Little relevant research examining the leadership patterns of heads of department (HoD) coping with curriculum changes is found within the Chinese context. This article presents an exploratory case study which delineates the leadership qualities exhibited by a HoD as he overcomes the difficulties typically confronted in the process of school-based curriculum development (SBCD) in a Hong Kong secondary school. The findings showed that the challenges faced by the HoD included: (1) teachers' low receptivity of SBCD; (2) teachers' limited time and expertise in SBCD; and (3) a need for more effective collaboration in the department. The essential leadership patterns detected were: (1) personal charisma; (2) shared vision building; (3) empowerment of teachers; (4) changing beliefs and enhancing the capacity of teachers; and (5) fostering collegiality among teachers. This study suggests that unless the HoD is committed to making an innovation a priority, the potential of teachers to contribute to any curriculum change may not be realised.
[Copyright of School Leadership & Management is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2010.497480]

This study investigates the transition from kindergarten to primary school through the experiences of the teachers, parents and children involved. Emphasis is given to the transitional activities participated in by the stakeholders and the effectiveness of these activities. These experiences of children's transition to school will inform further research into the design of effective transition programmes in the local context. The means of investigation in this study include questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and observations. The results show that the teachers and parents generally believed that the children performed quite well academically, although the primary school teachers reported that they were average in discipline. The findings from both the questionnaires and the interviews show that most of the respondents agreed that strong connections between kindergarten, primary school and parents could facilitate a smoother transition to school. However, in reality, both kindergarten and primary school teachers showed ignorance of each other's teaching practices and curriculum.
[Copyright of Early Child Development and Care is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03004430802586130]

Background: The Education Commission (EC) of Hong Kong, the advisory body set up by the government on the overall development of education in Hong Kong, began developing a policy of education reform in 1998 and published its blueprint in 2000. In 2006, the EC published its fourth official report on the progress of the reform -- Progress Report on the Education Reform (4).
Discussion Focus:The policy document developed in 2000 contains a paragraph that summarises the 14,000 public submissions received by the EC at that time. The EC has adopted this summary as its reform priority. It contains four sociopsychological elements -- joy in learning, effectiveness of communication, creativity, and sense of commitment -- and points out that education for lifelong learning should emphasise more on the inner qualities of a person than personal skills. The policy also recognises for the first time that human knowledge is constructed.
This paper analyses the texts of the 2006 progress report and the 2000 policy document and discovered that the progress reported has essentially neglected the priority stated in the policy.
In parallel with the textual analysis, the paper explores the meanings of the four socio - psychological elements from the perspective of personal inner qualities.
Suggestions: The paper is a reminder that the priority stated in the policy is what the public want and what the EC has promised to act on. It would be undemocratic and negligent for the EC to bypass it quietly. The paper suggests that the deep meanings of the four socio-psychological elements should be explored, to be followed by modification of the strategies of the reform so as to fulfil what the public want. The paper also suggests supplementary empirical studies involving educational professionals to validate the results.
背景：教育統籌委員會（教統會）是政府成立的咨詢團體，以提供教育整體發展的意見。它從1998年開始制訂教育改革的政策，並於2000年公佈了藍圖。2006年，教統會公佈了教育改革進展的第四份正式報告。
討論焦點：2000年的政策文件中有一段，總結了教統會當時從公眾所收到的14,000