Dialogue journals are written conversations in which two partners communicate regularly. When practiced between a teacher and student, dialogue journaling has the potential to engage students in writing, and can lead to improved teacher-student rapport. In this "Innovations in Practice" article, we evaluate the use of structured dialogue…

This article presents a qualitative study which presents professional competence development in an undergraduate initial teacher education (ITE) programme in Hong Kong. Fifteen student teachers participated in two rounds of interviews, one after the first ITE fieldwork and another after the second ITE fieldwork in a five-year Bachelor of Education…

Student teachers (STs) were asked to reflect on their experiences of watching videos of their own and their peers' teaching and to generate and share metaphors of the experience. Qualitative analysis of their metaphorical explanations revealed the cognitive, emotional and motivational responses associated with the STs' video-viewing experiences.…

Despite extensive research on student teachers' engagement with university coursework, teaching practicums, and research projects in teacher education curriculums, empirical studies on the coherence among these components are lacking (Flores 2018). Coherence refers to the degree to which a curriculum supports, reinforces, and reflects shared goals…

This paper reports on a qualitative study which investigated a group of student teachers' emotions in their second language (L2) learning experiences, with particular attention to the mediating role of language ideologies. The findings revealed that the participants reported both positive emotions (enjoyment and pride) and negative emotions…

Microteaching and reflection remains an important technique that pre-service student teachers can use to practice their teaching in a safe environment. However, improvements in teaching are not guaranteed without the support and feedback from peers. Previous studies suggest that a learning community supported by information technology promotes…

This article reports on the findings from a technology-enhanced teacher learning project where the SETTVEO app (Self Evaluation of Teacher Talk through Video Enhanced Observation) was used to support teachers' reflective practices and professional development. Participants in the project were a group of 40 student teachers (ST) from Hong Kong, who…

Despite a plethora of studies on how to teach critical thinking (CT) in different subject classrooms, there is limited research on how teachers foster their CT and learn to teach CT through pre-service teacher education. Such a gap gives impetus to the present study, which seeks to examine to what extent and how a group of student teachers are…

Researchers have shown that mentoring has a positive impact on student teachers' professional learning during their practicum, but it can also be highly problematic due to the inherent power roles in mentor-mentee relationships. Via this study, I offer new insights by examining how we can leverage information technology to address the tensions…

The theory-practice debate has been a perennial issue in initial teacher education (ITE). By reporting a mixed-methods study in an ITE programme characterized by a university-based 'theory-first' approach in Hong Kong, this study offers useful empirical evidence to analyse the theory-practice issue. 346 student teachers of a BEd Programme…

This article reports a comparative study on the reasons for pre-service student teachers becoming teachers in Hong Kong and Macau. The study adopted a mixed methods research design, with 459 and 137 student teachers completing a questionnaire on teaching motivation and 35 and 15 student teachers joining a follow-up interview in Hong Kong and…

Purpose: This paper draws on Kauffman's theory of the "adjacent possible" to make sense of the practices which have emerged in response to school and university closures in Hong Kong and reflects on what opportunities exist in this current global crisis. Design/methodology/approach: This paper drew on qualitative data from two emergent…

Understanding student teachers' development of conceptions of teaching and learning is critical for teacher educators. Drawing from the findings of a four-year longitudinal study in Hong Kong, this paper examines the trajectories of the student teachers' changing conceptions of teaching and learning approaches throughout their undergraduate…

Competence to work in schools is an important dimension of professional competence, although it is often a neglected dimension of teacher development. This article reports a qualitative study that examined student teachers' learning experiences in initial teacher education (ITE) in relation to competence to work in schools. In-depth interviews…

This research stems from our work at the University of Hong Kong that explores new ways to develop high-quality teachers, arguably the most influential element in any education system. Set against a complex backdrop of globalization, high-stakes comparative studies of educational systems, and increased demands on teachers at primary and secondary…