This article compares and discusses three prevailing approaches used to understand the concept of school culture and school culture phenomena. The approaches are typology-functionalist approach, process approach, and improvement-effectiveness approach. Compared with the other two, improvement-effectiveness approach is identified as more appropriate to conceptualize school culture when the concept is applied to promote school improvement and effectiveness. Moreover, the School Improvement Model of School Culture developed by Cavanagh and Dellar is introduced with the implications of the model to Hong Kong school leaders, policy-makers and educational researchers are being discussed. Copyright © 2009 Hong Kong Teachers’ Centre.

學校改進的研究與實踐均指出，院校協作扮演舉足輕重的角色。院校協作項目常涉及眾多項目學校，加強項目學校之間以及項目學校與大學之間的聯繫，是院校協作項目能夠持續發展的重要條件。本研究以香港優質學校改進計劃所舉辦的「聯校教師專業發展日」為個案研究對象，借助「實踐共同體」的理論視角，從理念層面、人際層面、實踐層面，分析「聯校教師專業發展日」這一實踐活動對於院校協作項目中建設實踐共同體的作用。Improving the quality of education through university-school collaboration carries strong theoretical and practical significance for the area of school improvement. A university-school project always involves many project schools. Endeavors in uniting these project schools are important conditions for the sustaining of school improvement project. The project under investigation in this study is Joint School Staff Development Day (JSSDD), a big event of the Quality School Improvement Project (QSIP) of Hong Kong. Through the lens of communities of practice (Cops), this study aims to explore the role of JSSDD to the construction of Cops for QSIP from three perspectives, namely domain, community, and practice. Copyright © 2012 香港中文大學.

近年，香港學校多以「自主學習」為旗幟，爭相模仿推行，甚至把自主學習看成是一種教學方式，以進行教學改進，可是對此中涉及的很多學習概念及策略，卻未有準確理解。本文嘗試分析各地推行的自主學習，大致歸納為三個取向，以作學校改進的參考：（1）源於西方認知發展理論中人在自我調適過程（self-regulated process）的角色；（2）中國內地在「還課堂給孩子」的觀念下，於課堂上進行不同形式的學生學習活動，並以「預習」及「導學案」來配合；（3）香港利用資訊科技發揮電子及網上學習的優勢，鼓勵學生主動學習。本文亦因應香港學校的實況，探索在學校層面制訂推行自主學習的策略及有效推動的關鍵。Self-directed learning (SDL) has become a prevalent focus of development in Hong Kong schools in recent years. However, a more thorough discussion on the concepts and strategies related to SDL is anticipated to clarify its core essence and understand its impact. Based on the analysis of different initiatives to facilitate SDL across countries/regions, three orientations are consolidated in this article to provide insight into facilitating SDL: (1) the metacognition orientation, developed in Western countries, which emphasizes the role of self-regulatory process in human development; (2) the instruction model orientation, prevailing on the Chinese mainland, which emphasizes students' autonomy in learning and is supported by students' effort in "preparation" and "pre-lesson enquiry"; and (3) the learning enrichment orientation in Hong Kong which encourages SDL through the support of information technology (e.g., e-learning, Web teaching, flipped classroom). This article identifies the essence of encouraging SDL and discusses the conditions for facilitating SDL effectively in the context of Hong Kong. Copyright © 2014 香港中文大學.

「優質學校改進計劃」是個大學與學校夥伴協作計劃，自1998年起一直給予中、小學全面專業支援，目的是整體學校改進。2000年，教育統籌委員會發表了《香港教育制度改革建議》，在充滿理想的改革原則策動下，中、小學教育及課程有明顯改變，但在推行及實踐各樣改革時，教與學的實際困境亦一一浮現。本文以香港「優質學校改進計劃」下的學校個案，探討學校領導為何在由上而下的改革浪潮下，引進大學專業人員的知識及實踐經驗，並從學校領導的視角，探索「計劃」在學校教育的不同層面所起的作用。Quality School Improvement Project (QSIP) is a university-school partnership program for comprehensive school improvement. Since 1998, QSIP has provided holistic professional support to primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong. In 2000, Education Commission published the Reform Proposals for the Education System in Hong Kong to outline some desirable education reform principles and proposals for schools. Following the reform principles, school education system and curriculum have some remarkable changes. When implementing the various education reforms, challenges and difficulties have also surfaced in the teaching and learning environment in schools. This article reviews why school leaders introduce QSIP into their school reform environment and how the professional supports from QSIP have influenced school education in different levels from school leaders' perspectives. Copyright © 2011 香港中文大學.

This study explored the characteristics of professional learning communities (PLCs) in Hong Kong primary schools. It investigated the profiles of the strengths of professional learning community in schools under study and particularly examined the practices in schools which were identified as strong PLCs. It extends research on PLCs in the Hong Kong context and formulates a quantitative perspective to compare and validate PLC variables across schools in Hong Kong. The Professional Learning Community Questionnaire (PLCQ) for Hong Kong schools was developed to assess the PLC practices in six different areas: leadership for teacher learning, collaborative learning capacity, student-focused orientation, a culture of sharing, mutual understanding and support, and continuous professional development. A composite construct, the Professional Learning Community Index (PLCI) expressed in quantitative terms was utilized to assess the strength of PLC in a school. The research findings show that within the schools which were identified as strong professional learning communities, both the school leaders and teachers had strong emphases on the six subscales of the PLC practices.
[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/10.1080/02188791.2016.1148852]

Following the international trend in education towards democracy and decentralization, the Hong Kong government introduced a school-based management (SBM) system about two decades ago. It is widely recognized in the literature that decentralization, empowering school level management and marginalizing the influence of the intermediate level of governance, can result in better deployment of school resources and better meet the demands of various stakeholders. However, in the unique historical and cultural context of Hong Kong, the advantages of decentralization claimed in the literature have yet to be fully realized. This paper discusses the contextual factors affecting the implementation of SBM in Hong Kong, and examines their impact on four major stakeholders, namely the government, the principals, the teachers, and the parents in the wake of reform.
[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/10.1080/02188791.2015.1056592]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to report on an exploratory study regarding the present situation of middle managers in schools; their professional development needs; and requirements of middle leaders for quality school management so that contents of existing professional development programmes could be improved to meet the needs of middle leaders of primary school education. Design/methodology/approach: Employing both quantitative and qualitative methods, this paper reports on a study of the training needs of middle leaders in primary schools in which their present situation, their needs for professional development and requirements for quality school management and leadership are explored. The study adopted survey questionnaires as the main method of data collection. To supplement quantitative data with regard to the professional development needs, six middle managers were purposefully selected for semi-structured interviews. Findings: The findings suggest that there are insufficient training opportunities for middle leaders in primary schools and that there is a strong demand for including the notions of interpersonal skills, crisis management, resources management and understanding of education ordinances in the professional development curriculum for middle leaders. The study recommends that training programmes should exert focus on meeting the specific needs of middle leaders and the content and approach be multi-dimensional. Originality/value: In spite of the small scale of the survey study, the data collected from individual in-depth interviews can provide the investigators with supplementary information on their professional development needs which also serves the purpose of triangulation. The finding can also be a very constructive reference for course providers who wish to re-engineer and improve the quality of professional development programmes for middle leaders. This may help arouse their interests and enhance their learning motivation.
[Copyright

Assessment and evaluation are essential educational practice. In December 2003, a set of Performance Indicators on the Domain of Child Development (revised edition) was published by the Education Manpower Bureau and Social Welfare Department to assist preschools in Hong Kong to evaluate young children’s performance in learning and development. This paper outlines how a project conducted by the Hong Kong Institute of Education has empowered 15 Hong Kong preschools using Performance Indicators to formulate strategies for self-evaluation on the Domain of Child Development. Implications for successful change of the assessment culture in the preschoosl are discussed.
[Copyright © 2008 Hong Kong Institute of Educational Research. The journal website is located at http://www.fed.cuhk.edu.hk/en/pej/]

Hong Kong families are increasingly diversified in form, structure, pattern and ethnicity. Working within the context of school improvement project, the authors responded to parents’ concern towards children’s language learning.
[Copyright © 2004 Common Ground, Wai Man Kwong, Po Wah Chan, Lai Ha Yuen.]