Surprisingly little is known about the micro-leadership and management of the curriculum within schools. This study first applies a purpose-designed set of research instruments to penetrate the micro-workings of school decision-making in curriculum, teaching and learning. Second, it reports the findings from an application of the instruments in six Hong Kong primary schools. In regard to the principal's influence on curriculum, teaching and learning, in four of the six case-study primary schools, the principal's influence was deemed to be direct. This finding stands in contradistinction to the existing body of evidence - gathered mainly from secondary schools - that emphasises the indirect effect of principal leadership. In regard to the second question, concerning the general patterns of within-school curriculum decision-making, leadership and management, there appears to be a high degree of conformity across the six case-study primary schools.
[Copyright of Curriculum Journal is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09585170902763973]

This study draws upon an ecological perspective to examine parental involvement in homework and its relationship with primary school children's educational outcomes within the Chinese sociocultural context of Hong Kong. Data were collected using homework diaries and questionnaires administered to 1,309 pairs of students and parents spanning all six primary grade levels in 36 primary schools in Hong Kong. Results show that primary children across grade levels devote a substantial amount of time each day after school to homework assignments and revision, while parents' involvement in the homework process varies. Such variation in parental involvement is found to relate to the child's grade level as well as the parent's educational attainment. Gain in children's academic efficacy with higher parental involvement level is observed among junior primary students as well as those with parents of lower educational attainment. Implications for the school's role in involving parents in the homework process are discussed.
[Copyright of School Community Journal is the property of Academic Development Institute.
Access via Directory of Open Access Journals: http://www.adi.org/journal/]

In this paper, I posit a hybrid conceptualisation of women teachers' identities in the globalising and localising negotiation of gender. Drawing on Homi Bhabha's theory of hybridities, this paper argues for a fluid, hybrid and multifaceted reality of women teachers' lives in the areas of family, the husband and wife relationship, and the place of the child in the family as they engage in workplaces. The analysis draws on in-depth interviews with 20 Chinese women primary school teachers first individually and then in groups of four or five in Hong Kong where globalisation meets with the indigenous Chinese culture. Implications for teacher education are discussed.
[Copyright of Gender & Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09540250802581834]

The effectiveness of using the activity approach in primary schools teaching in Hong Kong was studied. The results suggested that student satisfaction was high.