Conceptions of 'soft' and 'hard' policy are now commonly discussed in the policy literature concerned with multi-level systems of governance (Abbott et al., 2000; Torenvlied et al., 2004; Cini, 2001; Hertin et al., 2003; Koulaimah-Gabriel et al., 1997). Such conceptions have been useful ways of delineating different incentives, pressures and motivations for policy implementation. On the one hand implementation can be directed by legislation and regulatory monitoring with the possibility of sanctions for non-compliance ('hard' policy) or it can come in the form of recommendations, education campaigns and strong advocacy ('soft' policy). The application of these conceptions to education policy making is relatively new (Fok, Kennedy and Chan, 2005; Chan, Kennedy and Fok, 2005). It is clear from this work that the concepts of 'hard' and 'soft' policy are useful in understanding aspects of education policy implementation by focusing on the nature of policy and its potential to influence subsequent implementation outcomes. It is equally clear that some adaptation needs to be made to the original meanings underlying these constructs if the full potential of the ideas are to be exploited. The purpose of this paper is to reinterpret the meanings of 'hard' and 'soft' policy with reference to particular case studies of curriculum reform and in particular to focus on the Hong Kong context that provides a unique set of influences governing both curriculum policy and its implementation.

Science educators have been placing much effort in attempting to define and illustrate how scientific inquiry may enhance student learning. Learning through scientific inquiry can be seen as an active process when the individual learner makes linkages between existing ideas and new ones. Self-assessment is one of the ways to promote such an active learning process. When the self-assessment is effective, it becomes a topic of discussion with their teachers and amongst one another, which further promotes reflection on one's own thinking that is essential for sound learning. As teaching, learning and assessment should be coherent, the assessment methods, among which is self-assessment, need to be part of the planning of scientific inquiry tasks. This paper aims at reviewing literature in both fields of self-assessment and scientific inquiry, as well as providing evidence of teacher practice in different countries to define how self-assessment for scientific inquiry actually works. Four examples from an international project called "Schools Around the World" are selected for illustration. These examples were contributed by teachers in the U.S.A., France, Hong Kong, and Japan. Though the nature of inquiry is different in each example, they all adopt certain methods of self-assessment that other teachers may refer to as they design scientific inquiry tasks for their students.

In Hong Kong, the General Studies (GS) has been a core primary curriculum, which integrates three former separate subjects, Primary Science, Social Studies and Health Education, since 1994. The rationale of such an integrated curriculum is to help pupil understand the inter-relationship between people, things and their environment so that they can acquire knowledge and skills and develop positive attitudes in a holistic way. Proponents of curriculum integration claim that a good integrated subject is able to achieve more aims than those from separate subjects. An integrated curriculum should provide wider and better learning outcomes than that from learning through separate subjects. Within the context of an integrated curriculum for primary students in Hong Kong, this study aimed at identifying the intended curriculum features of the GS Curriculum. The study also intended to probe the extent of the curriculum features implemented in classrooms. A total of 189 teachers participated in a questionnaire survey. By using the method of Confirmatory Factor Analysis, this study identified four major curriculum features in this integrated curriculum, namely, "holistic learning", "relevancy to learners' life", "development of problem–solving skills" and the "Society-Technology-Society (STS) approach". Results of this study also revealed that teachers perceived the existence of these four intended features in the GS Curriculum and the gaps between the curriculum intention and the real-classroom situation.