This paper presents a descriptive analysis of education reform in selected Southeast Asian nations between 1995 and 2007. It reports the results of a purposive survey of elite informants comprising scholars and educational leaders involved in education reform in Thailand, Malaysia, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. The paper addresses two main questions: What have been the main obstacles to education reform in Southeast Asia? And is there anything unique about the process of educational reform and change in Southeast Asia or anything different from processes reported in the Western literature? Although the paper finds more similarities than differences in the process of education reform in Southeast Asia, the author notes distinctive obstacles to reform in these societies. These differences are linked to a cultural explanation of educational change.
[Copyright of School Leadership & Management is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2010.502524]

This article aims to identify leadership roles for quality in early childhood programmes in the local settings of a sample of Hong Kong preschools. Two schools were selected for the study, both of which were rated as excellent in the quality assurance inspections of a local education authority. Effective leadership was explored from the multiple perspectives of various school stakeholders, including school governors, principals, teachers, members of support staff and parents. The qualitative interviews were used for data collection. The interview data indicated that the teachers, members of support staff and parents quite often viewed themselves as followers and were dependent on a single leader, the head. As perceived by the school stakeholders, the principals tended to take up three major roles: role model, school manager and mentor for curriculum and pedagogy. Characteristics of the associated patterns of the three leadership roles were similar to those of moral, managerial and instructional leadership documented in the Western literature. The implications of the study for promoting moral leadership and developing teacher leadership are discussed.
[Copyright of International Journal of Leadership in Education: Theory and Practice is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13603120903387561]

Different scholars have defined and redefined leadership at different levels and in different contexts (e.g., Ball, 1981; Hargreaves, 1967; Richardson, 1973), although the results of research on the characteristics of effective leaders may not apply in all contexts. This study compares and contrasts the meanings of leadership in the Hong Kong secondary school context, and examines whether educators at different levels hold conflicting opinions of the qualities of leadership. The study adopts both quantitative and qualitative approaches to examine whether principals and teachers interpret leadership differently. The results show that these two groups of educators do indeed hold different views about what it means to be a leader. The reasons for these different points of view are explored.
[Copyright of International Education Studies is the property of Canadian Center of Science and Education.
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Little relevant research examining the leadership patterns of heads of department (HoD) coping with curriculum changes is found within the Chinese context. This article presents an exploratory case study which delineates the leadership qualities exhibited by a HoD as he overcomes the difficulties typically confronted in the process of school-based curriculum development (SBCD) in a Hong Kong secondary school. The findings showed that the challenges faced by the HoD included: (1) teachers' low receptivity of SBCD; (2) teachers' limited time and expertise in SBCD; and (3) a need for more effective collaboration in the department. The essential leadership patterns detected were: (1) personal charisma; (2) shared vision building; (3) empowerment of teachers; (4) changing beliefs and enhancing the capacity of teachers; and (5) fostering collegiality among teachers. This study suggests that unless the HoD is committed to making an innovation a priority, the potential of teachers to contribute to any curriculum change may not be realised.
[Copyright of School Leadership & Management is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2010.497480]

Background: This paper discusses a leadership model grounded in an investigation of the phenomenon of principal leadershop in Hong Kong Protestant Christian secondary schools of one denomination, two years after the change of sovereignty to China (1st July, 1997).
Focus of discussion and comments: Using a hermeneutic phenomenological methdology, 9 principals and 16 senior teachers were interviewed to gather their perceptions about the principal's leadership role, and collect relevant documents. Subsequent analysis and interpretation of data indicated the complexity of the leadership role. Based on research findings and comparison with the literature, the emergent model comprises four broad leadership roles (in italics) which were correspondingly informed by leadership concepts: (1) Christian leadership-administering Christian education; (2) Instuctional leadership-teaching and learning; (3) Transformational leadership-transforming the school community; and (4) Leadership for school-baesed management-SBM and development.
Conclusion: As the principal leadership role was enacted on Christian principles, the discussion of the model and implications drawn may advance school leadership and infrom practitioners locally and internationally.
背景：回歸香港（九七年七月一日）之後兩年，作者調查香港基督教其中一派別中學之校長領導角式，本文討論研究資料分析歸納出來的領導者模式。
討論焦點及論點：作者採用「現像推測」之研究方法，訪問了九位校長及十六位資深教師，收集他們對校長領導式的看法，這有了甚麼轉變，以及有關文件，然後根據資料加以分析及推測，發現這個式複雜。將研究發現與文獻作出及比較後，浮現出一個包含了有四個範疇的領導模式：（一）基督教領導－基督教教育行政；（二）教學式領導－教學與學習；（三）轉化式領導－轉化學校社群；（四）「校本管理」之領導－「校本管理」之發展。
總結：因校長照聖經原則去實踐領導，討論這個領導模式及表達其潛在意義，或可推進學校領導及為本地或其他國家之同行者提供資料。
[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/]

This paper examines the processes of implementing curriculum reform in schools. Specifically, it investigates how schools learn lessons from previous experiences of reform and apply them when challenged by new reforms. The context for this study is Hong Kong's New Secondary School Curriculum (NSSC), with particular reference to the subject of English Language. Research into the enactment of change over the last decade tells a story of weak leadership and management by policy makers, schools leaders and teachers. Key areas of weakness - poor management of change by school leaders, teachers' lack of understanding of the changes, and weak teacher collaboration - were pinpointed as reasons for the dismal results of curriculum change. This study investigates whether these areas of weakness were also in the implementation of the NSSC. Data collection comprised semi-structured interviews in nine secondary schools. The study reveals that lessons had been learnt from the previous experiences of implementing reform, and suggests that the capacity of schools to learn from a historical perspective should be taken into account in curriculum planning.
[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/10.1080/02188791003722000]