The Preparation of Educational Psychologists in Hong Kong

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Educators' opinions on classroom observation as a practice of staff development and appraisal

This study examines educators' perceptions of classroom observation as a practice of staff development and appraisal. A questionnaire survey was conducted on 2400 educators in Hong Kong. The reported frequency and patterns of classroom observation suggested that the current practice was primarily for the purpose of appraisal. Compared to secondary and special school educators, primary school educators were less likely to welcome observers. Teachers were more likely than principals to perceive that classroom observation was more for appraisal than for staff development. All respondents indicated that they wished for a model of peer observation and coaching. The results are discussed with reference to the need to develop a model of observation that is solely for staff development. © 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd.postprin

Transforming school culture: Can true collaboration be initiated?

While Western educators caution against contrived collegiality in the midst of enthusiasm for peer coaching as a form of teacher development, Hong Kong educators are struggling to detach discussion and observation of classroom teaching from staff appraisal. The challenges for this task are twofold: to secure a niche for peer coaching in the practice of staff development, and to ward off contrived collegiality in the course. Using an action research paradigm, the present project attempted to meet these challenges in two schools. As a joint work between various parties, the present project had to negotiate its way cautiously to achieve genuine collaboration and avoid imposition from the administrators and out-siders to the front-line teachers. During the course, innovative strategies were taken to cope with various difficulties, including time constraints, teachers' psychological pressure, and the possibility of contrived collegiality and implementation partnership. The evaluation of the project showed that the teachers generally accepted peer coaching and found it helpful to their professional development. The experience in the two schools indicated that true collaboration might emerge from organizationally induced collegiality under certain conditions.postprin

The interaction between social goals and self-construal on achievement motivation

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The roles of instructional practices and motivation in writing performance

The authors investigated what and how instructional practices are related to students' motivation and performance in writing. The participants were 6 teacher interns and their (N = 209) secondary-school students in Hong Kong. In a 3session instruction unit, the teacher interns taught their students how to write an expository essay. The students completed the essay and then a questionnaire to report their motivation in the task and their perception of the instruction. Results of structural equation modeling showed that students' motivation mediated the effects of instructional practices on writing performance. The authors found that when the teachers adopted more motivating teaching strategies, the students were more motivated. When the students were more motivated, they, in turn, had better performance in writing. Copyright © 2006 Heldref Publications.published_or_final_versio

Are success and failure experiences equally motivational? An investigation of regulatory focus and feedback

The present study extended regulatory focus theory (Idson & Higgins, 2000) to an educational setting and attempted to identify individuals with high motivation after both success and failure feedback. College students in Hong Kong (N= 180) participated in an experiment with a 2 promotion focus (high vs. low) × 2 prevention focus (high vs. low) × 2 feedback (success vs. failure) design. The results showed that after success feedback, the students with promotion focus were more motivated than their counterparts with prevention focus. This pattern was reversed after failure feedback. However, the results failed to show that students high in both regulatory focuses were motivated after success as well as failure feedback. The findings are discussed with reference to the literature on flexibility of regulatory focuses. Practical and theoretical implications of feedback are also discussed. © 2011 Elsevier Inc.postprin

Continuing professional development in school psychology. Perspective from Hong Kong

A questionnaire survey was conducted in Hong Kong to investigate the types, frequency, popularity and quality of continuing professional development (CPD) in school psychology. The results indicated that 60 percent of the 32 respondents received regular supervision, however, the majority met their supervisors less than once a month. The characteristics of their supervisors also suggested that the supervision tended to be administrative instead of professional in nature. The most popular CPD activities were attending conferences/seminars, self-study and individual supervision. Large variation was found among the school psychologists from different work settings. The few school psychologists in private practice reported the least amount of CPD activities. The results are discussed with reference to the need to establish regulatory systems with mandatory CPD.postprin

The effects of regulatory focus on teachers' classroom management strategies and emotional consequences

The study investigated how regulatory focus affected teachers' selection of classroom management strategies and the emotional consequences they experienced when these strategies failed. Primary school teachers (n = 179) were randomly assigned to two framing conditions: promotion focus and prevention focus. As predicted, teachers with promotion focus adopted more approach strategies (e.g., praise) but less avoidance strategies (e.g., punish) than their counterparts with prevention focus. When the strategies failed, teachers with promotion focus experienced more dejection-related emotion (e.g., disappointment) than agitation-related emotion (e.g., anger) whereas teachers with prevention focus experienced more agitation-related emotion than dejection-related emotion. However, some results were inconsistent with the prediction. Compared to their counterparts with prevention focus, teachers with promotion focus experienced less negative emotion, either dejection-related or agitation-related. © 2002 Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.postprin

Development and validation of teacher motivation scale in project learning

S16 - Scale development using Rasch models: Paper 3According to self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000), different types of motivation can be placed on a continuum according to the extent they reveal self-determination. From the least self-determined to the most self-determined motivation are (a) external regulation (doing a task for external monitoring), (b) introjected regulation (doing a task for approval from others), (c) identified regulation (doing a task for its importance), and (d) intrinsic regulation (doing a task for enjoyment or interest). Based on this theoretical framework, we developed a scale to measure teachers’ motivation in implementing project learning activity. The scale consisted of 20 items grouped in 4 subscales (i.e., external, introjected, identified and intrinsic). Confirmatory factor analysis on data from 182 Chinese teachers from eight secondary schools in Hong Kong supported the four-factor structure of the scale. Results of 1-dimensional Rasch analysis using the Winsteps programme suggested that the response categories functioned well and there was more than one dimension to the data. When the data were subjected to a 4-dimensional Rasch analysis using the Conquest programme, it was found that the data fitted the model well. Overall, the teacher motivation scale was found to be reliable and valid. This instrument provides important resources for the schools that implement project learning activity.postprintThe 7th Conference of the International Test Commission: Challenges and Opportunities in Testing and Assessment in a Globalized Economy, Hong Kong, China, 19-21 July 2010. In Programme Book of the 7th Conference of the International Test Commission, 2010, p. 60, paper

Effects of different evaluative feedback on students' self-efficacy in learning

Two studies examined the effects of four types of teachers' evaluative feedback on Chinese students' self-efficacy in English vocabulary acquisition. In Study 1, a random sample of Grade 8 students (N = 79) learned prefixes and received either formative or summative feedback after failure in test. The results showed that students who received summative feedback showed a larger decrease in their self-efficacy than those who received formative feedback. In Study 2, a random sample of Grade 7 students (N = 77) went through similar procedures as in Study 1 except that students received either self-referenced or norm-referenced feedback. The results showed that self-referenced feedback was more beneficial to students' self-efficacy than norm-referenced feedback. The influences of teachers' evaluation and feedback on students' self-efficacy are discussed. © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2008.postprin