Abstract
This study is concerned with teachers’ work lives in the global climate of educational changes, under which teachers in Macau and Hong Kong have been confronting challenges shared by teachers elsewhere with comparability in culture and socio-economic climate. The study has primarily confirmed that teaching hours for teachers in Hong Kong and Macau tend to double those of their counterparts in Beijing, Shanghai and Taipei (for reference only), with student numbers amounting to over 120% more. Approaches to time use in different cities can be identified as of active and passive modes, constituting facets of how time itself is interpreted due to structural environment. Findings from the study powerfully invite a re-consideration of teachers’ free time to engage in activities for professional development, and that should not merely be a policy matter. It is critical that teachers’ needs for professional learning be confronted by teachers themselves through their creation of learning space in the teaching profession.
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