This article discusses citizenship education, education policy and discourse to explore their relations with the exercise of power in society. Taking the case of 1990 and 1997 legislative debates on citizenship education policy in Hong Kong, it briefly surveys the substantive arguments favouring or opposing the retention of government controls over politics in schools. It then examines in more detail the discourses used by legislators which constitute students, teachers and the government. This discussion shows that not only does citizenship education represent a power relation between the state and citizens, with policy representative of the power of the state over educational workers, but also that the targets of policy are empowered and disempowered through the strategic use of discourse.
[Copyright of Discourse is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01596300600676144]

Trainers and developers of school leaders across the globe are currently searching for models of best practice leadership development programmes. Are there generic features and principles of design underpinning such programmes? This article argues that corroborative evidence of what works in leadership training and development – to influence principals' knowledge, skills, values and behaviours – is now emerging. It describes a model of best practice in Hong Kong called Blue Skies, founded on and derived from a body of international research-based evidence from successful principal leadership programmes, together with evaluation evidence from another recent Hong Kong leadership programme. First, however, the policy background to leadership preparation in Hong Kong since 1990 is outlined. This is followed by an explanation of the structure for school leader training and development established by the Hong Kong Government since 2000. It is argued that with the structure in place, attention has been able to shift to the design principles of effective leadership programmes that maximize leader learning. Designs based on research evidence of what works emphasize, inter alia , learning linked to real school contexts, substantial involvement of trained and experienced principals as mentors, flexibility to meet diverse needs, multiple opportunities for reflection, and cohort bonding and networking – all of which form the platform for Blue Skies .
[Copyright of School Leadership & Management is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13634230600589659]

Eighty-six Hong Kong Chinese kindergarten children were pretested on the Preschool and Primary Chinese Literacy Scale (PPCLS) and the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test - Third Edition (PPVT-III), and assigned randomly within schools to 1 of 3 conditions, dialogic reading, typical reading and control. After an 8-week intervention, the children were posttested. Results indicated a significant main group effect for performance on both the PPCLS and the PPVT-III, with children in the dialogic reading group benefiting significantly from the intervention. These results indicate that early literacy-related activities in the home have strong and direct effects on both children's literacy growth and language development in Chinese. The success of the dialogic reading technique in this study contributes to the goal of raising global literacy standards and educational achievement.
[Copyright of Early Education & Development is the property of Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/s15566935eed1402_6 ]

This paper reports a study of the impact of an initial teacher education programme on the development of a conceptual change model of instruction in prospective biology teachers. Analysis of the performance in teaching practice indicates that the subjects achieved significant improvement in the various skills related to this instruction model. However, mastery of these skills was not evident, especially in the response to pupils' alternative conceptions, the presentation of chalkboard layout, the use of high order questions to probe understanding and facilitate concept development, and the conduct of interactive learning activities. This can be related to the subjects' lack of teaching experience and inadequate subject knowledge, the passive learning attitude of pupils, constraints in time and resources, and the non-supportive conditions in schools.
[Copyright of International Journal of Science Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09500690010016067]

In higher education teaching, enhancing learner autonomy has become a key concern for curriculum planners and classroom teachers. The significant body of research about learner autonomy in language learning over the last 20 years (e.g. Holec 1981, 1988; Riley 1985; Dickinson 1987, 1992; Wenden & Rubin 1987; Little, 1991; Dam, 1995; Benson & Voller, 1997) has indicated an on-going search for more understanding of how learner autonomy can be implemented in different contexts.
This paper is based on a research study which was conducted in the Hong Kong Polytechnic University in Hong Kong. The study explores learners' attitudes and expectations of language learning, teacher and learner roles, their learning preferences and perceptions of learner autonomy. The paper reports the results and discusses their implication on the development of a learner-centred approach in higher education.
[Copyright of Teaching in Higher Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13562510120078045]