It is noticed that up till 1997-98 academic year, there are only 200 primary schools which is approximately 23% of the total number of primary schools of Hong Kong, joining the School Management Initiative (SMI) Scheme since its first initiation in 1992. Referring to the SMI handbooks and other related reports, a well organized staff development and appraisal system is very significant in the effective management of schools. However, the main concern of this paper is not focussing on why not many schools join SMI scheme. Instead, this paper describes a qualitative case study of three Hong Kong primary schools, aiming at revealing the present situation of staff development and appraisal practices implementing in HK primary schools. Researchers also want to study how school practitioners, especially from the views of the people in the frontier, i.e. the heads (the manager), the senior teachers (the middle manager) and the teachers (the staff) value and act in the whole staff development and appraisal programmes. In the study, researchers have interviewed 3 school heads, 9 senior teachers and 12 teachers. The three sample schools are chosen by convenience but the interviewees are selected by ramdom sampling. The experience explored in the study is hoped to have some important implications to the effective management, especially in the areas of staff development and appraisal practices in primary schools of Hong Kong.

Hong Kong schools experience an era of educational change in the 1990s. In the perspective of school management, the School Management Initiative was first introduced in 1991 and later replaced by the School Based Management in 1999, allowing school management greater autonomy in general administration, finance and personnel matters but at the same time requiring a higher degree of accountability for school performance. Other major change items fall into the categories of curriculum ( TOC, curriculum adaptation), medium of instruction (EMI and CMI schools), educational technology (SAMs and information technology in teaching) and funding system (Quality Education Fund). To enhance the quality of school education, it is further recommended by the Education Commission Report no.7, apart from others (1) a framework to raise the professional standards of principals and teachers and (2) a framework of quality indicators for school performance. These changes denote a demand for professional competence of principals and teachers to meet the needs and difficulties of school. While there are various means to raise the competence of principals and teachers, the running of staff development programmes is obvious a generally acceptable one as it is less disruptive to school administration. It also has the advantages of being more school-based to meet the particular needs of individual schools. The popularity of staff development programmes can be reflected by the increasing number of services provided by the Continuing Professional Education of the HKIEd upon request. The authors of this paper have been heavily involved in the staff development programmes of primary and secondary schools since the past few years. Through participant observation, interviews and other data-collecting techniques, this paper attempts to provide information, as reflected by the programmes organized, specifically on (1) the different professional needs of different types of schools and (2) the different

Teachers are the key to any successful educational development or reform and hence teachers' education is always a major aspect to consider in any changes towards quality education. Research and experience world-wide have shown that initial teacher education, no matter how long or how comprehensive, is not sufficient for meeting the career-long needs of teachers, especially for coping with the new challenges brought about by changes and reforms. To keep teachers up-to-date, to help them achieve professional development and meet new challenges for quality education, teacher education has now been widely accepted as a career-long, continuous process, consisting of three distinct stages as depicted by the "Triple-i model". Following the first stage of initial teacher education (first "i"), teachers should be supported throughout their career, both in the first one or two years on entry by "induction" support (second "i"), and continuously thereafter by various forms of "in-service education" (third "i"). To support the systematic planning and provision of induction and in-service education for teachers, a model for an "In-service Education Ladder" has been proposed by the author earlier, based on some earlier research of the author as well as a pilot study of the views of teacher educators at the Institute. This model conceptualized the professional education needs of serving teachers into four major categories: namely, (1) induction, (2) updating and retraining, (3) extension and (4) conversion. Following "induction" needs during the first one or two years of teaching, all teachers possess different ongoing "updating and retraining" and "extension" needs at different stages of their professional career. As they are promoted or as they take up new responsibilities, teachers will have additional "conversion" needs as well. This paper reports on the author's further work on the establishment of the "In-service Education Ladder" for the new millenium, including fine-tuning

In facing the challenges of economic and social developments in the new century, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the community are making efforts to review and improve school education and teacher education. This report aims to provide an overall description of the background and current situation of the teaching profession and teacher education in Hong Kong; to analyze the existing constraints and challenges in teacher education; and to report ongoing policy review and initiatives for upgrading the teaching profession and improving teacher provision and education. Particularly the report will discuss the professional quality of teaching forces in kindergarten, primary schools and secondary schools, the existing features of teacher qualifications, teacher education programs, and professional development paths, and the characteristics of teacher education institutions and policy making bodies. In the light of existing educational changes towards school-based management and educational quality and effectiveness, the report will report the direction of teacher education review and reform in the new century. It is hoped that the teacher education development in Hong Kong can provide a good case for ongoing policy discussion and teacher education reforms in both local and international communities.
[Copyright © 2000 The Hong Kong Institute of Education]

This paper will report on the mediation effects of the key artifacts upon teacher participation in two school-based leadership development projects in schools in 2005 and 2006 respectively. This structural approach to taking up more curriculum responsibilities by the schools in Hong Kong was recommended by the Government in 2001, and yet there is little empirical evidence about its implementation and effectiveness. The projects will collaborate with two active schools, setting up two curriculum development teams in each to bring about planned innovations in pedagogy. The teams will conduct a cycle of curriculum activities in the first and second semesters, reviewing the current curriculum, planning an innovation, and designing and implementing it in classroom settings. Afterwards, each team will conduct reflection for further improvement. All participating teachers will be interviewed 4 times during participation. All meetings and tryout lessons will be video-taped. The interview data will be analyzed by identifying and classifying key emerging themes which will illuminate our understanding of the participating teachers' experiences in the curriculum process. The meeting data will be analyzed using activity theory to identify the key factors that facilitate or constrain the effectiveness of the teacher participation. The findings will deepen our understanding of the effectiveness of teacher participation in school-based curriculum development.