published_or_final_version / abstract / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

提升學前教育的機會與品質成為世界趨勢，近年來中國大陸政府在普及學前教育進程中逐漸關注並出臺政策以保障和監控教育品質，這對幼兒園教師提出高績效表現的素質要求。然而，實踐一線的教師們面臨著國家和市場的雙重期待，究竟如何看待自己？又如何為職業賦予了什麼樣的意義？ 本研究借助詮釋性互動和符號互動論為理論視角，採用質化研究的取向，以北京為實地研究範圍，選取33名幼兒園教師和3名管理者，就其對身為教師的理解與詮釋展開深入訪談，輔之以文檔收集和實地觀察，探討幼兒園教師為職業賦予意義的過程。本研究主要有以下發現： / 首先，影響幼兒園教師身份的三種結構性力量分別是國家權力、市場話語和性別文化。這三種力量共同交織，巧妙地將幼兒園教師群體置於弱者之境，導致幼兒園教師身份空間被擠壓、身份異化和性別化。其次，符號互動論視角下，幼兒園教師身份構建就是幼兒園教師與他人進行外部互動和與自我進行內部互動的過程。不同工作情境下的幼兒園教師身份構建呈現三種不同的路徑：外部主導型、內部主導型以及內外兼顧型，從而構建出不同類型的幼兒園教師身份：保姆與廉價勞動力、有特色的專業工作者、我不是保姆而是___老師。最後，情緒在幼兒園教師身份構建中的作用表現在：情緒是身份的晴雨表、身份呈現的工具、身份承諾的動力及促進身份轉化的誘因。幼兒園教師在身份構建過程中情緒產生並嵌入其互動的工作情境中，與不同對象互動中呈現出不同的情緒地理。幼兒園教師情緒規則包括善於控制情緒，積極運用情緒，堅持微笑服務；其情緒勞動時間長、多樣性、強度大。他們並運用偽裝、抑制、自我勸服和釋放等情緒勞動策略。 / 本研究對幼兒園教師身份構建的探討豐富了教師身份研究；並回應了關於教師身份構建的宏觀結構因素、身份構建機制以及身份構建中的情緒等學術討論；同時，提出幼兒園教師專業性中的情緒情感維度，即情緒性的專業性。最後，就政府幼教政策推行以及政府制定市場規則方面提出政策建議，並探討了對幼兒園管理實踐的啟示。 / Improving the quality of preschool education has become a global trend. In recent years, the Chinese government has increasingly focused on universalizing preschool education in the country, launching policies to guarantee high-quality education. Rigorous requirements have also been implemented to maintain the caliber of preschool teachers. In this context, how do front-line teachers in Mainland China understand their teacher identities amid the objectives set by the state and the market for them? How do they make sense of their careers? Informed by the interpretive and symbolic interactionism perspectives, this multiple-case qualitative study examines how preschool teachers in Mainland China construct their professional identities and how they understand and interpret the roles of preschool teachers. Sources of data include in-depth interviews with 33 preschool teachers and 3 preschool leaders in Beijing, documents like teaching materials and school policies, as well as field observations. / The analysis of the multiple sources of data indicates that: (1) The professional identities of preschool teachers were primarily influenced by state power, market discourse, and gender culture. These influential forces acted mutually on one another and put preschool teachers into a weak position, thereby limiting, alienating, and sexualizing their identity. (2) From the perspective of symbolic interactionism, preschool teachers constructed their identity through external and internal interactions. Preschool teacher participants in the study are classified as external-interaction-dominant, internal-interaction-dominant, and both external- and internal-interaction, which constructed preschool teachers with different identities, such as baby-sitters, cheap laborers, professionals and teachers. (3) When constructing their identity, preschool teachers use their emotions as a barometer of their identity, a means to manifest their identity, a driving force for profession commitment, and a motivation to transform their identity.Preschool teachers demonstrate feelings and emotions during their identity construction and display emotional geographies when interacting with different objects in their working contexts. Their emotional labor is characterized by long duration, diversity, and stress. Their emotional rules include their capabilities to control their emotions, actively use their emotions, and deliver their service with a smile. Preschool teachers also employ a variety of emotional labor strategies such as emotional masking, emotional suppression, self-persuasion, and emotional release. This dissertation enriches the literature on teacher identity by illuminating the processes through which preschool teachers construct their own identities. The findings also respond to the academic discussion about the macro influential structural factors upon which teachers construct their identity, the identity construction mechanism, and the emotions they display during identity construction. This dissertation also proposes that emotion is a dimension of preschool teachers’ professionalism. From these insights, the government can revise preschool education policies, and regulate the rules of the market. And suggestions concerning improvements of management and practices at preschools are made as well. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / 張麗敏. / Parallel title from added title page. / Thesis (Ph.D.) Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2015. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 231-250). / Abstracts also in Chinese. / Zhang Limin.

　　Although kindergarten work environments in Hong Kong and overseas have been found to be unfavourable, a smaller than expected number of teachers have displayed a low level of subjective well-being (SWB). This research aimed to investigate how SWB could be predicted by perceived work environment, personality types, and resilience. It also examined the mediating functions of resilience in the relationships of perceived work environment and personality types to SWB. 　　In this research, SWB was represented by job satisfaction, measured by the Job Satisfaction Survey; self-esteem, assessed by the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale; and mental health complaints, captured by the General Health Questionnaire-12. Perceived work environment comprised psychosocial and non-psychosocial aspects, with the former evaluated by the School Culture Survey and the latter measured by the Kindergarten Ergonomics-Manpower Inventory (KEMI), a new inventory developed in Study 2. Personality types were measured by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Resilience was represented by hardiness and optimism, which were captured by the Hardiness Scale and the Revised Life Orientation Test, respectively. 　　This research adopted a mixed method design and comprised four studies. Study 1 was the pilot study involving 64 teachers in validating seven inventories and exploring the relationships between perceived school culture, personality types, hardiness, optimism, job satisfaction, self-esteem, and mental health complaints. Data analyses using SPSS 17 revealed that perceived school culture and personality types were significantly related to job satisfaction, self-esteem, and mental health complaints. Hardiness, but not optimism, mediated the relationships of perceived work environment and personality types to job satisfaction, self-esteem, and mental health complaints. 　　 Study 2 developed a new inventory (i.e. KEMI) to measure kindergartens’ non-psychosocial work environments and comprised two stages. The first stage involved two panels of 10 kindergarten principals in the item pool development and 141 teachers rating the items. The second stage was the cross-validation of the findings and involved 125 teachers. Data analyses using SPSS 17 and AMOS 18 showed that items in the KEMI clustered into five subscales, of which the “Ergonomics” subscale contributed the largest variances. 　　 Study 3 was the main study, involving 371 teachers. It investigated how job satisfaction, self-esteem, and mental health complaints were predicted by perceived school culture, perceived ergonomics-manpower, personality types, hardiness, and optimism, and how hardiness and optimism mediated the relationships of perceived work environment and personality types to job satisfaction, self-esteem, and mental health complaints. Data analyses using SPSS 17 and AMOS 18 revealed that perceived work environment predicted job satisfaction, but its effects on self-esteem and mental health complaints were fully mediated by hardiness and optimism. Teachers were predominantly sensing-feeling-judging types. Teachers who were extraverted, intuitive, feeling, judging types tended to perceive their work environments more favorably and to show higher levels of SWB. 　　Study 4 aimed to enrich the interpretations of the quantitative findings by interviews with 24 teachers (volunteers from the participants in Study 3) in four focus groups. Five main themes and two sub-themes emerged. 　　Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed. Recommendations for future research directions are also made. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

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

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Science in Information Technology in Education

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