Profile of Dr TSANG, Kwok Kuen 曾國權 - The Education University of Hong Kong


Assistant Professor	Department of Education Policy and Leadership

Contact

ORCiD

0000-0001-7238-9156

Phone

(852) 2948 8185

tkwokkuen@eduhk.hk

Address

10 Lo Ping Road, Tai Po, New Territories, Hong Kong

Website

https://pappl.eduhk.hk/rich/web/person.xhtml?pid=295009&name=TSANG, Kwok Kuen

Scopus ID

55452516100

SDGs

3 - Good Health and Well-Being
4 - Quality Education

Personal Profile

Dr. Kwok Kuen Tsang is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Education Policy and Leadership at the Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK). Before joining the EdUHK, Dr. Tsang was an Associate Professor and Associate Dean of the College of Education Administration at Beijing Normal University, a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and an Assistant Professor at Caritas Institute of Higher Education, respectively. He is a member of the editorial advisory board of the British Journal of Sociology of Education, an Associate Editor of Beijing International Review of Education, an Associate Editor of Fronters in Education, and a Sub-Editor of International Education Journal: Comparative Perspectives. His research covers teachers' work and emotions, education policy and governance, and school leadership.

Research Outputs


Scholarly Books, Monographs and Chapters Su, J., Chan, P. W. K., Tsang, K. K. (2022). Transforming education governance in China. Michael A. PETERS, Richard HERAUD, Encyclopedia of educational innovation. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2262-4_221-1 SDGs infomation: 4 - Quality Education Sun, X., Li, G., & Tsang K. K. (2022). Pleasant and warm: How class group affects students’ learning experiences and helps form a community of practice. Walter S. ROLPH, Students’ attitudes towards learning and education (93-109). Nova Science Publishers. https://julac.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/primo-explore/search?query=any,contains,991018056266903410&vid=EDUHKFind@EdUHK Library SDGs infomation: 4 - Quality Education
Journal Publications Wang, G., Bai, H., & Tsang, K. K. (2026). Does humble leadership enhance teacher vitality in China? A moderated mediation model of job autonomy and work meaningfulness. Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 35, 609-620. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40299-025-01055-0 SDGs infomation: 3 - Good Health and Well-Being, 4 - Quality Education Wang, G., Tsang, K. K., & Da'as, R. (2026). The effects of ambidextrous leadership on teacher burnout: The mediating role of teacher autonomy and self-efficacy. Journal of Educational Administration. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-06-2025-0233 SDGs infomation: 3 - Good Health and Well-Being Tsang, K. K., Li, G., Qin, Q., & Hao, J. (2026). Relationships between external accountability, internal accountability, teacher sense of autonomy, and teaching experiences: A moderated mediation analysis. Teacher Development, Online first, 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1080/13664530.2026.2648826 SDGs infomation: 3 - Good Health and Well-Being, 4 - Quality Education Wang, X., Tsang, K. K., Newton, P., & Yan, Y. (2026). The relationship between internal accountability and teacher burnout: A moderated mediation model of emotional labor and school type. Beijing International Review of Education, Online first, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1177/259025472614442 SDGs infomation: 3 - Good Health and Well-Being, 4 - Quality Education Wang, G., Bai, H., Hou, Y., & Tsang, K. K. (2026). Investigating the relationship between clan culture and teachers' work engagement using the PLS-SEM approach: a moderated mediation model of job autonomy and humble leadership. BMC Psychology, 14, Article 649. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-026-04562-x SDGs infomation: 3 - Good Health and Well-Being, 4 - Quality Education Pan, D., Zhou, Y., & Tsang, K. K. (2026). Parents as customers, students as consumers: Exploring emotional rules and regulation strategies of academic tutors in China. International Journal of Educational Research, 138, Article 102999. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2026.102999 SDGs infomation: 3 - Good Health and Well-Being, 4 - Quality Education Tang, H. H. H., Tsang, K. K., Choi, T. H., Lam, H. W. M., Li, G., & Zhu, Z. (2026). Pursuing Social Justice through Education Policy Programmes: Capturing Subtleties with a Modified Welfare Regime Analysis. Journal of Education Policy. https://doi.org/10.1080/02680939.2025.2610835 SDGs infomation: 4 - Quality Education, 10 - Reduced Inequality, 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions Tsang, K. K., Wang, X., & Yan, Y. (2025). Relationship between external accountability and teacher burnout: Differences between regular and vocational high schools. International Education Journal: Comparative Perspectives, 24 (4), 81-99. https://doi.org/10.1177/2212585X251396474 SDGs infomation: 3 - Good Health and Well-Being, 4 - Quality Education Song, H., Chan, P. W. K., Zhang, H., Zhang, Y., & Tsang, K. K. (2025). Asia as method: Understanding teachers’ emotion and well-being in China. Chinese Education and Society, 58(3-4), 125-130. https://doi.org/10.1080/10611932.2025.2572270 SDGs infomation: 3 - Good Health and Well-Being, 4 - Quality Education To, H. K., Tsang, K. K., & Ho, W. C. (2025). The effect of SMART moral education on left-behind children’s prosocial behavior and filial piety among left-behind children. International Journal of Chinese Education, 14 (3), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1177/2212585X251396474 SDGs infomation: 4 - Quality Education Tsang, K. K., Zhang, Y., Li, G., & Song, H. (2025). Moving the debate forward: A cross-sectional study examining Marxist and interactionalist perspectives of emotional labor in teaching. European Journal of Education, 60 (1), Article e12814. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejed.12814 SDGs infomation: 3 - Good Health and Well-Being, 4 - Quality Education Tsang, K. K., & Yan, Y. (2025). The chain mediation model of external accountability and social recognition among vocational high school teachers in Mainland China: The role of a sense of calling and living a calling. Global Cases and Practices of Vocational Education, 1 (2), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.64345/146283795 SDGs infomation: 3 - Good Health and Well-Being, 4 - Quality Education Wang, G., Tsang, K. K., Bai, H., & Zhang, Y. (2025). Exploring the effects of empowering leadership on teachers’ career calling in China: The mediating role of psychological empowerment. Chinese Education and Society, 58(3-4), 173-190. https://doi.org/10.1080/10611932.2025.2541589 SDGs infomation: 3 - Good Health and Well-Being, 4 - Quality Education Wang, G., Bai, H., Tsang, K. K., & Bian, J. (2025). The effect of teacher collaboration on teachers' career well-being in China: A moderated mediation model of teacher self-efficacy and distributed leadership. Acta Psychologica, 259, Article 105303. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2025.105303 SDGs infomation: 3 - Good Health and Well-Being, 4 - Quality Education Tsang, K. K., & Wilkins, A. W. (2025). The politics of teacher wellbeing: ‘Sung baang’, neoliberalism and power struggles in Hong Kong. Globalisation, Societies and Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/14767724.2025.2519749 SDGs infomation: 3 - Good Health and Well-Being, 4 - Quality Education Tsang, K. K., & Wu, H. (2025). Emotional labour as alienated labour versus self-actualized labour in teaching: Implications of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic for the debate. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 57 (4), 297-301. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2022.2108399 SDGs infomation: 3 - Good Health and Well-Being Teng, Y., & Tsang, K. K. (2025). Education and the disintegration of rural communities: Effects of rural educational migration in China. China Perspectives, 140, 53-63. https://doi.org/10.4000/13pte SDGs infomation: 4 - Quality Education, 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities Zhang, Y., Chen, J., & Tsang, K.K. (2024). Responsible Leadership, Teacher Recognition, and Teacher Emotional Well-being: An Investigation of Gender Differences. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 30 (6), 783-800. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2023.2265831 Zhang, W., & Tsang, K. K. (2024). Assessing the validity and reliability of enabling structure scale in mainland China. International Journal of Educational Management, 38(5), 1524-1539. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEM-08-2023-0401 SDGs infomation: 4 - Quality Education 白晝、王光強和曾國權 (2024)。賦能學校科層制對教師職業倦怠的影響: 有調節的中介模型。現代教育科學，第 2 期，頁 74-82。 https://doi.org/10.13980/j.cnki.xdjykx.2024.02.012 Li, G., Tsang, K. K., Wang, L., & Liu, Dian (2023). Are Banzhurens (homeroom teachers) more prone to burnout in China? The moderation effect of school culture. Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 32, 855-866. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40299-022-00701-1 SDGs infomation: 3 - Good Health and Well-Being, 4 - Quality Education Li, G., & Tsang, K.K. (2023). Does Accountability Aggravate the Risk of Teacher Burnout? Evidence from the Chinese Education System. Behavioral Sciences, 13(9), 772, Article 772. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs13090772 Tsang, K.K. (2023). Bringing Emotions Back to Research on STEM Teachers and Teaching. Beijing International Review of Education, 5(3), 315-336. https://doi.org/10.1163/25902539-05030008 曾國權、王光強和宋萑 (2023)。培養數字化卓越教師: 中小學教師數字素養提升的校本路徑。中小學管理，第 9 期，頁 20-23。 https://tra-oversea-cnki-net.ezproxy.eduhk.hk/KCMS/detail/detail.aspx?dbcode=CJFD&dbname=CJFDAUTO&filename=ZXXG202309006&uniplatform=OVERSEA&v=c_Mlh7SPaVrlXXiVhikbWO0BpThO8rQPCwaQyJkx6wtxdjX_2V-xBCHyXs78gD88 王光強、李雨曈和曾國權 (2023)。父母教養方式對大學生專業認同的影響: 未來工作自我清晰度的中介作用。內江師範學院學報，第 38 卷第 6 期，12-18。 http://dx.doi.org/10.13603/j.cnki.51-1621/z.2023.06.003 Tsang, K. K., Zhang, W., Teng, Y., & Song, H. (2023). Validating the Chinese version of the personal accountability measure for assessing teachers’ perceptions and experiences of teacher accountability in China. Behavioral Sciences, 13(2), Article 145. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs13020145 SDGs infomation: 4 - Quality Education Tsang, K. K., Li, G., Tang, H. H. H., & Wang, X. (2022). Stories to live by: Narrative understandings of the self-concept of students at self-financing higher education institutions in Hong Kong. Sustainability, 14(20), Article 13059. https://doi.org/10.3390/su142013059 Tsang, K. K., & Wu, H. (2022). Emotional labour as alienated labour versus self-actualized labour in teaching: Implications of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic for the debate. Educational Philosophy and Theory. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2022.2108399 Tsang, K. K., Chang, L., Li, G., Ho, W. C., & To, A. H. K. (2022). Social participation of social organizations in education governance in China. Asia Pacific Education Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-022-09771-8 Asgarova, V., & Tsang, K. K. (2022). Students' self-determination in Azerbaijan. International Journal of Comparative Education and Development, 24(2), 69-85. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCED-08-2021-0080 Tsang, K. K., Jiang, L., & Zhu, G. (2022). Teacher emotions in Chinese societies: An introduction to the special issue. Beijing International Review of Education, 4(1), 5-10. https://doi.org/10.1163/25902539-04010002 Tsang, K. K., Li, G., Wang, G., & Hu, W. (2022). The relationship between teaching experiences and teacher burnout in China: The mediating role of emotional labor. Beijing International Review of Education, 4(1), 135-151. https://doi.org/10.1163/25902539-bja10010 Tsang, K. K., Wang, G., & Bai, H. (2022). Enabling school bureaucracy, psychological empowerment, and teacher burnout: A mediation analysis. Sustainability, 14(4), Article 2047. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14042047 Zhang, Y., Tsang, K. K., Wang, L., & Liu, D. (2022). Emotional labor mediates the relationship between clan culture and teacher burnout: An examination on gender difference. Sustainability, 14(4), Article 2260. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14042260 Zhang, Y., Aramburo, C., & Tsang, K. K. (2021). Measuring teacher recognition through Honneth’s recognition theory: Development and validation of a teacher recognition scale. Asia-Pacific Education Researcher. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40299-021-00637-y Tsang, K. K., Teng, Y., Lian, Y., & Wang, L. (2021). School management culture, emotional labor, and teacher burnout in mainland China. Sustainability, 13(16), Article 9141. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13169141 Lian, Y., Tsang, K. K., & Zhang, Y. (2021). The construction and sustainability of teachers’ positive emotions toward STEM educational work. Sustainability, 13(11), Article 5769. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13115769 Tsang, K. K., Lian, Y., & Zhu, Z. (2021). Alienated learning in Hong Kong: A Marxist perspective. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 53(2), 181-196. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2020.1767588 Zhang, Y., & Tsang, K. K. (2021). Performance-based accountability and teacher emotions: Role of Zhongyong thinking. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, Article 612206. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.612206 Tsang, K. K., & Lian, Y. (2021). Understanding the reasons for academic stress in Hong Kong via photovoice: Implications for education policies and changes. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 41(2), 356-367. https://doi.org/10.1080/02188791.2020.1772719

All Other Outputs Su, J., & Tsang, K.K. (2023). Reconstruction of Modernized Education Governance: Chinese Experiences and Future Search. Taylor & Francis. https://doi.org/10.1080/10611932.2023.2265803

Projects


Unpacking the Impacts of Accountability on Teachers’ Emotions in Hong Kong The existing literature indicates that accountability mechanisms in education, while intended to enhance the quality of teaching, often lead to negative emotions among teachers. A significant 90% of teachers in Hong Kong reported feelings of dissatisfaction, frustration, and anxiety following the introduction of these mechanisms. Although previous studies have explored the connection between accountability and teachers' emotional states, notable research gaps persist. These include a focus on external accountability at the expense of internal accountability, a lack of differentiation in the effects of accountability on specific emotions, insufficient exploration of psychological factors in relation to institutional impacts, and the absence of multilevel analyses linking institutional and individual emotional responses. To address these gaps, the study will examine both external and internal accountability's effects on discrete emotions such as love, joy, anger, sadness, and fear among teachers in aided schools in Hong Kong. It will also investigate the roles of teacher autonomy and a sense of calling in these relationships. The research will employ a mixed-methods approach, utilizing advanced statistical techniques like multilevel structural equation modeling and qualitative analyses from teacher interviews. The survey will involve at least 600 teachers from 30 primary and secondary schools, with follow-up interviews conducted with 15-20 participants to gain deeper insights. Overall, the study aims to provide a nuanced understanding of how accountability mechanisms influence teachers' emotions. It seeks to produce empirical evidence illustrating the relationships between various forms of accountability and specific emotional responses, while also exploring how teacher autonomy and a sense of calling shape these dynamics. Ultimately, the findings will offer valuable insights for developing more supportive accountability systems for teachers. Project Start Year: 2025, Principal Investigator(s): TSANG, Kwok Kuen SDGs Information: 3 - Good Health and Well-Being, 4 - Quality Education
The Development and Validation of Teacher Accountability Scale in Chinese Societies The aim of the project is to develop and validate a scale, which is the Chinese Version of Personal Accountability Measure (PAM-Ch), to assess the subjective aspect of teacher accountability in Chinese societies. To achieve this aim, the PI conducts studies in Hong Kong and Beijing to test the validity and reliability of the PAM-Ch. The two cities are selected because they share similar cultural backgrounds, namely Confucian tradition, but share different education systems – Hong Kong is a more decentralized and neoliberal governance system, but Beijing is a more centralized and social governance system. Therefore, the research findings are likely to apply to both education systems in different Chinese societies. Project Start Year: 2022, Principal Investigator(s): TSANG, Kwok Kuen

Unpacking the Impacts of Accountability on Teachers’ Emotions in Hong Kong
The existing literature indicates that accountability mechanisms in education, while intended to enhance the quality of teaching, often lead to negative emotions among teachers. A significant 90% of teachers in Hong Kong reported feelings of dissatisfaction, frustration, and anxiety following the introduction of these mechanisms. Although previous studies have explored the connection between accountability and teachers' emotional states, notable research gaps persist. These include a focus on external accountability at the expense of internal accountability, a lack of differentiation in the effects of accountability on specific emotions, insufficient exploration of psychological factors in relation to institutional impacts, and the absence of multilevel analyses linking institutional and individual emotional responses. To address these gaps, the study will examine both external and internal accountability's effects on discrete emotions such as love, joy, anger, sadness, and fear among teachers in aided schools in Hong Kong. It will also investigate the roles of teacher autonomy and a sense of calling in these relationships. The research will employ a mixed-methods approach, utilizing advanced statistical techniques like multilevel structural equation modeling and qualitative analyses from teacher interviews. The survey will involve at least 600 teachers from 30 primary and secondary schools, with follow-up interviews conducted with 15-20 participants to gain deeper insights. Overall, the study aims to provide a nuanced understanding of how accountability mechanisms influence teachers' emotions. It seeks to produce empirical evidence illustrating the relationships between various forms of accountability and specific emotional responses, while also exploring how teacher autonomy and a sense of calling shape these dynamics. Ultimately, the findings will offer valuable insights for developing more supportive accountability systems for teachers.
Project Start Year: 2025, Principal Investigator(s): TSANG, Kwok Kuen
SDGs Information: 3 - Good Health and Well-Being, 4 - Quality Education

The Development and Validation of Teacher Accountability Scale in Chinese Societies
The aim of the project is to develop and validate a scale, which is the Chinese Version of Personal Accountability Measure (PAM-Ch), to assess the subjective aspect of teacher accountability in Chinese societies. To achieve this aim, the PI conducts studies in Hong Kong and Beijing to test the validity and reliability of the PAM-Ch. The two cities are selected because they share similar cultural backgrounds, namely Confucian tradition, but share different education systems – Hong Kong is a more decentralized and neoliberal governance system, but Beijing is a more centralized and social governance system. Therefore, the research findings are likely to apply to both education systems in different Chinese societies.
Project Start Year: 2022, Principal Investigator(s): TSANG, Kwok Kuen