Teachers play a key role in curriculum development and reform. One of the major targets of the present curriculum reform in Hong Kong schools is to strengthen and empower local primary school teachers to become change agents. To facilitate the local teachers to become curriculum change agents and action researchers, the Education and Manpower Bureau of Hong Kong has been recruiting experienced teachers for the position of Primary School Master/Mistress (Curriculum Development) (PSMCD) as curriculum leaders for initiating curriculum reforms and to develop local teachers to participate in action research in the local schools. To better equip the PSM(CD)s, a course specifically designed to train them was conducted. This is a study with 200 PSM(CD)s of their expectations and understanding of competence and knowledge needed to perform their duties of curriculum leadership. How much of their expectations have been met in their training? What problems have these curriculum leaders encountered? The results are enlightening for the course provider as well as teacher educators and school curriculum reformers. With a better understanding about the problems they encountered in schools, the education authorities concerned can then provide necessary and appropriate support for these curriculum leaders. Significant implications for school curriculum reforms are drawn.
[Copyright of Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) at http://www.aare.edu.au]

The educational opportunities that global learning offers have stimulated a great deal of interest and initiatives from educational institutions all over the world. However, these institutions face significant challenges in programme design and delivery. Among the challenges are the development of teaching, learning and assessment modalities that recognise different learning styles and preferences of students from diverse cultural groups. This paper explores instructional design principles from both theoretical and practical perspectives. Based on the design guidelines, the authors look at issues related to the design, implementation and evaluation of courses and learning programmes offered by educational institutions in Hong Kong.
[Copyright of Australian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education (ascilite) at http://www.ascilite.org.au]

This paper describes a collaborative journey with a group of primary school teachers and principals within a context of curriculum change in Hong Kong. This collaboration, which builds on hope, trust, reflections and authenticity, elicits participants' 'voices' through narratives and conversations. An Action Research as iterative, critical and collaborative engages research participants to a research world which celebrates the success of change by improvement, the collaboration by mutual contribution to shared values and beliefs, and the reconstruction of curriculum work by ongoing critique and transformation. Teachers' stories, which are the constructs of their personal lives intertwined with professional lives, are embodied of participants' critical reflections on the place, space, purpose, content and process of teacher curriculum decision-making at the time of curriculum change. Through sharing and negotiation, ownership and participation as well as agreement and consensus, this action research empowers participants to act and talk in reflection about curriculum work for enhancing the effectiveness of teaching and learning. Reflecting on this collaborative research journey, the paper further poses a question when choosing to choose educational research. This question challenges researchers and other stakeholders to critically reflect on educational research whether it is moving towards an optimistic future or a dead end.
[Copyright of Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) at http://www.aare.edu.au]