Beliefs about emotions among early childhood teachers in Hong Kong

The pattern of emotion-related beliefs among teachers in the early childhood setting was assessed in a sample of 222 in-service teachers in Hong Kong using the translated version of the questionnaire “Caregivers’ Beliefs About Feelings”, developed by Hyson and Lee (1996). Results indicated that, among the six areas of emotion-related beliefs tapped in the questionnaire, statements relating to the belief area on “bonds” were most likely to be endorsed, followed by those in the belief area on “modeling”. The likelihood of endorsing emotion-related beliefs related to “expressiveness”, “display/control”, and “talk/label” were at similar levels, much lower than the level endorsed for statements relating to “bonds” and “modeling”. Statements that belong to the area of “protect” were endorsed the least. Further research topics in the area of emotion-related beliefs for teachers and implications for such beliefs on educational practice are discussed. Copyright © 2004 Hong Kong Educational Research Association.