INTRODUCTION: In Hong Kong, almost all secondary schools adopt the "Class System" to allocate students into different classes. A teacher is assigned to each class as a form teacher of the class. He is responsible for the moral and social life training of the students in the class (Yau and Luk,1986). There are some assigned duties for form teachers and also there are some unofficial duties that are assumed to be taken up by them. Since 1979, the nine-year free-education has initiated a problem in secondary schools. Under this compulsory education system, no matter a student is interested in studying or not, he has to stay in a school until he is 15 years old. That is why there are more and more juvenile delinquency problems happen in secondary schools. The role of a form teacher became more important and his work- load was tremendously increased since then. Besides being a counselor, a form teacher is also vital in the development of the class spirit. Sometimes, a form teacher even takes up the role of parents in caring for the students (Yau and Luk, 1986). From the aspect of the school, a form teacher is expected to act as a bridge between the school, the parents and the class. He is to twin together the strength of the school, the home and the society's education. Besides, as schools nowadays tend to be more administratively individualized, the multi- functional effects of a form teacher must augment his role as a moderator in different functional groups of the school. Thus, a Form Master System is very important in secondary schools education because a form teacher can act as a twist-tie that binds together the community, the home and various departments of the school. He is a moderator in school administration. He is also a front line educator because he can approach the students right away easily. In China, there is a much greater expectation on a form teacher that it may even have a study mainly on "Form Teachers" and a Form teachers' handbook describing their

The expectations of school administrators, teachers, parents and students on form teachers at secondary 1 to 3 levels, the feelings and opinions of form teachers, and their roles and duties in a local subsidized secondary school were studied intensively by interviews and questionnaires as a pilot. It was found that the roles of junior form teachers were important and their responsibilities were ever increasing. Duties of form teachers could be grouped into four areas: Daily Classroom Duties, Class Club Duties, Student Counselling and Communication with Parents. Students expected their form teachers to care for them and help them learn and grow. Parents appreciated the bridging role of form teachers. School administrators recognized the importance of effective form teachers to the good management of a school. Form teachers themselves wanted an effective and fair Form Teacher System and to spend more time on educational issues.
After the pilot, 1007 teachers from 85 schools were studied by referring to the questionnaire on the roles and duties of form teachers in junior forms. The data were then analyzed and some suggestions were proposed focusing on the problems found.
本研究透過詳細測試一所標準津貼中學的學校行政人員、初中班主任、資深老師、學生及家長進行訪問及問卷調查，研究他們對班主任角色及職責的看法，發現初中班主任之角色甚為重要及職責日益繁重。班主任的工作有四大範疇，包括處理日常班務、班會事宜、學生輔導及家長聯繫。訪問中也發現學生期望班主任能照顧他們的學習及幫助他們成長。家長感謝班主任能作溝通的橋樑。行政人員確認了高效能的班主任對學校的管理甚為重要。而班主任自己卻期望能較專注於教育性質的事務上並且在任教的學校裏有一個公平有效的班主任制度。
測試後，筆者進行一個較大型的研究，有85 所中學參與，共1007 位老師接受了問卷調查。資料收集後，經數據分析，筆者嘗試針對問題作出一些討論及建議。
[Copyright of New Horizons: The Journal of Education, Hong Kong Teachers' Associationl is the property of Hong Kong Teachers' Association at http://www.hkta1934.org.hk/]