens with integrated programs (IP) had more positive attitudes toward ECIE and tended to use more individualized practices than those working in kindergartens without IP. In addition, the special education teachers were found to hold the most coherent beliefs and practices of ECIE among all the samples. Study Two was a multiple case study of five early childhood settings, with a focus on the gaps between teachers’ beliefs and practices of ECIE. The validity was established by triangulating the data sources (principal, general teachers, and IP teachers) and methods (classroom observation, interviews, and document analysis). The results indicated that: (1) there was no consistent pattern in teaching schedules, settings, curricula in the five cases; (2) the principals and teachers had mixed beliefs in ECIE and special education; (3) there was a remarkable belief-practice gap in ECIE; and (4) and the teachers from SCCC, kindergartens with IP, and those without IP had different attitudes about communication with parents, perceived behavioral control and intention, and the practical difficulties in ECIE implementation. These qualitative findings were consistent with those found in Study One. The thesis is believed to offer a contribution to the theoretical and practical development of ECIE. This study provides empirical evidence to the early childhood policymaking. The findings imply that the educational authorities need to provide more resources, teacher training, and support to facilitate the implementation of ECIE in Hong Kong. The limitations of this research and future directions are discussed, and some suggestions about how to bridge teachers’ beliefs and practice gaps are also made. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Education

Under the current policy of medium of instruction, schools in Hong Kong may use either Cantonese or Putonghua to teach Chinese Language subject. In this research, different media of instruction have been designed based on literature review and were imposed in five classes of primary one student studied in the same school. This study aims to examine the impact on using Putonghua, Cantonese or diglossia as the medium of instruction in Chinese language learning and teaching as well as the development of students’ general Chinese competence. Data were collected from multiple sources, validated and checked for consistency using triangulation. Quantitative analyses were conducted via quasi-experimental study and questionnaire surveys to examine the impact on the development of students’ general Chinese competence as well as students’ learning. Qualitative analyses were executed via multiple case studies, classroom observation, teacher-student interviews and text analysis of transcripts of interview protocols to examine the impact on teaching and learning. The research results show that, using different media of instruction have no negative impact on teaching and learning. Among those media of instruction, Cantonese, the mother tongue, is the preference of teachers and students. Nevertheless, qualified and experienced teachers and well-planned lessons and curriculum are the prerequisites for using Putonghua, Cantonese and Diglossia as the medium of instruction of Chinese language learning. The research results show that there are positive impacts on the Chinese language development of students. However, students have different performances in the mastery of mental lexicons, writing and reading abilities among the five classes. These results reflect that the teaching goals, strategies and the allocation of teaching time are affected by the different media of instruction. In brief, this study is a basic research that provides information for future studies on the media of instruction of Chinese language learning and teaching. Moreover, the result of this study can also serve as a reference to policy makers and teachers in making their decision in selecting the medium of instruction of Chinese language learning. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Education

This research is a journey of mine, as a CSL (Chinese as second language) teacher, using autoethnographical method to explore my own emotions and professional growth in the teaching of Chinese language to EM students. This research is a study of self-exploration. To make it simple, the autoethnography is written in accordance to the natural sequence of my self-exploration. First, I have chosen to report some of my raw experiences over the two-and-half years of teaching with the 2009 and 2010 cohorts of EM students (S2 and S1) as significant critical incidents that form the basis of my layers of reflection. They form the primary domain of the study. The writing is structured according to the classification suggested by Schon: 1. Reflection in Action: This part of the writing provides rich description of a series of critical incidents or episodes and my thoughts and feelings in the incidents. In writing each incident, the memory brings me back to the time and some instant reflection (usually filled, with some heavy emotions, confusion which needs clarity) may also be added to the description. The ‘Reflection in Action’ with the 2 cohorts of students is reported in two separate chapters. 2. Reflection on Action: After each ‘Reflection in Action’ chapter (which is mainly narratives of the critical incidents), there is a ‘Reflection on Action’ chapter which provides more in-depth analysis and reflection of my experience. With the 2009 cohort (S2 students), the associated ‘Reflection on Action’ is structured around the various emotions and relations experienced. And then with the 2010 cohort (S1 students), the associated ‘Reflection on Action’ is structured around my roles, values and cultural conflicts in the experience. 3. ‘Reflection for Action’: After I have completed ‘Reflection on Action’ on my experience to these two groups of students, I then make an overall reflection. The intention is to develop a better conceptualization of the whole experience and develop some theory that can serve as direction for my future practice, or hypothesis for consideration and future research by others. Before writing this final ‘Reflection for Action’, to provide a more valid and reliable basis for it, I interview some students (those involved in some of the significant incidents), three teachers from my school and three other teachers from other educational institutions. (One is a teaching staff working at the University of Hong Kong, one is from a Band 2 secondary school with lot of EM students, and the last one is a teaching staff working in a subsidized secondary school with some EM students.) Having the private talk with students can give me more insight on how some issues are seen from the students’ side. In the interviews, the critical incidents are used as stimulus together with questions which are designed for sharing emotions and enhancing understanding. After the final ‘Reflection for Action’, I will reflect on how the process of autoethographic writing and try to share with readers its values in teacher growth and other practical knowledge on using this methodology, including its strengths and limitations. In reflecting on my interaction, relation and emotions with students, I found my weaknesses; but I also came to realize fear existed in most of us. The way we handled our fear reflects our values and attitudes and in turn affected the fear of others. Our students also had their fear. The cultures of my students and me, and the differences, had made a great impact on our understanding of each other, and hence our emotional feelings towards each perceptions on cultural identity, and I tried to match the cultural strategies I learnt from literature with the cultural strategies practiced by me and my students. I also began to question how I saw (and would need to see) myself as their teacher, and respond to the differences between us. The issue of a teacher’s self and its formation in intercultural teaching then also became the focus of the study. In the end, you may ask, ‘what do you get from writing this autoethnographic research? In this teaching journey: teaching Chinese to the non-Chinese, you may ask, is teaching pedagogy very important fro students to learn better? Yes. But apart from teaching pedagogy, we need to take other issues into consideration. The issue of emotions and intercultural difference often emerges during the process of teaching and learning especially when teaching with ethnic minority students and this we need to take it into consideration to make the teaching of ethnic minority more smooth. To make the teaching of ethnic minority successful, we also need to understand our limitations and be accommodating, positive and show understanding to our students. In short, in the process of autoethnographic study, I have learned from lived experience. Through layers of reflection in different perspectives and different timing: reflection, it allows me to have some space to understand myself, show respect to others: students, parents and colleagues. We learn when we teach and we grow when we nurture our students with understanding and teach them with the virtue of gratitude. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Education

This paper aims at investigating the attitude of junior and senior students of Hong Kong secondary school toward the medium of instruction. This study involved 37 senior students and 34 junior students of the same CMI secondary school. The research is quantitative in nature and data is analyzed statistically. The major findings are, firstly, both groups of students affirm with the benefits of CMI in enhancing effective learning of content subjects. However, they do not agree that CMI can effectively enhance their English ability. Second, students choose between CMI and EMI according to the status of Chinese and English in their mind, which varies with the changes of needs and challenges they face with. The results suggest that the status of Chinese is higher with the junior students. They are both strongly integratively and instrumentally orientated toward Chinese. The benefits of CMI outweigh the disadvantages it has on English learning. Therefore, junior students show a more positive attitude toward CMI. On the other hand, senior students are aware of the high demand in English at university and at work. Their needs to face the society after graduation cause them to be more instrumentally orientated toward English. Therefore, the status of English is relatively higher than Chinese among the senior students, which results in a more positive attitude toward EMI learning. / published_or_final_version / English Studies / Master / Master of Arts

BACKGROUND: Researchers in the fields of health, education and psychology have established a causal relationship between levels of education and both health status and its management amongst adults and children. This has resulted in largescale ‘health literacy’ intervention programmes. The relationship between oral health literacy (OHL), health status and management is less understood. Indeed, ‘OHL’ is a relatively new field with limited research to date in Asia. Measurements of OHL on the whole have focused on the match or mismatch between reading fluency, vocabulary, background knowledge, and oral and written communication demands. While it may be difficult or impractical to comprehensively capture and measure all possible dimensions of OHL, several instruments have been developed to date, albeit mostly in English dominant contexts. OBJECTIVES: The major objectives of this study were to: a) to describe the relationship between caregiver reading habits and their OHL, and their child’s oral health status; b) assess the functional OHL levels of primary caregivers in an Asian population using two new instruments; c) to describe the relationship between caregiver OHL and the oral health status of their children. METHODS: A cross-sectional study using two locally-developed and validated OHL instruments; Hong Kong Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Dentistry-30 (HKREALD-30) and Hong Kong OHL Assessment Task for Paediatric Dentistry (HKOHLAT-P) was adopted. A random sample of 301 child/caregiver dyads was recruited from kindergartens in Hong Kong Island. Data included: socio-demographic information; caregivers’ self-reported reading habits and OHL levels; and child oral health status as a) dental caries experience - number of decayed, missing and filled teeth (dmft); and b) oral hygiene status - by the Visible Plaque Index (VPI). RESULTS: Caregivers’ reported reading of print Chinese was significantly associated with their OHL scores: HKREALD-30 and HKOHLAT-P (p<0.01). No associations were found between caregiver’s reading habits and their children’s oral health status (p>0.05). Both OHL assessment tasks were associated with children’s oral health status. Both HKOHLAT-P and HKREALD-30 remained associated with dmft in the adjusted negative binomial regression models (accounting for socio-demographics), but HKOHLAT-P had a stronger association (IRR 0.97, P=0.02 versus 0.96, P=0.03). HKOHLAT-P was associated with VPI in the adjusted model (IRR 0.90, P<0.05), but no significant association between HKREALD-30 and VPI was evident. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Caregivers’ habits of reading print and digital texts were significantly associated with their OHL scores. No significant associations were found between caregivers’ reading habits and their children’s oral health status, indicating that reading habits is a different attribute that may not directly affect their child’s oral health. Caregivers’ functional OHL was associated with their children’s oral health status in Hong Kong. A comprehension task tool (HKOHLAT-P) was more robust in determining such associations when compared to a simple word recognition based test (HKREALD-30). / published_or_final_version / Dentistry / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education