In a recent large scale survey for collecting opinions and perceptions of primary school principals on teacher education, teacher competence and teacher quality, 528 school heads had responded. Descriptive summaries are stated in the report of Contextual Analysis for Programme Development of Hong Kong Institute of Education. Further analysis was done later for academic interest. In a question asking for principal's perceptions on teacher performance, 18 performance attitudes or styles each having five responses (Strongly Agree, Agree, No Idea, Disagree and Strongly Disagree) are suggested. Factor analysis with varimax rotation generates 3 factors with eigenvalue greater than l.The first factor is of our interest since it explains almost 40% of variation of the data and can be interpreted as a contrast of positive attitudes/styles versus negative ones. The factor scores and four potential explanatory variables (Age, Gender, Qualifications and School-type) were fit into an ANOVA model. It was found that age and gender show no significant difference in the perception. But both qualification and school-type exhibit significant effect on it. Moreover, the interaction of these two factors is significant. Principals who have not completed or started any local Bed program feel very happy with the performance of teachers. On the contrary, those having or studying a local Bed degree appear to be more demanding and are not so satisfied with the performance of teachers. The heads of special schools with a local Bed degree and those without one form two extreme groups in this aspect. The findings cast some light on the leadership of principles of various qualifications and school-type.
