Curriculum Leadership and Management in Secondary Schools: A Hong Kong case study

Relatively little is known about how and by whom curriculum leadership and management occur inside secondary schools, especially in Asian contexts. This article aims to analyse curriculum decision-making in two academically effective secondary schools in Hong Kong. It employs qualitative methods to capture the contributions made by various school personnel, and in particular the principals, to curriculum leadership and management. Data for the two schools show that whilst neither of the principals plays a significant role in curriculum monitoring and innovation, the vice-principal (male), the senior teachers and teachers in one school were perceived to place more emphasis on curriculum monitoring and innovation than their counterparts in the other school. Whilst teachers in both schools shared high expectations for students' academic achievement, one subtle difference between them related to the pursuit of academic excellence. In one school, students did not exert much pressure on their teachers whereas in the other school, teachers felt they had to fulfil students' demands for good lesson preparation and take account of students' opinions of their teaching.     

A Re-examination of Leadership Style for Hong Kong School-Based Management (SBM) Schools

Leadership style has always been a controversial topic in educational administration and management. Following the recommendation of the Education Commission to introduce school-based management (SBM) into Hong Kong schools in the early 1990s, discussions about the kind of leadership style that is appropriate for SBM schools have never ceased. The government holds a continuing belief that SBM schools work better if they are managed by “better” principals, and emphasises the value of transformational leadership. However, this paper articulates the limitations of that leadership style and argues for complementing it with educational leadership, which purports that principals have an obligation to learn with others about ways of promoting student learning. Secondly, the staff should also be encouraged and helped to carry out certain leadership functions. These arguments are supported by references to the most relevant literature. The discussion is useful to school principals, leaders, and teachers by offering them a better understanding of how to facilitate the implementation of SBM.     

Exploring School Improvement in Hong Kong Secondary Schools

Scholars have increasingly sought to understand how the process of school improvement differs among schools operating in different school levels, conditions, and contexts. Using Rosenholtz's (1985 Rosenholtz, S. 1985. Effective schools: Interpreting the evidence. American Journal of Education, 93: 352–388. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) conception of “moving” and “stuck” schools as a framework for thinking about school improvement, this study examines the learning outcomes of 39 Hong Kong secondary schools over a 3-year period. We examine whether features of leadership and school capacity differed with respect to these learning outcomes within the sample of moving and stuck schools. This research in Hong Kong has identified several factors that appear to synergistically contribute to differences in patterns of improvement in learning across different subjects in both moving and stuck schools. These factors include resource management of principals and school capacity in terms of professional learning community; workload of teachers; alignment, coherence, and structure; and resource capacity. This study extends the research on leadership and capacity building as a means of school improvement, in the process elaborating on their impact within a non-Western society.     

香港课程发展态势

概述香港课程发展的最新动态及未来课程发展的趋势,着重阐释香港21世纪的教育目标、学校课程改革的宗旨、课程发展的主导原则和策略以及香港课程构架,以期对北京的课程改革有所借鉴。     

Hybridity in a Guidance Curriculum in Hong Kong

This paper presents findings on a hybrid guidance curriculum in Hong Kong, a place where East meets West in education and in many other spheres. A qualitative case study method is applied that uses questions for understanding the ‘self’ in guidance but incorporates Confucian cardinal human relationships of parent–child, brother–sister, husband–wife, superior–subordinate, teacher–pupil and friend–friend in understanding the ‘other’ relationships. The study of ‘self–other relationship’ is combined with Lawton’s (Social change, educational theory and curriculum planning, Hodder, London, 1973) model of curriculum development in Western traditions. Data obtained from stakeholders in schools include traditional Chinese ideas as well as modern Western ideas. Implications of this framework to the study of other societies with a mix of Western and traditional cultures are discussed.

Accelerated Schools for Quality Education: A Hong Kong Perspective

This article addresses the application of the Accelerated Schools Project (ASP) model in Hong Kong, as well as specific aspects of implementation in two schools. One lesson from the localized project, the Accelerated Schools for Quality Education (ASPQE), is that change is slow. This suggests that time should be given for both cultural change and building communities of inquiry, especially in cases where the staff may not be initially receptive of school reform models such as the Accelerated Schools Project. A second important lesson is that the commitment of the principal and a core group is critical for change.     

Language and the Curriculum in Hong Kong: Dilemmas of triglossia

As with colonial transition elsewhere, the language patterns in Hong Kong have changed with the return of sovereignty to China. Biglossia (whereby Hong Kong Cantonese and English predominate) is shifting to triglossia, as Putonghua, the official language of the People's Republic of China, has become increasingly important. This paper focuses on the impact of colonial transition and in particular the emergence of Putonghua and on the language subjects in the primary and secondary school curricula in Hong Kong. It argues that, whilst the rationale for promoting Putonghua is logical, tensions are evident in the school curricula, most notably in two areas. Firstly, the curricula were already heavily biased in favour of language subjects and, secondly, the necessary teaching expertise for Putonghua is not readily available.     

香港的校本课程设计评介

香港地区为使学校课程满足学生的需要和兴趣 ,提供资金支持和指导性开发程序 ,激励教师参与校本课程开发工作 ,编制教学方法、教材、教学单元或是教学资源 ,无论是其校本课程开发的价值、模式还是理念 ,都引发我们关注以学校为主导 ,教师为主体 ,以学生的发展为本的校本课程设计架构     

Developing students' critical thinking skills through visual literacy in the New Secondary School Curriculum in Hong Kong

This paper argues that the planned introduction of visual literacy into the New Secondary School Curriculum can play a crucial role in enabling students to think critically and creatively in Hong Kong's highly visual landscape. As Hong Kong's educational system remains entrenched in long-established and conventional pedagogies, the primacy given to the written word is in sharp contrast with the pragmatic roles that visual images play in students' day-to-day life. Hong Kong is well-known for its extremely high level of Internet / broadband penetration and media saturation, yet visual literacy is still in a state of infancy in Hong Kong. Therefore, from a curricular standpoint, as Hong Kong society relies to a greater degree than ever before on visual communication strategies, it is vital that visual literacy be integrated as part of the new curriculum under the current educational reforms. As contemporary Hong Kong culture becomes increasingly dependent on the visual environment, developing visual literacy to enhance students' learning can be an important step in the future towards a more successful implementation and development of the New Secondary School Curriculum.     

香港高校通识教育课程变革

香港高校自2012年起推行四年新学制以及新的课程架构,其特点为:(1)课程理念与目标已经超出传统学术与智性发展范畴,开始融入与共通能力、态度有关的元素。(2)课程架构以必修课与分布选修结合为主要特征。分布选修的范畴围绕人文与艺术、社会与文化、科学与技术三大知识领域展开,必修科目的内容存在明显差异,有的大学围绕智性探究,有的大学还在智性探究范畴之外增加语言沟通、共通技能、统整融合的元素。(3)课程内容超越知识探究,关注当代社会重要议题以及未来生活需具备的能力与素质。(4)课程发展采取成果为本方法。(5)建立完善的质素保证机制,对通识课程进行定期检讨,从不同渠道搜集持份者意见,对通识课程、教学做出持续改进。     

香港课程改革的实施策略评析

本文分析了香港推行2000年课程改革的实施策略,并评论其所带来的影响。这次课程改革的实施策略与以往课改不同,主要表现在三方面围绕新管理主义问责文化的硬措施;逐步推动课改,旨在增强学校与教师变革能力的软措施;及改变教育系统的行政架构。这些措施有效地增强了变革的能力,有较高的课程推广度及教师接纳程度。但是在实施过程中,也呈现出一些值得关注的问题,特别是问责性的措施,带来一些副作用,如政府学校与教师压力增大等问题。如何避免在实施中扭曲变革的目标,适时检讨课改的实施策略,从多角度来思考课改的可持续性是十分重要的。     

Noise Levels in Hong Kong Primary Schools: Implications for classroom listening

Many researchers have stressed that the acoustic environment is crucial to the speech perception, academic performance, attention, and participation of students in classrooms. Classrooms in highly urbanised locations are especially vulnerable to noise, a major influence on the acoustic environment. The purpose of this investigation was to determine noise levels in one such urban environment, Hong Kong. The ambient noise level, and its relationship to the speech intensity levels of both teachers and students was surveyed in 47 primary school classrooms. Moreover, the presence of acoustical treatments for noise reduction and the use of classroom amplification systems were documented for each classroom. The survey found that the mean occupied noise level was 60.74 dB (A); the mean unamplified and amplified speech‐to‐noise ratios of teachers were 13.53 dB and 18.45 dB, respectively; while the mean unamplified speech‐to‐noise ratio for students was 4.13 dB. Most of the classrooms exhibited insufficient acoustical treatments to provide significant noise reduction. The listening environment in many Hong Kong primary schools was not favourable for optimal classroom learning. Recommendations for improving the acoustical environment in classrooms in highly urbanised locations such as Hong Kong are discussed.     

Cross-Curricular Themes and Curriculum Reform in Hong Kong: Policy as Discourse

This paper critically evaluates the Hong Kong government's recent attempt to introduce cross-curricular themes into the school curriculum. It is argued that the policy failed to have a significant impact because many of its key elements defined the themes as marginal and dispensable. Moreover, the policy embodied a discourse which portrayed teachers as empowered and, consequently, as the primary source of problems of its implementation.     

Curriculum management and classroom practice in kindergartens in Hong Kong

Each curriculum reflects a vision of what children ‘ought to be and become’ based on a view of social values and a structure that translates those values into experiences for learners. Curriculum management is the leadership and coordination of shared work in schools. The impact of child centred philosophy that encourages learning through activity and experience has been great in the field of early childhood education. However, there is an implementation gap in our curriculum in Hong Kong. Supporting interactions among teachers within and between kindergartens is the key to curriculum management.     

试析香港学校公民教育的若干特点

香港社会公民教育的协程,理论和政策框架及其演变,不仅此是世界公民教育发展史上的一个颇具特色的组成部分,而且也为祖大陆正在进行的教育改革,提供了近距离的,可资借鉴的参照.     

试析香港学校公民教育的若干特点

香港社会公民教育的历程、理论和政策框架及其演变，不仅是世界公民教育发展史上的一个颇具特色的组成部分，而且也为祖国大陆正在进行的教育改革，提供了近距离的、可资借鉴的参照。     

Leadership and collaboration in implementing curriculum change in Hong Kong secondary schools

Task-based learning (TBL) was a methodological innovation in the 1999 English Language syllabus for secondary schools and the 2006 curriculum for senior secondary schools in Hong Kong, designed to replace teacher-centred, grammar-focused approaches that were identified as previously prevalent. This two-year longitudinal study analyses the implementation of TBL in three schools. It focuses on teachers’ conceptions of TBL and classroom practice, and the support provided by senior management. It finds that TBL is enacted differently by individual teachers, and that the lack of senior leadership is significant in causing the innovation either to wither or to become diffuse. In some cases, problems associated with implementing TBL were addressed through the determined commitment of pioneering teachers and the collaborative efforts by staff, but change was nonetheless hampered.     

The examined life: perspectives of lower primary school students in Hong Kong

Students have a wide experience of being tested, but their perceptions of assessment are comparatively under-explored. This paper illuminates the perspectives on assessment of a sample of lower primary school students in Hong Kong. It uses focus group interviews and draw-a-picture technique to elicit their views. The main findings are that assessment can bring a sense of satisfaction or happiness, but that more than half of the informants indicated that they had negative feelings in relation to testing. The paper reinforces how students are controlled and moulded by their assessment experience, and its significance lies principally in documenting this phenomenon amongst lower primary school learners.