This study investigates how beginning principals in Hong Kong secondary schools managed the first two years of their principalship during a time of substantial educational reform. Given that this area is under-researched in Hong Kong, the study intends to add to the leadership knowledge base and inform principal preparation.
The research yielded five major categories that were related to the beginning principals, namely, preferred leadership orientations, strength of heart, managing people, approach to curriculum reform, and contextual influences. These categories were inter-related in that they interacted with one another to affect how the beginning principals played their new roles. Role-playing included the processes of role adoption, role enactment and role changes. Beginning principals in the study went through these processes in different fashions, but they sometimes shared similarities in their perceptions and behaviors. These differences and commonalities led to the categorization of the principals into four types, namely the shaper-founder, the shaper-changer, the moderator-tinkerer and the inheritor-maintainer. The four types constitute the typology established by the research. It was also found that the typology was not static; there were shifts within it as a consequence of role change adopted by the beginning principals. The findings point to a tentative concept of adaptive role-playing within the phenomenon of the beginning principalship, which requires further investigation to establish its validity.
The research has implications for the knowledge base of the beginning principalship. It points to the complexity and fluidity of beginning principals' leadership roles as well as the importance of their inner worlds, of people in school management, of implementation strategies for curriculum reform and of the school context. It also brings into focus the inter-relationships among the variables affecting the beginning principalship, the significance

背景：中層人員在學校管理與日常運作中有關鍵的角色，在教育改革的年代中，不少香港小學校長感到校內中層人員的表現和能力的重要性；有些辦學團體更舉辦了中央性培訓以提昇層下小學的中層人員。為了支援香港小學中層人員的成長，香港初等教育研究學會開展了一個校本教師培訓計劃，為八所小學中層人員提供校本的專業培訓。
目的：基於香港本土和國際的文獻，分析受訓中層人員的回饋與反思，希透過整理這些質性的資料，能結合中層人員專業發展的理論與實踐。
調查對象：八所參與校本教師培訓計劃的小學中層人員，一共有158份有效的回應問卷。
調查方法：此文章除整理中層人員發展及校本培訓的文獻外，再根據中層人員的質性回應，顯示出香港小學中層人員對專業發展的需要，關注和反省。
調查結果：問卷發現受訓中層人員對「中層人員的角色與成長」的培訓滿意度比整體評價為高。他們亦反映出要學習多些與團隊發展有關的知識和技能。同時，有些中層人員十分享受其行動學習計劃，並在分享中顯示出其在計劃過程中的成長。
總結：從八間小學中層人員的培訓個案中，發現讓中層人員對自己角色的反思，掌握發展團隊的技能和實踐行動學習等，皆能有效地促進中層人員的專業成長；而這計劃亦同時豐富了香港小學的校本教師培訓經驗及中層人員培訓的模式。
Background: A middle manager plays an essential role in the school management and daily operation. In the educational reform era, many principals aware the performance and competence of the middle managers is critical for the development of their primary schools in Hong Kong. A few of school sponsoring body provide some central training for the middle managers in their primary schools. In order to support the professional development of middle managers of primary school in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Primary Education Research Association carries out a school-based teacher development project and eight primary schools participate in this project.
Aims: Based on reviewing local and international literatures, this study investigated the feedback and reflection of trained middle manager. After analysis these data, this paper try to link up the theory and practice in the professional development of middle manager.
Sample: Questionnaires were sent to all trained middle managers in these eight primary schools, and a total of 158 questionnaires are filled.
Method: Besides literatures in middle manager professional development and school-based training, qualitative information from middle managers of these schools are used to illustrate their needs, concerns and reflections.
Result: Trained middle managers give a higher responses rate in the session: Role and development of middle managers.

本文是獻給香港學生輔助會小學永遠懷念的蔡愛蓮老師的。二零零三年七月十日早上六時三十八分，屯門公路發生極嚴重的交通事故。香港學生輔助會小學也很不幸地有一位老師逝世及一位老師受傷。對絕大部分是年輕老師的新學校來說，能在這麼短的時間內大致處理了那麼困難的事故，是很難得的。在這篇短文中，我們首先描述在事故發生後，本校的處理過程，然後嘗試歸納可供學校在處理創傷事故時參考的十個重點，包括（1）反應和處理要快；（2）儘快尋求額外的支援；（3）以專業輔導人員帶領行政工作；（4）先輔導老師，使他們可應付輔導學生的工作；（5）強調教育專業來激勵老師；（6）硬件的準備和配合；（7）由專人接待傳媒及避免傳媒在輔導期間接觸師生；（8）儘快使學校回復正常運作；（9）儘快檢討及隨機應變；（10）抱持包容體諒的態度。
This paper is dedicated to our colleague, Miss Choi Oi Lin. On July 10, 2003, the traffic incident at Tuen Mun Road took away several teachers' lives. One of our teachers died and another one was injured. Although most of the teachers of our school were young, our school was able to handle the trauma of this incident within a relatively short period of time. This paper reported our handling process and summarized ten important points that may have reference values. They are: (1) react and handle the incident quickly; (2) whenever possible, get extra help; (3) let professional counselors lead the handling process; (4) counsel the teachers first, before they can counsel the students; (5) emphasize the professionalism of teaching to encourage teachers; (6) arrange and prepare necessary hard wares and materials; (7) appoint designated person to deal with the media; (8) go back to normal operations as soon as possible; (9) review quickly during the process and prepare to change; and (10) adopt an accommodative attitude.
[Copyright of New Horizons: The Journal of Education, Hong Kong Teachers' Associationl is the property of Hong Kong Teachers' Association at http://www.hkta1934.org.hk/]

Background: During the era of education reform, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has launched a series of measures to enhance the learning of the students and the effectiveness of teaching. In the Curriculum Development Council document, Learning to Learn--the Way Forward in Curriculum, the policy of school-based curriculum is advocated. The aim is to allow "schools to have more autonomy in choosing some contents more relevant to their students so long as they are in line with the curriculum aims, strands, principles of learning/teaching, with justifiable modifications that suit their students most", This paper reports a case study of a local primary school in implementing the school-based curriculum in General Studies (GS) from 2003 to 2006.
Aims: To study why the school initiated such educational change, the strategies teachers employed and difficulties they encountered. Recommendations are made for teachers and administrators who want to initiate educational change in schools.
Sample: The head teacher, the subject panel, level coordinators and subject teachers were interviewed. Parents and students were also invited to fill in questionnaires by the end of the school year.
Method: Qualitative research method such as in depth interview and quantitative research method such as filling in questionnaires were employed.
Results: Most of the teachers claimed that it is the school administration who initiated the adoption of the school-based curriculum policy. Though they tried their best to deal with various difficulties, worked hard, prepared lessons jointly, and claimed that students showed more interest in lessons, some did not have the ownership of the school-based curriculum development.
Conclusion: The implementation and institutionalization of any educational change requires more than willing individual teachers, e.g. the subject panel or level coordinators. Rather, there needs to be a deep re-conceptualisation of the