ALiTE Roundtable Draws Attention to Need for Teacher Support, Recognition

School leaders in Hong Kong increasingly see a fundamental shift in the complexities facing schools and how the professional development of teachers and school leaders is supported, as they call for the city to move away from one-off or periodic training toward sustained coaching and mentoring as well as career paths that value diverse expertise and goals.

These points were raised during the Connecting Research and Practice: Education in Hong Kong Roundtable, co-convened by the Academy for Leadership in Teacher Education (ALiTE) and the Academic Unit of Social Contexts and Policies of Education (HKU SCAPE) at The University of Hong Kong on 5 October.

The dialogue brought together 20 school leaders from 11 local and international schools with members of the HKU Faculty of Education. The goal of the roundtable was to foster genuine, equal exchange rather than formal presentations, according to Professor Frank Reichert, Co-Chair of the event.

A recurring theme in the day’s discussions was the urgent need to rethink how we prepare and support “middle leaders”. School leaders also stressed that mentoring and coaching must be grounded in real school challenges, not delivered as isolated workshops, and advocated for career pathways that formally recognise teachers’ different areas of expertise that could contribute to student learning and school improvement, moving beyond a single-track promotion ladder.

“Our role is to listen carefully, to bring research alongside practice, and to build partnerships that make a genuine difference for teachers, leaders and students,” said Professor Paul Campbell, Director of ALiTE and fellow Co-Chair of the roundtable.

In addition to the need for more diversified professional learning and support, participants also highlighted the foundational importance of establishing shared values between schools and families, as well as the need to engage in processes of co-design across school communities, particularly when it comes to how AI and digital transformation are influencing learning, teaching, and academic integrity.

ALiTE was established to offer a platform for cross-faculty, multi-faceted work around teacher and leader education, as well as to act as a think tank for innovative research, practice and teaching – locally, regionally and internationally.

Moving forward, ALiTE and the Faculty of Education will continue to explore how to best support this work across the school system in Hong Kong, as well as diversified opportunities for further collaboration with schools in the region, with a focus on mutual exchange, impact and innovation between spaces of research, policy and practice, Professor Campbell said.