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Purpose: This study attempts to explore how Chinese college students engage in face-to-face synchronous and online asynchronous interactions and examine how the two different interaction types are associated with their academic learning (learning achievement and the development of research skills), satisfaction, and their perceptions of learning environments. Design/Approach/Methods: A sample of 3,999 undergraduate students from a research university in Northern China participated in the survey. A series of cluster analysis, one-way analysis of variance, and hierarchical multiple regression were conducted. Findings: The cluster analysis results revealed that there were four types of learners among these students and that a large percentage of Chinese undergraduates were classified into either digital communicators (36.16%) or passive interactors (32.71%). In general, the face-to-face synchronous interaction generated more desirable academic learning, perceptions of the learning environment, and higher satisfaction than the online asynchronous interaction in most aspects. However, the asynchronous online interaction fostered student autonomy and contributed to students' completion of an in-depth thesis. Originality/Value: By distinguishing face-to-face synchronous versus online asynchronous interactions, this study led to an enhanced knowledge of the interactive patterns of Chinese college students and uncovered the specific effects of the two types of interpersonal interactions in Chinese research universities.

In response to the needs for kindergarten principals to foster teachers' capacities and commitment, this study examined the relationships between professional learning communities, principal leadership practices, and teacher commitment to kindergartens among 2106 teachers from 153 Hong Kong kindergartens, analyzing by using multilevel structural equation modeling. The result showed that principal leadership practices facilitated the development of professional learning communities at school and teacher levels, and exerted a direct effect on teacher commitment at the teacher level. However, the mediating effects of different professional-learning-community components were found distinctive. Implications for leading kindergartens in the reform time are discussed.

This study examined the relationships between kindergartens teachers' emotional labour strategies and their relations to instructional leadership, trust in colleagues, teaching experiences, and teaching satisfaction. With a sample of 491 kindergarten teachers in Hong Kong, this study found that surface acting negatively predicted while deep acting and expression of naturally felt emotion positively predicted teachers' teaching satisfaction; instructional leadership and trust in colleagues were positively related to deep acting and expression of naturally felt emotion, respectively. Meanwhile, teaching experience was found to be positively related to their adoption of expression of naturally felt emotion and teaching satisfaction. These findings shed light on the nature of kindergarten teachers' work, and provide some implications for teacher development in kindergartens.

This study tested a moderated-mediation model of the processes linking principal ethical leadership and professional learning communities in China, in which teacher obligation is included as a mediator, and teacher participation in school decision making is considered as a moderator. The results from 3374 teachers revealed significant direct and indirect effects of ethical leadership on the professional learning communities via teacher obligation. Teacher participation in decision making significantly moderated the effects of ethical leadership on both teacher obligation and on the professional learning communities. The positive effects of principal ethical leadership were strengthened when teachers perceived high participation in school decision making.

Purpose: Catering for learner diversity is a key issue in the recent educational reforms in Hong Kong. The present study addresses this issue through an investigation of the relationships between students' learning styles and approaches to learning in Hong Kong secondary schools. Design/Approach/Methods: A total of 6,054 junior secondary students in Hong Kong responded to a questionnaire consisting of two instruments. A series of confirmatory factor analysis, two-way analysis of variance, and structural equation modeling analysis were conducted. Findings: The results identified three types of learning style among the students which are characterized by a cognitive orientation, a social orientation, and a methodological orientation. Some significant gender- and achievement-level differences were revealed. Compared with the socially oriented learning style, the cognitively and methodologically oriented learning styles were more extensively and strongly related to students' approaches to learning, even though these students showed a greater preference for the socially oriented learning style. Originality/Value: It is unwise to blindly cater for students' learning styles in classroom teaching and curriculum design. Teachers should adopt a comprehensive and balanced approach toward the design of curriculum and teaching which not only highlights the congruence between students' learning styles and teacher's pedagogy but also integrates the constructive frictions between them into classroom teaching.

With a sample of 4,646 undergraduate students from four universities in China, this study examined the psychometric qualities of a newly-adapted measurement, namely, the Online Motivation and Engagement Scale for university and college students, and investigated the characteristics of and differences in Chinese students' motivation and engagement in emergent online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results supported the reliability and construct validity of the measurement, and identified four types of learners with distinctive features of student engagement. The research revealed a complex picture with promising and worrying messages about student engagement in emergency online learning during the pandemic. These findings contribute to the conceptualisation and measurement of student engagement in online learning, and provide insights for improving online learning and teaching during and beyond the pandemic.

This study explored the effects of professional learning communities (PLCs) on teachers' self-efficacy and job satisfaction in Shanghai, China. Nine hundred and eighty-two school teachers participated in a survey. The results showed that PLCs in Shanghai China were characterised by both the teacher-centric and organisation-centric components. Two teacher-centric characteristics of PLCs, namely, collective inquiry and sharing and shared purpose and responsibility, significantly and positively affected teachers' self-efficacy and job satisfaction. For the organisation-centric characteristics of PLCs, supportive leadership significantly and positively predicted teachers' self-efficacy and job satisfaction, organisational structure significantly and positively predicted teachers' job satisfaction, and cultural barriers significantly and negatively predicted teachers' self-efficacy. The practical implications of the findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Adopting a mixed methods approach, this study examined the relationships between undergraduate students' motivation, engagement and learning outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic. An online questionnaire survey was administered to collect quantitative and qualitative data. A sample of 10,060 undergraduates from 23 universities in China participated in the survey. The results of quantitative analyses largely confirmed the hypothesised relationships between students' motivation, engagement and the two learning outcome indicators (i.e. mastery of generic skills and overall satisfaction). The qualitative analyses not only supported the quantitative findings, but also identified four types of learning outcomes of online learning emerging from the data. The results indicated that emergent online learning had a favourable influence on students' learning strategies, but had mixed or negative effects on their learning effectiveness, attitudes and emotions. The qualitative results revealed eight major factors that facilitated or hindered students' engagement in online learning during the pandemic. These findings contribute to the conceptualisation and measurement of student engagement in online learning, and emphasise the need to conduct mixed methods research in different learning contexts. The implications for improving online learning and teaching in higher education are discussed.

In the global competition of higher education, an increasing emphasis has been placed on university research excellence. Accordingly, academics have to engage in both research and teaching activities. The multiple and fragmented identities of academics can sometimes be contested, leading to identity tensions, and impeding their professional development. This raises the issue of how, and whether at all, academics integrate their professional identities in a culture of performativity. Against this backdrop, this qualitative study explored how a specific group of Chinese academics negotiate identity tensions as teachers and researchers through an emotional resilience lens. The narrative frames and interviews with 10 college English teachers yielded four types of identity negotiation in the continuum from identity conflicts to identity integration mediated by emotional resilience, including the disheartened performer, the miserable follower, the strenuous accommodator, and the fulfilled integrator. Emotional resilience as a mediator in professional identity tensions is discussed. Our findings offer a nuanced understanding of the complexity of academics developing an integrated professional identity. Policymakers should recognize the potential of emotional resilience in integrating academic professional identities and jointly support academics to cope with their identity tensions. However, if identity tensions are too complex for academics to solve, the policymakers should consider tensions as signals that the existing institutional policies may be counterproductive and need to be revised, rather than merely calling on academics' resilience.

This study examined kindergarten teachers' behavioural intentions to implement play-based learning and its relationship to two types of facilitating factors: organisational (i.e., instructional leadership and trust in colleagues) and individual (i.e., teacher self-efficacy). Structural equation modelling examining the direct and mediating effects was conducted on data collected from 542 Hong Kong kindergarten teachers. The results showed that principal instructional leadership was positively associated with teachers' intentions to implement play-based learning directly and indirectly through trust in colleagues and teacher self-efficacy. Teachers with higher efficacious beliefs showed more active intentions to implement play-based learning. These findings highlight the importance of creating conducive organisational conditions and enhancing teacher self-efficacy for the implementation of play-based learning in kindergartens.

This paper reports two consecutive studies investigating Chinese students' course experiences of online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. With a sample of 2,894 undergraduate students from 12 universities, Study one adapted the Course Experience Questionnaire in the context of online teaching and learning, and provided some evidence supporting the psychometric qualities of the refined six-factor, 33-item Chinese version of the Online Course Experience Questionnaire. Using this scale, Study two examined the relationships between students' course experiences and their efficacy for completing online learning tasks and satisfaction with online teaching with a sample of 6,299 students from four universities. In general, the results showed that the Online Course Experience Questionnaire is a reliable and valid tool for assessing the quality of online teaching. After controlling for students' demographic variables, various factors of students' online course experiences were significantly associated with their academic efficacy for and satisfaction with online teaching. The results call for attention to the roles of clear goals and standards, emphasis on independence, and appropriate assessment in online teaching. These findings enrich the current knowledge of students' course experience, and have implications for the improvement of online teaching during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.

Student motivation and engagement have been complex issues in basic mathematics education. Based on the theory of Motivation and Engagement Wheel, this study examined the relationships among student motivation, engagement, and mathematics achievement. A sample of 1,538 Chinese primary school students participated in the survey, and motivation and engagement were assessed through their responses to the Motivation and Engagement Scale. The results largely confirmed the hypothesized relationships between motivation, engagement, and mathematics achievement. Some consistent patterns of individual differences related to gender and grade level were also revealed. Cluster analysis revealed that the category of "struggling students" showed high levels of adaptive engagement in learning, but their mathematics scores were still low, which may be correlated to their high level of maladaptive motivation and engagement. These findings provide implications for developing a more comprehensive knowledge of the nature of students' mathematics learning motivation and improving their engagement in mathematic learning.

Designing reflective activities for online video learning could enhance learning outcomes and, to some extent, influence learning processes (ie, attentional processes and emotional experiences). It is necessary to select different levels of reflective activities in online video learning according to learning processes and outcomes. This study examined to what extent different levels of reflection may affect the learning outcomes, and further explored the impact of reflection on learning processes. Participants, comprising 60 undergraduates, were randomly and equally assigned to two different groups: a reflection group and a critical reflection group, and each group member completed specific learning tasks. The results of the learning outcomes showed that critical reflection led to better transfer performance than reflection, but retention performance was the same in both conditions. Regarding process measures, eye-tracking data indicated that the embedding of critical reflection strategies facilitated learners' visual attention, and controlled the difficulty of processing. Meanwhile, physiological data showed that the learners' reflection was accompanied by stress, and there was no significant difference between the two levels of reflection.

Purpose: The aim of this study is to explore the relationships between dimensions of teacher efficacy and affective well-being while focusing on the roles of demographic characteristics (gender, grade level, educational background, and seniority). Design/Approach/Methods: 1,115 primary and 541 secondary school teachers in Hong Kong participated in the questionnaire survey. A series of t-tests, ANOVA, correlation analysis, and hierarchical multiple regressions were conducted. Findings: The younger teachers reported lower scores for well-being and efficacy than their senior counterparts, and the female and primary school teachers reported significantly higher levels of teacher efficacy for student engagement than their respective counterparts. Of the dimensions of affective well-being, pleasant affect was more closely related to teacher efficacy than negative affect, and the activated pleasant dimension of enthusiasm had the strongest influence. Of the three dimensions of teacher efficacy, efficacy for student engagement was most strongly associated with affective well-being. Originality/Value: The study revealed that teachers' affective well-being is not only important in itself, but also contributes to classroom teaching. The enthusiasm and passion possessed and maintained by teachers could play important roles in enhancing their self-efficacy. Furthermore, maintaining a good affective well-being status and even a modest level of anxiety contributes to their efficacy for student engagement, a dimension on which teachers reported the least confidence. Suggestions were put forward on how to improve teacher efficacy and well-being.

The study examined how emotion regulation strategies were utilised by kindergarten principals to fulfil their leading roles. In-depth interviews and document analysis were conducted with five kindergarten principals in Hong Kong. The principals linked their emotions to the psychosocial climate of the kindergartens, highlighting that emotion regulation is essential for the flourishing of the kindergartens. In line with the process model of emotion regulation, principals employed both antecedent-focused and response-focused emotion regulation strategies throughout their work to maintain a positive and rational outlook. In addition, the study also identified that the principals employed interpersonal emotion regulation strategies to facilitate their emotion regulation through social interactions. Together, these strategies contributed to the emotional well-being of the principals, thus optimising their interactions with teachers and parents, so that the children would also benefit. Implications for emotion regulation theory and kindergarten principal leadership are discussed.

This study investigated faculty-perceived stressors and their relationships with teacher efficacy, engagement and teaching satisfaction in mainland China. The results of a survey of 2758 faculty members from 25 public institutions showed a generally high level of stress, and the stress varied among different types of institution and demographic groups. In a series of bivariate analyses and structural equation models, we found no compelling evidence that faculty stressors were associated with efficacy, engagement, or satisfaction. Instead, our findings show that efficacy is a key factor in explaining the variation in teaching outcomes. These findings suggest a need to elaborate our theoretical models on faculty development and stress to include processes of stress appraisal and coping.

This study examined the relationships between school-level professional learning communities (PLCs) and individual teachers' self-efficacy and commitment based on questionnaire responses from 1,203 teachers from 39 primary schools in mainland China. Multilevel analysis indicated that reflective dialogue significantly predicted self-efficacy. Shared purpose, collective focus on student learning, and reflective dialogue were positively associated with teacher commitment to students, whilst collaborative activity had a negative influence. The results may be attributed to the contextual characteristics of Chinese teachers' work. Implications for PLC practices are also discussed.

The antecedents of team creativity and their effects on team task performance are explored in this study, with a particular focus on how leader humility promotes team creativity and when team creativity can be converted into performance. Hypotheses were tested via a multiple-source and time-lagged study with 341 employees and 104 teams from five different organizations in China. The results showed that leader humility promotes team creativity through team creative efficacy, and leader conscientiousness moderates this indirect effect. Furthermore, team creativity is more positively related to team task performance when teams are more future oriented. The theoretical contributions and management significance of these findings are discussed, followed by a discussion of limitations and directions for future research.

This study investigated the relationships between primary school mathematics teachers' conceptions of mathematics, conceptions of teaching and learning, and their commitment in the context of mainland China. A total of 847 primary school mathematics teachers participated in a paper-based questionnaire survey. The results indicated that these teachers' fragmented mathematics conceptions are positively associated with their traditional conceptions of teaching and learning while being negatively related to their constructivist conceptions of teaching and learning. In contrast, teachers' cohesive mathematics conceptions are positively associated with both traditional and constructivist conceptions of teaching and learning. Meanwhile, only constructivist conceptions of teaching and learning are positively related to teacher commitment. These results imply that there is a need to enhance cohesive mathematics conceptions and reduce fragmented mathematics conceptions among Chinese primary school teachers in order to foster their constructivist teaching and commitment to students.

While play-based learning is important for a high quality early education, only when teachers are confident and competent in enacting play-based learning in their everyday practice are expected benefits of play-based learning for whole-child development realized. A sample of 592 early childhood educators who assumed different job titles in Hong Kong kindergartens participated in this study. This study investigated the roles of these educators' perceptions of personal and organizational enabling factors in facilitating teachers' enactment of play-based learning and further their perceived children's whole-child development. Research Findings: These educators reported that two personal enablers (i.e. beliefs of play-based learning and self-efficacy beliefs) and two organizational enablers (i.e. teacher collaboration and home-kindergarten collaboration) were positively associated with their enactment and further enhanced their perceived whole-child development through different mechanisms. Teachers' reported enactment of play-based learning played significant mediation roles. Practice or Policy: Policy makers and change facilitators should convey clear messages and take effective measures to promote play-based learning in kindergartens. Kindergarten principals need to create a mutually supportive climate in the kindergarten to praise and appreciate teachers' good practice of play-based learning, and enhance two kinds of collaborative relationships: teacher collaboration and home-kindergarten collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Identity serves as a valuable lens through which to investigate, understand and facilitate teacher learning during curriculum reform. Identity learning is the core process of educational change, with teacher emotion at the heart of professional learning processes. In this study, we traced the 1‐year journeys of four Chinese EFL teachers during a tertiary EFL curriculum reform that focused on ideological and political education. The Dynamic Systems Model of Role Identity was utilised to understand identity learning. By drawing on interviews, documents and observations, we collected rich data and analysed four types of identity learning along a continuum from fake learning to transformation, mediated by teacher emotion. A multiplicity of emotions acted as indicators and potential catalysts for identity learning. However, an overly demanding context might lead to a retrogressive identity learning trajectory. The integration of ideological and political education in foreign language education was also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With a sample of 470 kindergarten teachers in Hong Kong, this study first examined these teachers' emotion regulation strategies assessed by a newly adapted scale, the Kindergarten Teacher Emotion Regulation Scale. Then, the study adopted a person‐centred approach and conducted the latent profile analysis, identifying different profiles of teachers' use of the emotion regulation strategies. It also examined the relationships between these profiles and teachers' self‐efficacy and two contextual antecedents, instructional leadership and trust in colleagues in kindergartens. The study validated a three‐dimensional measurement of kindergarten teachers' emotion regulation in Hong Kong, namely cognition‐focused regulation, (negative) emotion‐focused regulation, and behaviour‐focused regulation. Moreover, it identified four profiles of kindergarten teachers' emotion regulation strategy use with distinctive characteristics, and revealed some significant relationships between teachers' emotion regulation and self‐efficacy as well as school contexts. The findings highlight the role of beneficial school climate in eliciting teachers' effective emotion regulation and thereby enhancing their self‐efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the relationships between leadership practices, professional learning communities, teachers' efficacy beliefs and perceptions of whole-child development in the context of kindergarten education. A sample of 2120 teachers from 153 Hong Kong kindergartens participated in a questionnaire survey. The results showed that principals' leadership practices had significant effects on all five professional learning community components. Leadership practices were also positively related to teachers' perceptions of whole-child development directly and indirectly through the mediation of three professional learning community components, namely a shared sense of purpose, collaborative activities and a collective focus on children's learning. Moreover, three professional learning community components (i.e. a collective focus on children's learning, deprivatized practice and reflective dialogue) were positively associated with teachers' perceptions of whole-child development via their efficacy beliefs. The findings support the mediating role of professional learning communities in developing kindergarten teachers' collaboration for improving their efficacy beliefs and perceptions of the whole-child development of children. Kindergarten principals play a key role in cultivating a supportive culture and facilitating teacher learning.

Responding to increased global research interest in teacher educators' professional lives, this study explores the resilience of Teaching-Research Officers, a characteristic type of teacher educators, in the context of mainland China. Based on survey data collected from a nationally representative sample (N = 5489), the results show that the Teaching-Research Officers surveyed generally favourably evaluated their resilience, as measured by their efficacy beliefs and work engagement, and that their resilience was significantly influenced by various personal, situated, and professional factors. This study extends the research on teacher resilience and provides quantitative evidence supporting the existing conceptual framework. The findings call for attention to be paid to the roles of professional development programmes and research-related job requirements for teacher educators. The study's limitations and directions for future research are discussed.

This study aims at testing the application of the job demands-resources model on university teachers in mainland China. It investigates the relationship between the job characteristics of university teaching and teachers' well-being. Based on the analyses of a sample of 2,758 university teachers, the results of structural equation modelling support the health impairment and motivational processes suggested by the model. Specifically, job demands consisting of teaching demands, teaching-research conflict and new challenges reduced university teachers' job satisfaction through the mediation of emotional exhaustion; job resources comprising teaching resources, social support and administrative support increased university teachers' job satisfaction through the mediation of work engagement. The implications of these findings are discussed.

This study addressed the neglected issue of the effects of peer influence and the cultural dimensions of individualism-collectivism on collaborative cheating. Survey data were collected nationwide from 2293 Chinese college students. The results revealed positive effects of peer influence on collaborative cheating attitudes and behaviours. Contrary to the assumptions of prior studies, horizontal individualism was the dominant inclination. Horizontal and vertical collectivism were generally negatively associated with, and exerted insignificant joint effects (with peer influence) on, collaborative cheating attitudes and behaviours; while horizontal and vertical individualism had significant direct and joint effects (with peer influence) on collaborative cheating attitudes. These unexpected findings may be partially explained by the rising individualism in the changing Chinese culture, and also by the different target groups of Chinese students in the prior research and this study (i.e. abroad versus domestic). These findings call for caution against making oversimplified assumptions about the links between culture and academic dishonesty.

This study investigated the associations between challenge job demands, job resources, emotional exhaustion and work engagement, and examined the mediation effect of teacher efficacy as a personal resource in the job demands-resources model. The results of a questionnaire survey of 2758 university teachers from 25 universities in mainland China indicated that challenge job demands were positively related to emotional exhaustion and negatively related to work engagement. Job resources were positively related to work engagement and negatively related to emotional exhaustion. Teacher efficacy mediated the effect of challenge job demands and job resources on work engagement. These results have implications for understanding different types of job demands and improving university teachers' well-being, and these implications are identified in this paper.

Purpose This paper attempts to review and conceptualize how different scholars approach research on teacher identity through the lens of three human interests defined by Jürgen Habermas. Design/Approach/Methods This literature review, guided by Habermas's three human interests, illustrates the characteristics of three different approaches to the inquiry into teacher identity. Findings This paper summarizes three approaches to researching teacher identity and their characteristics, namely the technical approach, the practical approach, and the critical approach. The implications for future research and teacher development are also discussed. Originality/Value By incorporating Habermas's three human interests into teacher identity inquiries, this article offers a theoretical narrative review of the approaches to investigating teacher identity. Strengths and weaknesses of each approach as well as the possibility of a combined application of different approaches provide an original discussion of teacher identity research.