This dissertation, "Hong Kong Teacher Identity: Perceived and Intended" by Ka-hing, Alexander, Chan, 陳家鑫, was obtained from The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong) and is being sold pursuant to Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0 Hong Kong License. The content of this dissertation has not been altered in any way. We have altered the formatting in order to facilitate the ease of printing and reading of the dissertation. All rights not granted by the above license are retained by the author. Abstract: ABSTRACT Hong Kong teacher Identity: Perceived and Intended submitted by Chan Ka Hing Alexander For the degree of Master of Education at the University of Hong Kong August, 2005 This exploratory study examines the intended and perceived identity of Hong Kong Teacher. This is addressed from a largely psychological perspective in the context of Hong Kong secondary schools engaged in educational reform. The research objectives were to: (1) identify the perceived identities in terms of commitment to education beliefs and teaching career; (2) look at the degree of convergence between the proposed teacher identities proposed by ACTEQ (2003) and the perceived identity of teachers; (3) examine the degree of convergence between perceived identity and professional identity in terms of definitions defined by Deijaard et al.{ 2000). And (4) consider the extent of the teacher's perceived efficacy in student learning. This study looked at three important components of the identity of the Hong Kong teacher, commitment, teaching focus and efficacy. The methodology was interpretive and emphasizing phenomena studied in their natural settings and in terms of the meanings people bring to them. The findings are based on 21 questionnaires and 7 in-depth semi-structured interviews. Findings exposed there are dilemmas and tensions among commitment, teaching focus and efficacy. Most of the teachers exhibited low job satisfactions but were committed to their job. The decline was due to changing working environment and declining learning attitude and academic understanding of students. Other teachers uphold their commitment by taking up reforms and work to their best and maintain commitment despite decline in interest. However, commitment of some teachers increased over time because they recognized commitment is a critical success factor in teaching career. In general teachers were well aware of their noble responsibility and were committed to their job despite low job satisfaction. While majority of the teachers agreed to most values embraced by the ACTEQ identity proposal, they were skeptical about the measures and evaluation designed to facilitate the acquisition of such values. They contested the degree of commitment implied. Moreover, teaching foci have been constrained by emphasis on academic excellence, heavy workload and education reforms, under which it was difficult to take care of individual student differences. Efficacy was a key element to bridge beliefs and practice. Most teachers had a feeling of low efficacy in influencing student's academic results but were more confident in helping students in moral development. Low confidence in influencing students' academic results because (i) students learning are influenced by many factors which are considered to be more powerful than teachers, (ii) The standard curriculum, which cannot take care of individual difference. A dilemma between teachers' beliefs and actual practice has steadily taken its toll on the confidence of teachers. Teachers in Hong Kong have a contrived professional identity. On the one hand, they fully embrace the proposed ideal values but with reservation of the commitment expected. On the other hand, their perceived beliefs and actual practice are not in harmony because they see an unsupportive education environment. DOI: 10.5353/th_b3530554 Subjects: Self-perception High school teachers - China - Hong Kong - Psychology