Secondary school teachers’ self-efficacy for moral and character education and its predictors: a Hong Kong perspective

ABSTRACT

At present, there is a growing concern about cultivating virtue among youngsters in Hong Kong. Although moral and character education have been put on the education agenda, it is important to ensure that teachers have sufficient efficacy in moral and character education. Unfortunately, limited empirical evidence for this has been found within the Hong Kong context. Using a sample of 647 moral and character education teachers from 21 secondary schools in Hong Kong, this study examined teacher self-efficacy and its relations with teacher engagement and teacher emotional labour. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess the construct validity of each scale. Structural equation modelling was used to test the theoretical model, indicating a good model fit. The strongest predictor of teacher efficacy for moral education was teachers’ personal teaching efficacy. The findings are discussed with implications for future practice and research.

KEYWORDS:

• Teacher efficacy
• moral education
• character education
• teacher engagement
• teacher emotional labour

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Dr Snow Kuang for her support in the statistical analysis and Mr. Xingzhou Zhang, Ms. Joanne Xie and Ms. Michelle Li for their help during the paper preparation. Sincere thanks are extended to Professors Andrew Milson, Anita Woolfolk Hoy, Wayne K. Hoy, Darcia F. Narvaez, Rob Klassen and Yin Hong-biao for their kind support in permitting us to use measures developed by them. We are grateful to the UNESCO Chair in Regional Education Development and Lifelong Learning program at The Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK) as well as Centre for Religious and Spirituality Education, Faculty of Education and Human Development, EdUHK for supporting the preparation of this paper. The views presented in this paper expressed therein are not necessarily those of UNESCO and EdUHK and do not commit the respective Organizations.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

John Chi-Kin Lee

John Chi-Kin Leeis Vice President (Academic) and Provost, Chair Professor of Curriculum and Instruction, and Director of the Centre for Religious and Spirituality Education at The Education University of Hong Kong. He is also the UNESCO Chair in Regional Education Development and Lifelong Learning. He has served as Editor of International Journal of Children’s Spirituality, Regional Editor (Asia Pacific) of Educational Research and Evaluation as well as an editorial board member or an advisory editor of many local, regional and international journals.

Koon-Lin Wong

Koon-lin Wong is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Education Policy and Leadership at The Education University of Hong Kong. She has participated in various research projects over the past ten years, such as participatory citizenship, applied learning, curriculum reform, and work-based learning. She has served as a reviewer of international and local academic journals. 

Raymond Ho-Man Kong

Raymond Ho-man Kongis the Centre Manager of the Centre for Religious and Spirituality Education at The Education University of Hong Kong. He is now the Programme Leader of the Professional Development Programme for Hong Kong Life Education (Basic and Advanced courses). His publications mainly focus on life and values education.