Teacher education in Hong Kong: Status, contemporary issues and prospects

This chapter first examines the changing international context of teacher education and then the status of teaching and pre-service and in-service teacher education in Hong Kong including the contexts of change that have shaped teaching and teacher education over the last decade. These latter contexts include educational and curriculum reforms, the decline of the school population, and the increase in both student diversity and the children of recent immigrants in local schools. The literature related to teachers’ belief, teachers’ perceptions of success as well as those on teaching and student learning and the development of professional learning communities in Hong Kong are also drawn upon to highlight implications for the future development of teacher education. It is suggested that teacher education programmes could reinforce pre-service teachers’ self-efficacy specifically in classroom management and catering for student diversity as well as teachers’ communication and interaction skills with students. Teacher education institutions could also explore the establishment of partnerships with schools and other organizations which provide policy and resources support for teacher education. Moreover, stress management and stress training activities could be enhanced to help teachers build up habits of work-life balance and enhance their hardiness. Copyright © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.