CHEN Junjun

Joining the Department of Education Policy and Leadership at the EdUHK seems very much like a joyful home-coming after having been away for so long for Dr. Chen. Having taught at middle school and university level in Mainland China, Dr. Chen left to study for a masters degree in Education at the University of Groningen and then for her PhD at the University of Auckland. During her recent time as a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Waikato in New Zealand, where the numbers of researchers in education are small and therefore people are strongly tempted to diversify, she is amazed at what she has got herself into. Adding a range of qualitative techniques such as interviews, classroom observations, focus group discussions to her quantitative base skills such as Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Structural Equation Modelling, she has found herself happily struggling to understand Kiwi children’s interesting versions of the English language. Subject-wise, she has been drawn from her work in educational beliefs and teacher effectiveness into other fields, such as effective teaching, assessment, teacher emotions, and emotional leadership. She is willing to apply some of these skills and enlarge her research interest to advance the work of the EdUHK cooperating with colleagues in the coming years. This opportunity to work at EdUHK makes her feel very privileged indeed.