Research on principals' practice of democratic leadership for inclusion in schools has been undertaken in many parts of the world. This paper explores four principals' leadership journeys in response to social justice issues in increasingly diverse settings within public schools, in relation to demographic and cultural changes in Hong Kong. This research aims at exploring the issues in schools arising from contextual changes in the society, contextualising characteristics of principals' practices in relation to an emergent conception of democratic leadership practice in addressing the issues and identifying practical roles of democratic principal leadership in school transformation for diverse students' learning development. I adopted a cross-case study of the principals' leadership journeys through a theoretical lens of democratic leadership. The changes of demographic structure and cultural context and pressure from the central administration were the conditions of facilitating alternative practices of democratic principal leadership in a multicultural school context which evolved from the hybrid of Western and Confucian cultures in the city. These findings contribute to an international account of contextualising democratic leadership practices in a diverse Chinese school community. Copyright © 2020 The Author(s).

2018年12月3日,"高校內部治理體系創新的理論與實踐研究"課題組對香港科技大學高層領導和高教研究專家進行了訪談。通過訪談發現:創校者的民族情懷和理想主義為香港科技大學種下了注重"人文價值"的基因;理性統率感性、剛性服務人性是香港科技大學治理之魂;分權共治、治理體系服務於目標定位是香港科技大學治理之形,其實質都是服務於學者的學術自由、服務於"人"的價值;競爭帶來質量和效益是香港科技大學治理之要。以人文價值為取向,不失為當下"雙一流"大學建設的一種借鑒。

為了推動香港小學管理的優化，教育局 2019 年接納教師專業發展專責小組意見，調整香港小學副校長的薪級，這令小學副校長的進修受更多的關注。2010 年已有本地研究發現人力管理是小學副校長擔當的職責，為了進一步了解小學副校長在這方面的進修需要，香港初等教育研究學會於 2013 年進行一個相關調查。此文將結合該調查數據和新近文獻，分析香港小學副校長在人事管理的發展需要，並就其在職培訓作出適切的建議。In order to promote the optimization of primary school management in Hong Kong, the Education Bureau accepted the advice of the Teacher Professional Development Task Force in 2019 to adjust the salary scale of vice-principal in Hong Kong Primary Schools. This has made the vice principal's training more concerned. In 2010, local research found that personnel management was the responsibility of vice-principal in primary school. In order to further understand the needs of the primary school vice-principal in this area, the Hong Kong Primary Education Research Association conducted a related survey in 2013. This article will combine this survey data with recent literature to analyze the development needs of Hong Kong primary school vice-principal in personnel management and make appropriate recommendations for their on-the-job training. Copyright © 2019 香港教師中心.

發展內涵式高等教育,貫徹和落實大學章程建設,規範和完善高校內部治理結構是我國現階段一流大學和一流學科建設理論研究和實踐探索的重要課題。縱觀香港地區高等教育的發展雖然起步晚,但發展迅速;規模不大,但世界影響力大;沿襲西方大學治理傳統,同時保留東方文化底蘊。透過香港地區一流高校的大學章程文本,研究大學的內部治理結構,在理論上可以深化對大學章程的理論研究、深化對大學治理結構的認識、豐富高等教育學的理論體系;在實踐上可以指導、促進內地大學章程建設的完善及治理結構的優化。香港地區的一流高校沿襲了西方大學的治理傳統,大學章程從其誕生之日起就承擔著調整大學內外部關係、規範大學相關主體權力的使命。大學內部治理結構是以大學章程為基礎形成的大學治理機構與治理機制的總稱,治理機構是基礎,治理機制是核心。以扎根理論視角分析香港地區三所一流高校:香港大學、香港中文大學、香港科技大學的大學章程,分析提煉出香港地區一流高校治理權力類型包括:行政權力、學術權力和監督權力;治理機構包括校董會為代表的行政權力機構、教務委員會為代表的學術權力機構、以及評議會和顧問委員會為代表的監督權力機構。權力類型和權力機構交叉形成了香港地區一流高校內部治理的靜態結構,但要進一步明晰內部治理結構,還需要釐清權力的配置機制, 釐清治理的動態結構。結合“依賴——權力”、“資本——權力”理論分析大學章程文本得出香港地區高校治理機制:校董會領導的校長負責機制、委員會為基礎的權力轉授機制;教師為中心的學術自治機制;多方利益參與的民主監督機制。誠然香港地區一流高校內部治理存在著不足之處,與內地高校的治理環境也存在著較大差異,但高校自治的需求是一致的,追求中國特色世界一流的目標是一致的。香港地區多所高校能在較短時間內發展成為世界名校,與其科學、合理的內部治理結構存有著內在關聯。內地高校在進行雙一流建設時,亦有可借鑒之處:一是依托大學章程明確政、校關係;二是依托大學章程加強黨委領導、落實校長負責;三是依托大學章程實現學術自治;四是依托大學章程實現多元監督。

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to highlight the urgent need for a genuinely effective and attainable citizenship education model in Hong Kong’s schools, which focusses on promoting student participation in school governance. It is an empirical citizenship education management model for school leaders that illustrates the predictive effects of personally responsible, participatory, justice-oriented and patriotic citizenship, necessarily supported by school management practices, school ethos and teacher beliefs.Design/methodology/approach - A total of 3,209 students from 51 secondary schools in Hong Kong participated in a quasi-experimental design questionnaire survey. A structural equation model (SEM) was applied to confirm the model.Findings - The results of the SEM show that the values and cultural practices held by a school’s teachers drive the implementation of its citizenship education. Moreover, it is well known that organizational values can exert a powerful influence and it is the same within educational structures: management practices in schools have an impact on ethos, teachers’ beliefs and student participation in school governance.Practical implications - The paper provides practical proposals for school leaders to create opportunities for student participation in school governance.Originality/value - This study builds on existing literature and provides school leaders with a practical model for implementing student participation in school governance. Copyright © 2019 Emerald Publishing Limited.

This study argues that teachers are disempowered and demoralised moral agents. Specifically, it uses a qualitative study of Hong Kong teachers to show that teachers' agency in the pursuit of the moral goal of education is socially disempowered. The study shows that although teachers are committed to the moral goal of education, the obstacles to attaining this goal result in demoralisation. The difficulties consist of technical disempowerment (deprivation of power over one's labour) and cognitive disempowerment (deprivation of power to identify the instructional value of teachers' work), which are induced by managerialist educational reforms and school administration.
[Copyright of British Journal of Educational Studies is the property of Routledge.]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between the civic mission of schools and students on participation in school governance through an empirical study. It articulates the importance of school mission on nurturing citizenship of high school students.Design/methodology/approach - The research used a mixed method with questionnaire survey in the first phase and qualitative interviews in the second phase. Quantitative data were obtained from a survey completed by 3,209 students and 495 teachers (including principals) from 51 secondary schools in Hong Kong. Qualitative data were collected from 41 individual interviews with principals and teachers and 17 focus group interviews with 56 students in five case study schools.Findings - Both students and teachers believed that good citizenship qualities should include students’ participation in school governance. Schools in general took up the civic mission to nurture good and participatory citizens. A mission of nurturing students to become good and participatory citizens made a significant and positive contribution toward achieving students’ actual participation in school governance. However, students’ actual impact on major school policies was minimal. A paradox existed whereby students, knowing their influence over managerial issues was much circumscribed, still gave it a higher rating than their teachers.Originality/value - The paper contributes an empirical model for school leaders to develop school vision for promoting student participation in school governance. Based on a large-scale research supported by public funding, the paper contributes an empirical model for school leaders to develop school vision for promoting student participation in school governance. It further adds to the literature on relationship between citizenship education, civic mission of school and student participation in governance. Copyright © 2019 Emerald Publishing Limited.

Teachers’ attitudes towards parental involvement play an important role in the ways they approach children’s families. This study examined Hong Kong pre-service early childhood teachers’ attitudes towards different types of parental involvement strategies and investigated whether these attitudes were related to the quality of relationships within their own family. Data were collected from 163 Hong Kong pre-service early childhood teachers via questionnaire. Results showed that engaging families in school decisions was perceived as the least important and feasible. The pre-service teachers also felt least confident in implementing it. There were, however, discrepancies in the perceived levels of importance, feasibility and confidence towards other types of parental involvement strategies. The levels of cohesion and expressiveness in pre-service teachers’ own families were positively related to their attitudes towards some types of parental involvement strategies. These findings suggest that teacher educators should take pre-service teachers’ family experiences into consideration when preparing them to work with children’s families. Copyright © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Home-school collaboration can bring numerous benefits to children, teachers and families. One of the major responsibilities of early childhood teachers nowadays, therefore, is to collaborate with families and involve them in their children’s education. However, not all pre-service teachers demonstrate high levels of willingness and readiness to do so. The present study aims to identify the character strengths and parent-related perceptions associated with pre-service early childhood teachers’ positive attitudes towards collaboration with families and confidence in implementing home-school collaboration activities. A total of 250 pre-service early childhood teachers were recruited from a university in Hong Kong and surveyed. Results of hierarchical regression analysis showed that after controlling for the year of study in the teacher education programme (as a proxy of professional knowledge), pre-service teachers’ character strength of judgment, perception of parents’ responsibilities in children’s education and perception of parents’ trust towards kindergarten teachers were significant correlates of their attitudes towards collaboration with families. Meanwhile, pre-service teachers’ character strength of judgment, character strength of social intelligence, perception of parents’ parenting competence, perception of parents’ trust towards kindergarten teachers were significant correlates of their confidence in implementing home-school collaboration activities. These findings suggest that in order to better prepare pre-service teachers to collaborate with families, it is important for teacher educators to help them develop positive perceptions about parents, an attitude of openness to diverse perspectives, and the skills of responding to others’ feelings in caring ways in different social situations. Copyright © 2018 HKERA International Conference.

The outsourcing of education services has been widely adopted across international contexts as a ‘tested solution’ or panacea to meet various educational problems including school management, curriculum design, teaching and student discipline. Contracting third-party providers, it is argued, enhances organisational goals such as efficiency, quality and school improvement. However, the outsourcing of education services has also impacted on established notions concerning the boundaries around teachers’ work. This paper deploys the framework of discursive institutionalism to offer insight into how the idea of outsourcing has been activated and circulated by discursive communities in three diverse international settings. Despite its problem-solution logic, the institutionalisation of outsourcing creates its own problems, not least the undermining of teacher professionalism, the ‘businessification’ of schools and a diminishing of their educational mission. Copyright © 2019 British Association for International and Comparative Education.