Abstract
This paper is concerned with the conceptions held by the HKIEd graduates of the certificate course in relation to the role of a professional teacher. While upgrading the professionalism of teachers is a stated policy of the SAR, the understanding of the teachers’ interpretations of their role as a professional teacher is deemed fundamental. This paper is based on data drawn from case studies of 8 graduates of the HKIEd before they started teaching in their primary schools in September 1998. It reports findings concerning the graduates’ expectations of what they should be able to do as a professional teacher and the factors that contribute to the formation of such conceptions. Informed by the perspective of symbolic interactionism, the paper relates the literature on teacher socialization and teacher development to the study of the scenario in Hong Kong. It examines the extent to which the graduates’ interpretations of the professional role of a teacher is an idiosyncratic process reflecting the differences in biography, personality and their selective interaction in the pre-service teacher education context. Implications on the structure and processes of pre-service teacher education are then discussed. Copyright © 2000 The Hong Kong Institute of Education.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Proceedings of International Conference on Teacher Education 1999: Teaching effectiveness and teacher development in the new century |
Place of Publication | Hong Kong |
Publisher | Hong Kong Institute of Education |
Pages | 1-10 |
ISBN (Print) | 9629490382 |
Publication status | Published - 2000 |