International Teacher Education Conference 2014 1

International Teacher Education Conference 2014
Meeting Teacher Competence Standards Through A Construction of an
Outcome-Based Field Experience Framework: A Case of Hong Kong
Christina Wai-Mui YU a *
a
The Hong Kong Institute of Education
Abstract
The Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd) as one of the five Teacher Education Institutions (TEIs) as well
as the largest TEI in Hong Kong, it concerns very much on meeting the teacher competence standards to uphold
a high standard of teacher education for benefiting the whole education community and maintain a high level of
quality assurance for teacher education programme. As Field Experience (FE) is a cornerstone of any teacher
education programmes that could interlock with other domains and content areas of the programme to achieving
the most effective learning outcomes, HKIEd recently reviewed and constructed a new outcome-based
framework for student teachers to actively engage in learning activities of FE in order to meeting the standards.
This paper aims to (1) review the literature on teacher competence standards and its implication on teacher
education, (2) demonstrate how HKIEd review and construct a new outcome-based framework, (3) critically
analyse the quality of the new outcome-based FE framework from the latest literature and trends in teacher
competence standards, and (4) conclude and recommend how the FE framework can be further developed for
meeting and upholding teacher competence standards through a series of studies.
Keywords:
INTRODUCTION
The Hong Kong government has been keen on relying external sources from United Kingdom, United States
and Australia on policy advice in shaping its education policy (Kennedy, 2011). The idea of OBL emerged in the
first round of Teaching and Learning Quality Performance Reviews (TLQPR). It was suggested that “a focus on
universities’ processed to assure quality of learning outcomes” should be highlighted for further discussion.
However, it did not draw enough attention from the local academics. It was until a local academic report that
emphasized students’ learning outcomes as part of education quality work. Along with the ongoing pressure on
quality assurance, Quality Audit Council (QAC) was established in 2006 and one of its major tasks is to monitor
the implementation of OBL approaches to teaching and learning in institutional levels (Stone, 2005). Whereas
student learning presents one face of teaching and learning, the other face is accountability. It means that
“outcomes” become a focal concern and a tool to justify public expenditure on higher education. Those higher
education institutions should strive to produce “outcomes” in order to holding accountability for public funding.
In the teaching profession of Hong Kong, the Committee on Professional Development of Teachers and
Principals (COTAP), recently renamed from the former Advisory Committee on Teacher Education and
Qualifications (ACTEQ) is the highest Government advisory body that approves policies on teacher education
and development, and advises on the supply of and demand for teachers with the necessary professional
qualifications, skills and competencies. In 2003, the ACTEQ published a set of Teacher Competency Framework
(TCF) (Appendix I) for the reference of the community in the teaching professional competencies. The Hong
Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd) as one of the five TEIs as well as the largest TEI in Hong Kong, it
concerns very much on meeting the teacher competence standards as the learning outcomes in all the teacher
education programmes. This concern relates to preparing professional teachers for benefiting the whole
education community but also to maintaining high quality teacher education programme for public
accountability. Therefore, over the past few years, all the teacher education programmes were revamped under
the OBL approach to ensure the student learning outcomes are lined up with the teacher competence standards.
As Field Experience (FE) is a cornerstone of any teacher education programmes that could bridge theory and
practice to achieve the most effective learning outcomes, a new outcome-based FE framework was also
E-mail address: cyu@ied.edu.hk
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