This paper adopts a qualitative approach to study the perceptions of six secondary teachers from two schools with a similar background and history of school-based management (SBM). The study aims to explore the views of the teachers in the following areas: changes in school administration and the structure of the school under SBM; changes in the role of teachers and the activities of the Parent-Teacher Associations; the challenges facing principals; and teachers' worries and concerns under SBM. The study is significant as it supplements the limited number of researches on the roles of teachers and principals under SBM in Hong Kong. As serving teachers now play increasingly important roles in schools and work closely with their principals in administrative and educational matters, they can provide invaluable insights into the new era of change.
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This article contains an analysis of both qualitative and quantitative data about the perception of both parents and school personnel on parents' participation at different levels of school activities. Findings indicated that most of the school personnel demonstrated unwelcome attitudes towards parent involvement and parents themselves did not like to become school managers either. Both of them expressed the intention of separate responsibilities in school management. It is recommended that schools should develop a school-based strategy to promote home-school cooperation. Besides, there is a need to establish parent schools to educate parents in their rights and responsibilities in participating in school education.
[Copyright of School Effectiveness and School Improvement is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1076/sesi.10.4.551.3488]

Teachers beliefs about their ability to affect students' performance is an important part of professionalism. This study compared 725 Hong Kong and 575 Shanghai primary in-service teachers on their teacher efficacy. Two Chinese versions of the 12-item Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale were used in this study since some wordings of the Hong Kong version of the Scale (HK-TSE) were different from the Shanghai version (STSE) as a result of cultural differences. Basically, the Shanghai teachers reported significantly higher efficacy than did the Hong Kong teachers. After reviewing these quantitative results, 86 follow-up questionnaires from Shanghai in-service teachers who also participated in the first part of this study were collected. Results of this qualitative part showed that the three most commonly cited factors for the contribution of teacher efficacy were: respect and confidence placed in them by students and parents, the training they received from universities and the experience they gained from daily teaching practice. Though Hong Kong in-service teachers had lower efficacy scores than the Shanghai counterparts.
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Teacher attitudes and practices are considered as essential in fostering parental involvement in school education. In Hong Kong, amongst possible types of home–school links, teacher–parent communication about children's learning has been agreed to be the primary concern of both schools and parents. This paper reports a test of a psychological model of teacher–parent communication in Hong Kong primary schools. The model has taken into account the theory of planned behavior, self-efficacy theory, expectancy theory and theories of family–school relations. Scales for measuring the criterion and predictor variables have been developed. Variables that associated with teacher communication intention and practices were identified and path analyses linking the variables in a conceptual model were conducted. Results show that teacher commitment and teacher efficacy in working with parents have significant predictive power for teacher intention. Teacher intention, together with teacher commitment, has predictive power for teacher's time spent in communicating with parents. Relationships between individual teacher beliefs and the criterion variables are also described and discussed.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03055690050022661]

The present study adopted a qualitative approach through in-depth individual and focus group interviews to study the attitudes of the early childhood teachers in Hong Kong. The goal of the study is to reveal the lived experience of real people in real contexts. The first part of the study looks at how satisfaction/dissatisfaction of early childhood teachers was experienced by teachers and the principal, in the process of a top-down curriculum implementation at a local kindergarten in Hong Kong. Building on the findings of this case study, the need for pedagogical skill and knowledge to enhance the job satisfaction of early childhood teachers was addressed. By means of an action research, thirty student teachers at the In-serve Qualified Kindergarten Teacher Education Course were involved in learning ways of understanding and implementing an art project. The ability to help children learn was reported by the student-teachers as the main source of satisfaction when implementing a revitalized process for a more child-centred approach in art projects for children. However, the opinions towards the bottom-up scenario on innovative learning and teaching approach were diverse. The lack of positive supporting context at the organizational level was identified to be the main obstacle to teachers' improvement and satisfaction. Besides the professional/pedagogical development of the teachers, the attitude of the administrators/principals and parents were vital factors in promoting the satisfaction of early childhood teachers in Hong Kong.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0300443022000022413]

Increasingly, there is advocacy for parents to be included in partnership roles with schools. Indeed, the term 'partnership' seems to have acquired the connotation of an ideal form of parent-school relationship. This paper argues that the notion of partnership, with its accompanying suggestion of equality as a framework for the complementary sharing of responsibilities, is problematical. Based on the findings from an in-depth study of teacher leadership in three Hong Kong schools that involved as participants parents, teachers, and students, it is proposed that a more reasonable understanding of this relationship is that of a professional and client association, where both parents and teachers are aware of their responsibilities and that these responsibilities are at once both demarcated and shared according to that understanding. At the same time there is also a need for teachers and parents to concentrate on building more concrete links for consistent and regular teacherVparent communication, as significant student learning now takes place informally at home, via the Internet.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10476210601151573]

This cross-cultural study examines early childhood professionals' perceptions of their social status, working conditions, and public appreciation in seven countries/territories: Guatemala, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Mexico, Peru, and the United States of America. One hundred eighteen participants, consisting of preschool and elementary school educators, program directors, child psychologists, and professors of early childhood education, responded to six questions through electronic, printed, and face-to-face contacts. The cross-cultural data revealed a high degree of agreement on these professionals' perceptions of their social standing, income, work responsibilities, and public appreciation. Results indicate that participants felt discouraged and underappreciated in their current circumstances and aspired to additional financial and emotional support, as well as greater respect from their governments and society.
[Copyright of Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10901020701366764]