Hong Kong secondary business teachers’ conceptions of student competence and ways of teaching

Abstract

This paper identifies and describes Hong Kong secondary business teachers’ conceptions of student competence in business education, and their choice of teaching approaches to developing such competence. It also addresses the relationship between the conceptualisation of competence and teaching approaches in developing student competence. Phenomenography and grounded theoretical coding techniques were employed in the study, and the participants were 26 in‐service business teachers. These teachers’ conceptions of competence and their choice of teaching approaches were found to be multifaceted and semi‐hierarchical. The identified conceptions address the basic and higher levels of competence that require different approaches in teaching. On the basis of the findings, it is recommended that teachers should not adopt an over‐simplified view of the constitution of business students’ competence and their competence development. They should be aware of their conceptions of competence, choice of teaching approaches and facilitation of student reflection in competence development.