This edited collection documents the challenges experienced by teacher educators, in-service teachers and student teachers in Hong Kong triggered by protests, civil unrest and the global outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, and identifies innovative practices in curriculum, pedagogy and assessment that have enabled them to overcome the challenges in online teaching. It offers implications for teacher professional development through reflective practices and the enhancement of the scholarship of teaching and learning in the teacher education sector in Hong Kong and beyond. Teaching and learning in various education sectors in Hong Kong experienced unprecedented challenges starting in late 2019. The suspension of face-to-face teaching resulted in the reliance on e-technology and online teaching and learning. Many teachers and students felt unprepared and thus experienced emotional distress. On the other hand, the challenges opened up opportunities for teacher educators to revamp their instructional and assessment practices to cater for students' learning needs in the online environment. The chapters are split into five sections, covering the situation of teacher education in challenging times, stakeholders' experiences and challenges in teaching and learning, curriculum and pedagogical innovations, assessment and feedback practices and finally scholarship of teaching and learning. The book will be of particular interest to those who are committed to professional development through strengthening their reflective practice, online teaching and the scholarship of teaching and learning. It will also be an ideal text for education scholars and postgraduate students in curriculum planning, innovative online pedagogies and assessment practices in teacher education and the broader higher education context.

This book focuses on private tutoring (sometimes also known as “shadow education�), an important but neglected topic in applied linguistics and language education research. Private tutoring has become a popular out-of-school learning activity worldwide. While its scope and definition are expanding, private tutoring commonly refers to the “paid service students used to supplement their learning of academic subjects at school outside school hours� (Yung, 2019). Around the world, English language is one of the most popularly enrolled subjects in private tutoring, including both English as a first language and English as an additional language (EAL). Despite its popularity and implications for theories, practices, and policies, research on English private tutoring is still in its infancy. This book aims to provide an international perspective on the interface between applied linguistics and comparative education and open up an agenda for discussion in theories, practices, and policies in English language teaching (ELT). It will be of interest to students, scholars, and policy-makers in these and related areas.