This qualitative study investigated the extent of Teachers’ Private Theories on the level of instructional technology integration within a Hong Kong international school. Such private theories develop as a result of personal and pedagogical experiences influencing how teachers think, manage their classrooms and make decisions, essentially acting as a foundation for instructional decision-making practices. The participants within this study consisted of three teachers with various degrees of experience. Lesson observations and interviews were conducted, and an intervention measure in the form of Moodle, a course management system, was introduced to enhance existing pedagogical practice and provide an opportunity for the teachers to facilitate a higher level of technology integration; something that is generally attributed to a strong focus on student centered pedagogy. Private theories were categorized into six key areas - student learning, management, assessment, teaching, technology and support. Results from the study indicated that intervention measures used to facilitate higher-levels of technology integration for teachers who already focus on student-centered pedagogy, do not result in any noticeable transformation of their private theories. Instead, teachers develop a deeper cognitive understanding of the intervention, and begin to question how they can modify existing teaching and learning practices. Teachers that participate in comprehensive school wide technology programs need continuous support to ensure they achieve higher-levels of technology integration, and continue to develop student-centered pedagogy. / published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Science in Information Technology in Education

Teaching competition is a common and standardized practice in mainland China, but until then it is rather new to teachers in Hong Kong. Teaching competition can have dual roles: being an activity for teacher development and as a kind of standard enforcement of teachers’ performances. The primary purpose of this dissertation was to examine the perceptions of teachers in Hong Kong towards teaching competition as a means for staff development. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used in this research study. A questionnaire containing both multiple choices and open-ended questions was used to collect data anonymously from secondary school teachers in Hong Kong. This study also attempted to explore other areas relating to teaching competition, including teacher collaboration, teaching performance assessment, teacher identity, and teacher standards. The results of this study showed that in general Hong Kong teachers did not reject the idea of using teaching competition as a platform for sharing and developing teaching skills. However, some teachers considered that teaching competition might, to a certain extent, induce tensions among teachers and jeopardize teacher collaboration. Judging teachers’ performances in teaching competition can be considered as a process of assessment. As such, applying theories of assessment could gain better understanding of the judgment itself, maintain fairness of judgment and clear up the misunderstanding of ostentation in teaching competition and non-determinacy of teaching performance. Moreover, the results of judgments in teaching competitions must be correctly interpreted. Judgments accompanied with feedback instead of simply feedouts could serve better for teacher development purpose. Finally, teaching competition could enforce performance standards to teachers. Findings from this research study revealed that recent education reform in Hong Kong would affect teachers’ views on teaching competition. It was argued that teaching competition might be an appropriate means to help teachers establish and re-establishing their discredited professional identity under the cultural change of marketization. / 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 Science in Information Technology in Education

by Tse Kin-shing. / Thesis (M.A.Ed.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1993. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 84-91). / ACKNOWLEDGEMENT --- p.i / ABSTRACT --- p.iii / TABLE OF CONTENT --- p.v / LIST OF TABLES --- p.viii / LIST OF FIGURES --- p.ix / Chapter CHAPTER 1： --- INTRODUCTION / Background of the Study --- p.1 / The Problem --- p.6 / Purpose of the Study --- p.6 / Significance of the Study --- p.7 / Chapter CHAPTER 2: --- REVIEW OF LITERATURE / Holland's Theory of Vocational Choice --- p.10 / The Four Assumptions --- p.10 / The Six Environment and Personality Types --- p.11 / The Hexagon Model --- p.15 / Consistency --- p.17 / Congruency --- p.19 / Differentiation --- p.22 / Instruments for Measuring Personality --- p.23 / The Relationship between Teaching Performance and Congruency --- p.27 / Literature Related to Teaching Practice --- p.31 / Teaching Practice --- p.31 / The Length of Teaching Practice --- p.32 / Teaching Performance --- p.34 / Defining the Criteria of Performance --- p.36 / Factors Influence Teaching Performance --- p.40 / Evaluating Teaching Performance --- p.42 / Definition of Terms --- p.44 / Student Teacher --- p.44 / Teaching Practice --- p.45 / Teaching Performance --- p.46 / Attitudes --- p.47 / The Different Levels of Congruency --- p.48 / Chapter CHAPTER 3： --- METHODOLOGY / Method --- p.50 / Sample --- p.50 / Procedure --- p.51 / Variables --- p.53 / Null Hypotheses --- p.54 / Data Analysis --- p.54 / Chapter CHAPTER 4： --- RESULTS / Sample --- p.56 / Inter-Judge Reliability --- p.58 / Attitude Questionnaire --- p.60 / Scaling the Scores of Teaching Performance --- p.63 / Analysis of Variance on the Teaching Performance --- p.65 / Analysis of Variance on Attitude towards Teaching --- p.66 / Prediction on Teaching Performance --- p.68 / Chapter CHAPTER 5： --- "SUMMARY, DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATION" / Summary --- p.70 / Discussion --- p.73 / Limitation of the Study --- p.80 / Recommendation --- p.81 / REFERENCES --- p.84 / APPENDICES / Appendix I --- p.92 / Appendix II --- p.95 / Appendix III --- p.96 / Appendix IV --- p.97 / Appendix V --- p.101

Based upon the findings of the study, improvement measures are suggested, namely, government subsidies to help the kindergartens to mediate market forces, restructuring of the bureaucratic-authoritarian management in kindergartens, promotion of home-school partnerships, empowerment of teachers through nurturing their pedagogical competence, and reformation of the philosophical underpinnings of teacher training. / The call for professionalism in kindergarten education has been an important educational issue over the past several decades in Hong Kong. Official expectations have been published to guide the services of kindergarten education and to supervise teachers' pedagogical practice. Kindergarten education services that are child centred and play based, and that practise integrated learning to nourish children's holistic and balanced development are advocated. However, Quality Assurance Inspection reports have shown that kindergarten teaching and learning is still teacher directed. Young children are passive recipients of knowledge. The services run counter to the progressive motives of the 2000 Education Reform in nurturing young children to be active and self-motivated life-long learners. Driven by the interest to study the practice-expectation gap, the present study sought to observe kindergarten teachers' classroom practice, investigate their pedagogical decision making, and reveal the complexities underpinning their pedagogical roles which, to an extent, emerged from the practice-expectation gap. / The data analysis suggests that the teacher informants' pedagogical decision making and practice were shaped by a number of intervening forces. These forces can be categorised into (a) the personal variables of the teacher informants in terms of their personal beliefs and values towards kindergarten education, (b) the contextual variables of school management structure and administrative arrangements within which the teacher informants delivered their teaching and fostered the children's learning, (c) the societal variables of parental expectations of the kindergarten education of their young children, and (d) the professional variables of the teacher training programmes and their training effectiveness that nurtured the teacher informants' pedagogical competence. Each of these variables represents a unique array of interferences for the teacher informants, and when drawn together, the combination of influences that thus emerges illustrates the complexities within which the teacher informants made their pedagogical decisions. Consequently, the pedagogical practices of teachers were pushed and pulled by these intervening forces, causing deviation from the Official Expectations. / The present study, framed by in a qualitative research design, employed on-site observations and teacher interviews, together with official document analysis and training curriculum document analysis. The wealth of data and information collected revealed that a practice-expectation gap does exist. / Fung, Kit Ho. / "December 2007." / Adviser: Chi-Chung Lam. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-08, Section: A, page: 3023. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 405-462). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / School code: 1307.

This research aims to determine whether the voucher scheme in Hong Kong would really increase professional development of Hong Kong early childhood teachers, and to see how the teachers will react to this change. Few studies have been conducted on how the voucher system affects the teachers. A qualitative approach was employed where a total of twelve teachers and four principals from the four kindergarten schools were asked to participate in the study. The results of the study show that teachers from the different kindergartens were having more convergent views about the pre-primary education voucher scheme among the teachers from these schools. Many of them believe that the voucher scheme is in fact a fair policy and that it could effectively improve teachers‟ quality, though the apprehension of old generation teachers over the influx of the younger and relatively more qualified teachers is a concern that needs to be addressed. / 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

published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration