School-based approach is a major attempt of education reforms to enhance and improve school performance and to meet the high demand of quality education in the society (Caldwell & Spinks, 2013; Cheng, 2015; Griffin, McGaw & Care, 2012). Curriculum reform with a school-based approach offers schools and teachers with high professional autonomy and technical flexibility to develop school-based curriculum and pedagogies to better fit the needs of students in the context (Harris, 2003). Although the initiatives of Hong Kong school-based curriculum development in the last decade have produced some successful outcomes (Cheung & Wong, 2011; Yuen, Cheung & Wong, 2012), there have been some challenges worth for further investigation (Cheng, 2014; Lee, 2014). Through reviewing the Hong Kong experiences and related international evidence, this paper has identified the key challenges and difficulties to the curriculum reform in a school-based approach in three aspects. In the intellectual aspects, since there was lack of professional input in developing a strong knowledge base for curriculum development, most school-based curriculum initiatives or innovations were too piecemeal, fragmented and thin. In the structural aspects, as many teachers wasted a lot of time to “re-invent a wheel” or “scratch from beginning in developing school-based curriculum, they did not have sufficient time and energy to be effective in teaching and helping students. Culturally, the reliance on the school management to steer the school-based reforms would create potential conflicts between the senior management and teachers if leaders were not well prepared to do it and change the culture. A cooperative platform integrating central bureaucracy intelligence and school-based initiatives is thus suggested to enhance a balanced development in the future (Cheng, 2005). International implications will be discussed.

採納宏觀視角回顧香港課程與學校改革的軌跡，力圖從改革內容切入，深入分析學校領導素質、學校轉型資本、校長角色、"教師中心"抑或"學生中心"等幾個關鍵問題。
[Copyright © 2012北京教育學院.]

Background: This paper analyses the role of, and approach to, policy referencing and borrowing in Hong Kong’s recent reforms that culminated in the creation of its New Academic Structure and the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education. Main argument: It argues that Hong Kong has gone further than most jurisdictions not just in responding to global influences on education reform, but in taking explicit steps to internationally benchmark its curriculum and assessment, and in involving the global community at multiple levels in the process of education policy planning and implementation. Sources of evidence and method: The paper is based on the documentary analysis of policy documents in Hong Kong, and 23 interviews with key stakeholders in the policy network, including policy-makers, practitioners and community leaders. Discussion and conclusions: While policy referencing and borrowing in the Hong Kong context can, in part, be traced to a colonial legacy, the Special Administrative Region of China demonstrates a collaborative approach to education reform involving local and international engagement that may be relevant to other systems. Its approach was informed by a measured use of policy referencing that involved ‘horizon scanning’ of other systems’ policies and practices; international benchmarking; and engaging international expertise to facilitate implementation.
[Copyright © 2016 NFER.]

This study explored the characteristics of professional learning communities (PLCs) in Hong Kong primary schools. It investigated the profiles of the strengths of professional learning community in schools under study and particularly examined the practices in schools which were identified as strong PLCs. It extends research on PLCs in the Hong Kong context and formulates a quantitative perspective to compare and validate PLC variables across schools in Hong Kong. The Professional Learning Community Questionnaire (PLCQ) for Hong Kong schools was developed to assess the PLC practices in six different areas: leadership for teacher learning, collaborative learning capacity, student-focused orientation, a culture of sharing, mutual understanding and support, and continuous professional development. A composite construct, the Professional Learning Community Index (PLCI) expressed in quantitative terms was utilized to assess the strength of PLC in a school. The research findings show that within the schools which were identified as strong professional learning communities, both the school leaders and teachers had strong emphases on the six subscales of the PLC practices.
[Copyright of Asia Pacific Journal of Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02188791.2016.1148852]