This paper focuses on a controversial issue in the field of education in Hong Kong, namely, the effect of the initiatives of School Self-evaluation (SSE) and External School Review (ESR) on school improvement (SI), under the current school-based management reform, It made use of questionnaires and case study in an attempt to give a preliminary account on whether such initiatives contribute to school improvement arid in what ways it did. There is a presumption that the effectiveness of SSE/ESR in facilitating school improvement actually pertains to how far the inspected schools can develop or sustain a learning culture among school personnel. Findings indicate that teachers in the school have a positive attitude towards SSEIESR, and SSE/ESR fosters organizational learning which ultimately contributes to school improvement and teacher development.

Computer programming has been taught in secondary schools in Hong Kong since the 1980s. However, learning to program poses a lot of difficulties to novices. This study aims to investigate the mental model of individuals of various learning styles in learning to program. Forty-one secondary students participated in a pilot study. No difference in mental models was found among the different groups. There was some evidence that learning style predicted mental model. Concrete learners had higher similarity than abstract learners. Students' understanding of programming knowledge was only rudimentary. Sequential learners in general outperformed their random counterparts. AR learners were students particularly at risk in learning programming. A number of pedagogical recommendations are made and limitations of the study are discussed.

This article draws on a longitudinal study of four Chinese students' English learning experiences during their college years and explores the ways in which EFL learning has influenced their sense of national identity. The study captures the changes they have experienced in constructing identities over a prolonged period in the context of mainland China where strong sense of national identity has been historically promoted and where there is currently unprecedentedly close interaction between local cultures and western cultures. Drawing on interviews and diary studies as the primary data source, this study identifies a three-stage development in the national identities of the college students that proceeds from initial admiration of English-speaking cultures, to antagonism towards alien things, before then reaching a stage of conciliation between the national and the global. The findings suggest that China's deeply-rooted culture of collectivism and altruism plays a role in shaping English learners' national identity and that the learners also demonstrate considerable agency in constructing national identities at different stages of English learning.
[Copyright of Changing English: Studies in Culture & Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13586840903557076]