Staff development programmes: Reflection on professional needs of Hong Kong schools

Staff development programmes: Reflection on professional needs of Hong Kong schools

• Wong, Chung Kee The Hong Kong Institute of Education
• Wong, Ping Man The Hong Kong Institute of Education

1999

• M Teachers & Education for Teachers
  • MB Training for Other Educational Staff

• Hong Kong

• 1997.7 onwards

• Unknown or Unspecified

Hong Kong schools experience an era of educational change in the 1990s. In the perspective of school management, the School Management Initiative was first introduced in 1991 and later replaced by the School Based Management in 1999, allowing school management greater autonomy in general administration, finance and personnel matters but at the same time requiring a higher degree of accountability for school performance. Other major change items fall into the categories of curriculum ( TOC, curriculum adaptation), medium of instruction (EMI and CMI schools), educational technology (SAMs and information technology in teaching) and funding system (Quality Education Fund). To enhance the quality of school education, it is further recommended by the Education Commission Report no.7, apart from others (1) a framework to raise the professional standards of principals and teachers and (2) a framework of quality indicators for school performance. These changes denote a demand for professional competence of principals and teachers to meet the needs and difficulties of school. While there are various means to raise the competence of principals and teachers, the running of staff development programmes is obvious a generally acceptable one as it is less disruptive to school administration. It also has the advantages of being more school-based to meet the particular needs of individual schools. The popularity of staff development programmes can be reflected by the increasing number of services provided by the Continuing Professional Education of the HKIEd upon request. The authors of this paper have been heavily involved in the staff development programmes of primary and secondary schools since the past few years. Through participant observation, interviews and other data-collecting techniques, this paper attempts to provide information, as reflected by the programmes organized, specifically on (1) the different professional needs of different types of schools and (2) the different perception of needs between principals and teachers. Implications of the findings are also discussed.

Paper presented at the Hong Kong Educational Research Association (HKERA) 16th Annual Conference: Exploring New Frontiers in Education

• English

Conference Papers

https://bibliography.lib.eduhk.hk/bibs/6bf1b9c4

2015-08-12