Professional identity of liberal studies teachers in Hong Kong : tension and negotiation amid social change

Abstract

Liberal Studies is a compulsory subject under the New Senior Secondary curriculum, which aims at promoting critical thinking and cultivating students to be active citizens in the future. Using Danielewicz’s pedagogy for identity development as the framework, this study aims to identify the tension and negotiation experienced by pre-service Liberal Studies teachers amid the heightened political atmosphere in Hong Kong. Through engaging in dialogues of inquiry with the interviewees, it was found that student-teachers generally faced the challenges of classroom misbehaviour and the decline of criticality among secondary school students. In light of the enquiry-based and cross-disciplinary nature of Liberal Studies, the pre-service teachers were able to devise various strategies to negotiate with the challenges, including the use of questioning skills and reflexive practices to improve teaching. Moreover, it was discovered that the integrity of teacher lay in the capacity to connect with students, both within and beyond lesson time, which ultimately affirmed the indiscernibility and emotional infusion of teaching.