Nottingham Trent University
The United Kingdom
Hong Kong Shue Yan University
Hong Kong
The majority of teacher professional development (TPD) activities in Hong Kong have followed the traditional staff development model that features one-day teacher training, one-size-fits-all presentations, minimal administrative participation and a lack of follow-up support. Many of these TPD activities are driven by the curriculum reforms and led by external experts; and so, more often than not, they fail to address institutional problems or respond to teachers’ classroom needs. In response to these weaknesses, some TPD scholars have recommended that TPD should be a constructive and collaborative learning process during which teachers construct knowledge through active learning, sharing with others and linking new information to their prior knowledge and experiences in their own working contexts. However, according to a survey report, this type of co-learning TPD activity is not common in the context of Hong Kong schools. Therefore, a qualitative case study was conducted to examine an e-learning workshop that was planned, implemented and participated in on a voluntary basis by teachers in a secondary school in Hong Kong.
Using semi-structured interviews, one administrative teacher, two participants and two presenters of the workshop were asked about their perceptions of the school-based e-learning workshop and its impact on their teaching. All the interviews were transcribed and decoded according to different themes. The most frequently occurring themes among the interviews are selected for discussion.
The rationale for organizing the teacher-led workshop, the participants’ intentions in joining the workshop, and its benefits and limitations, are discussed.
Finally, we discuss the implications of this study for the future development of collaborative TPD in Hong Kong, and what support the Open Education institutes may provide in this regard.