Teacher Professionalism and Teacher Education in Hong Kong

The development and status of both teacher education and the teaching profession are strongly interlinked because, as Furlong et al. (2000) has argued, the key elements of teacher professionalism and the fundamental nature of teachers’ work can be most directly influenced by changing the knowledge, skills and values required of new teachers. Accordingly attempts to redefine teacher professionalism and the nature of teachers’ work have been primarily pursued through policies designed to construct ‘a new generation of teachers with different forms of knowledge, different skills and different professional values’ (Furlong: 2000, 6). Similarly, the location of teacher education provision in an education system is a powerful barometer of the status and nature of teacher professionalism in a society. Where teacher education is provided in post-secondary institutions, which are perceived to be outside the higher education sector, the status and level of teacher professionalism would be relatively weak.

This paper initially reviews the situation prior to the return of Hong Kong’s sovereignty to the People’s Republic of China in 1997 as this has provided the antecedents from which the current situation has developed. Subsequently the posthandover situation is analyzed. Before proceeding, it is necessary to undertake a brief clarification of the key concepts central to the paper. Professionalism/professionalization and one of its key manifestations – the locus of accountability – are concepts which have been extended in a variety of directions and sometimes in ways beyond their core meanings.