Understanding mainland Chinese students' motivations for choosing teacher education programmes in Hong Kong

Xuesong GAO, John Gilbert TRENT

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlespeer-review

55 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In this paper, we report on an inquiry exploring the experiences of 10 mainland Chinese student teachers of English so as to understand why they came to Hong Kong for a teacher education programme. The study revealed that these students were largely attracted to teaching in Hong Kong because of its extrinsic benefits such as professional stability, the prestige associated with the English language teaching profession and the opportunities to acquire valued skills transferable to other professions including English competence. Facing challenges as non-local students, they were also uncertain of becoming teachers in the new context. As 'elite' Chinese students were often unwilling to become teachers, we found it strategic to attract a large number of talented non-local students to the teaching profession and retain them. We conclude the paper with recommendations for various stakeholders to support these non-local students' adaptation and development as committed and competent teachers in local schools. Copyright © 2009 Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)145-159
JournalJournal of Education for Teaching
Volume35
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - May 2009

Citation

Gao, X., & Trent, J. (2009). Understanding mainland Chinese students' motivations for choosing teacher education programmes in Hong Kong. Journal of Education for Teaching, 35(2), 145-159.

Keywords

  • Motivation
  • Pre-service student teachers
  • The biographic method
  • Mainland Chinese students
  • English medium tertiary education

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