Many education systems have implemented systemic reforms covering numerous new initiatives in nine trends since the turn of new century. After decades of implementation, it would be significant to know what impacts these reforms have made on key aspects of the education systems and what lessons can be learnt from them for future policy analysis, formulation and implementation locally and internationally. This article aims to provide a preliminary exploration of these issues with Hong Kong’s systemic education reforms. In Parsons’ construct of structural functionalism (Parsons, 1966), it is argued that a social system should serve four systemic functions such as adaptation, goal achievement, integration and pattern maintenance to survive and flourish in an environment of change and uncertainties. To explore the above issues, this article investigates what impacts of the reform have been made on the four functions of education system including “Has education been more effective?” (goal achievement), “Has the teaching workforce been better brought into work?” (adaptation), “Have stakeholders been more satisfied and united?” (integration), and “Have education policies been more legitimate and acceptable?” (pattern maintenance). It is hoped that such a preliminary observation with multiple sources of empirical data can provide an illustrative case to explore the possible issues and concerns of systemic education reforms initiated in the last two decades in different parts of the world and draw local and international implications for further development of new initiatives in education for the future. Copyright © 2018 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

This study investigates the characteristics of the organizational environment perceived by 627 teachers in 64 Hong Kong secondary schools. From the cluster analysis, the perceived school organizational environments can be classified into four typical styles: commitment, control, disengagement, and headless. All of them have contrasting organizational characteristics. The findings are consistent with the studies conducted in Western societies.

In this study, the relationship between student affective performance and classroom physical environment, social climate, and management style were investigated in a sample of classes in Hong Kong primary schools. The results of Pearson and canonical correlation analyses indicated that among the measures of classroom environment, perceived quality of physical environment and class master’s expert power, personal power, and coercive power were the strongest predictors of affective performance. This finding supports the importance of class master’s management style in the classroom environment. Students’ attitudes toward school and teachers appeared to be most sensitive to variation in the classroom environment, and self-concept was the least sensitive among the seven student affective measures. Students’ self-efficacy of learning and intention to drop out were moderately sensitive to classroom environment. Profiles of effective and ineffective classroom environments were also mapped. In effective classrooms, class masters care for students, pay attention to teaching, do not use force or punishment but do create a good classroom climate with their professional knowledge, personal morality, and personality. Physical environment and psychological environment are both important; a good classroom environment is highly correlated with student affective performance.

In response to the emerging challenges in the 21st century, there have been numerous education reforms worldwide in the last two decades. From the case of Hong Kong, this speech aims to address the key features and trends of education reform phenomenon commonly happening in different parts of the world. It will help international educators, policy-makers, researchers and change agents to understand the complicated dynamics and issues involved in the formulation and implementation of systemic reform, including (1) conflicts and diversities among stakeholders, (2) constraints with limited resources for reform initiatives, (3) knowledge poverty and ignorance in practice of reforms at different levels, (4) conflicts and time competitions among a wide range of parallel changes, and (5) paradigmatic gaps in planning and implementing reforms. Without addressing these issues, many education reforms with good intentions finally failed in “reform syndromes” and “bottle necks” in the last decades. This speech will draw global implications from the local lessons for future research and policy development on education reforms.

Curriculum reform with a school-based approach is often assumed to offer schools and teachers autonomy at the site level, thus enabling them to develop a school-based curriculum and pedagogies to better fit the needs of students. Over the past decade, school-based curriculum development in Hong Kong has encountered issues that deserve worldwide attention and discussion. By reviewing the experiences of two schools in Hong Kong and drawing on international evidence, this study identifies key challenges and difficulties in school-based curriculum reform in three areas. Intellectually, there is a lack of a strong and broad shared knowledge base for curriculum development. As a result, most school-based curriculum initiatives have been piecemeal, fragmented and shallow. Structurally, many teachers have wasted time ‘re-inventing the wheel’ when developing school-based curricula. This effort has left them without sufficient time and energy to be effective in teaching. Culturally, reliance on school management to steer school-based reforms has prevented the development of a new culture in which teachers have the autonomy to make changes in their daily practices. Without cultural changes, curriculum reforms are not sustainable or effective. This study proposes a cooperative platform that integrates the strengths of central intelligence and school-based initiatives to maximise support for curriculum development at the teacher, school-site and system levels.
[Copyright © 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the worldwide discussion of conceptualization, multiple functions and management of national education in an era of globalisation by proposing a new comprehensive framework for research, policy analysis and practical implementation. Design/methodology/approach Based on a review of the diversity in definitions of national education, the controversies in policy and implementation of national education are discussed. The different interpretations of national education stem from different assumptions and perspectives. Each of them seems too confining in globalisation. To overcome the controversies, this paper calls for a re-conceptualisation of national education from a broader perspective. Findings The conceptualisation of broad-based national education is premised on two fundamental principles. First, national education which is meant for development is a process by which humankind moves forward at multiple levels including the personal, local, national and global levels. Second, national education nowadays must be understood against a globalised context, in which there are multiple, complex and dynamic developments at play including technological, economic, social, political, cultural and learning developments of not only individuals and local communities within the nation but also the global world beyond the nation. In brief, broad-based education serves multiple functions at multiple levels. With national identity understood in a broader perspective, the multiplicity and complexity of national education may be better addressed. Identifying with one's own nation is a dynamic and complicated process in which interaction and integration between the different levels and different functions of civic identities are involved. The approaches to management, implementation and pedagogy of broad-based national education are also discussed. Research limitations/implications The new framework of conceptualisation and the comparison

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to trace the development of school autonomy and accountability and related multiple changes and impacts in key areas of school education in Hong Kong since implementing school-based management (SBM) from 1990s. Design/methodology/approach To explore the evolution and the uniqueness of autonomy and accountability in the Hong Kong school system, the paper begins with an historical account, followed by an evaluation of the effects of SBM as shown in policy documents, local research, international reviews and illustrative findings from a case study. The local and international implications of SBM for research and practice are then discussed. Findings This paper shows the links between school autonomy and accountability by exploring the potential effects of both of these factors on educational management and student achievement, which are increasingly emphasised in educational policies. The investigation shows that the assumed links and effects are not always consistent or empirically supported. The positive effects that school autonomy has on school governance and management, teachers' work, school-based curriculums and student learning are all significant when there is also strong leadership, comprehensive continuous professional development and a positive, collaborative school climate. These key elements work alongside school autonomy to facilitate positive change. Research limitations/implications School autonomy and accountability should be viewed as necessary, but not sufficient, conditions for school improvement and development. Further characterisation of the processes happening in schools is needed to explore the different realisations of school autonomy and accountability. Originality/value This investigation of school autonomy and accountability in Hong Kong provides the international audience with a deeper understanding of the dynamics involved in the development of SBM.

In facing up with the challenges of globalization, IT, economic transformation, and international competitions in the new century, there are numerous educational reforms in many countries in the Asia-Pacific region. In these reforms, there is strong demand for a comprehensive knowledge base for educational innovation, policy development and practical improvement, supported by a wide range of research at different levels. This address aims to highlight the changing role of educational research in the emerging paradigm shifts in policy concerns and practical implementation in the nine trends and three waves of educational reforms in the Region. From analyzing the critical issues and challenges in the life cycle of policy development, the speech proposes a framework to draw implications for the future developments of educational research in the coming decade. In particular, the case of teachers and the teaching profession is used to illustrate what key issues that are challenging both policy development and educational research in the Asia-Pacific Region. At the end, it elaborates how educational research should be organized to support educational reforms and paradigm shifts in practice at the national, local, site and operational levels. Various types of local, national, regional and global research networks should be formed across areas and countries in the Region to create critical mass of multi-disciplinary research forces that can support high-level research for educational developments in the Region and other parts of the world. APERA should play a critical role in organizing and developing such networks.