The book aims to explore distributed leadership in developing curriculum innovations in schools with a target of bringing about theoretical underpinnings in the West with the empirical studies and practices in the East. It examines theoretically the roots of the curriculum leadership studies and practically with the empirical data and case studies in Hong Kong which has been considered a melting pot of the Western concepts and innovations in a land of Eastern cultures. The examination is framed within theoretical frameworks of activity theories, discourse analysis and social network systems. The findings will show the impact of the cultural traditions of Eastern countries in the mediation of the direction of the discourses in teacher meetings and the effectiveness of decision making in the processes of developing school based curriculum leadership. The book is theoretically exploratory with practically examined practices for educational leaders like schools headers and department leaders as well as teachers who aim at asserting greater influence in the educational decision making processes. Topics discussed in the book include: • Curriculum leadership functions and patterns of leadership distribution • Engaging teachers in reflective practice: tensions between ideological orientations and pragmatic considerations • Models of distributed leadership: focus, development and future • Initiating, designing and enacting curriculum innovations: procedures and processes This book will appeal to researchers interested in Curriculum Studies, School leadership and comparative education. Those who studies the theory of education and Asian education will also find this book valuable.
[Copyright © 2017 Edmond Hau-fai Law.]

Consequences of competition for global university rankings, such as changes in funding modes, have been extensively discussed in the field of higher education. However, few studies have reviewed its implications on knowledge production. This study provides a contextualised method for theorising the implications of this competition on the development of East Asian higher education, specifically teacher education. It identifies the new forms of knowledge being produced in two teacher education institutions in Hong Kong and Macau by reviewing the publications of new recruits in a five-year period. The study considers the following variables: author(s), date and form of publication, abstract, title, keywords, journal name, language, data source, research context and methods. The findings show that the dominant publication trends are towards quantitative research and multiple authors. Psychological research is the most popular area and studies of other long-term issues in teacher education are being marginalised.
[Copyright © 2017 British Association for International and Comparative Education.]

The number of students with special educational needs (SEN) in mainstream education in Hong Kong has increased, but the lack of professional training for in-service teachers appears to impede the successful implementation of an inclusive education policy. This study aims to evaluate and reflect on the delivery of an in-service inclusive education teacher training course provided by a local teacher training institution. A total of 3,274 teachers took this course between 2007 and 2010. Students' responses to an exit questionnaire were used to assess the course. The attitudes of the respondents towards the aim, content, resources, effect and value of the course and the level of satisfaction were generally positive, and increased as it evolved over time. The practical aspects (e.g., case analysis, classroom level strategies, guest lecturers' sharing and group discussion) were appreciated most by respondents. The implications of the findings and suggestions for further improvement are presented and discussed.

Internationalisation has been actively pursued by Hong Kong's universities. Recent years have witnessed quantitative growth in non-local students. To ensure a qualitative success of internationalisation, it is crucial that universities cater for students with diverse academic backgrounds. This research explored challenges to academic adaptation. Focus group interviews were conducted with 124 local, mainland Chinese and international students at four Hong Kong universities. Findings revealed variation in academic adaptation challenges. First, adaptation to an English-medium-of-instruction was a concern for local and mainland Chinese students, while international students noted that limited English proficiency among other students undermined classroom discussions and led to tensions in group projects. Second, local students faced challenges in adapting to a wider range of assessment modes and academic writing, while mainland Chinese and international students reported how teacher-student relations and teaching approaches differed from prior educational experiences. Implications for the delivery of higher education amid internationalisation are discussed.
[Copyright © 2017 European Higher Education Society.]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore how principals' leadership approaches to teacher professional development arise from school banding and may impact upon teacher professional capital and student achievement. Design/methodology/approach: The case study is situated within the context of school-based management, comprising reflective accounts of nine school principals selected by stratified sampling from a sample of 56 Hong Kong schools to represent Bands One, Two, and Three schools. The reflective accounts were triangulated with observations of teachers and analysis of school websites. Findings: First, under school-based management, principals remain obliged to recognize the power of state-defined examinations in determining the schools' future priorities. Second, the exercise of school autonomy in response to this obligation varies, depending upon the competitive advantage schools have in the school banding system. Ideally, effective school-based management is dependent upon the principal's capacity to facilitate good instructional practices. However, principals need to adjust their leadership practices to school contextual demands. Third, adaptations to contexts result in the varied developments of teacher capacities in schools, corresponding with the types of principal leadership adopted. Originality/value: While statistical studies have identified attributes of exemplary principal leadership, few studies have examined the qualitative reasons for the exemplification of these attributes, and the influence of the school context in shaping these attributes. Departing from assumptions that leadership attributes are intrinsic to individuals, this paper considers how principals contextualize leadership in teacher professional development to the schools' student academic achievement.
[Copyright © 2017 Emerald Publishing Limited.]

Learning about political issues through the new core subject of Liberal Studies (LS) in senior secondary education in Hong Kong has become ‘socially problematic' amid mounting concern of politicians and pundits who see a link between such learning and the recent waves of student protests. Using data from in-depth interviews with senior secondary students in Hong Kong, we explore how politically disengaged and engaged youth experienced their LS learning and how they perceived and made sense of the relationship between LS learning and political participation or its absence. Our findings indicate that while there appear to be circumstances that give rise to diversified learning experiences, LS has little bearing on youth political participation or otherwise.
[Copyright © 2017 Sage Publications and YOUNG Editorial Group.]

Differentiated instruction (DI) is nothing new and is believed to be an effective research-based strategy to cater for learner diversity. Differentiation involves finding multiple ways to structure a lesson so that each student is provided with an opportunity to work at a moderately challenging level. Previous studies, however, found that teachers were not well prepared and insufficiently equipped with skills and knowledge about DI. In the recent Hong Kong curriculum reform, DI has been highlighted as one of the ways to catering to learner diversity. The purpose of the study is to examine in-service teachers' readiness for using DI strategies and perceived challenges in its implementation. Using a mixed-methods design, a questionnaire was used to investigate teachers' perceived readiness for and obstacles toward using DI strategies, as followed by semi-structured focus group interviews that were done to in-service teachers of two schools. Qualitative data as obtained from the interviews was used to explain the quantitative data. With the use of factor analysis, two factors were identified in the survey, including Factor 1 Teacher-centred approach and Factor 2 Student-centred approach. Findings indicated that teachers generally tended to be ready for using DI strategies; however, they were more ready for using teacher-centred approach. Three perceived obstacles toward DI were identified: class size and diversity, time, and understanding of teaching strategies. Implications for curriculum development, professional development and research directions will be discussed at the end of the paper.