香港的學校近年推行多項教育變革，需要中層人員協助以領導學校發展。本文報導一項關於小學中層管理人員對培訓需求的研究，探討小學中層人員的工作現況、專業發展需要，以及優質學校對中層人員的需求。研究顯示，目前提供中層人員的培訓機會不足，中層人員對處理學校的人際關係、危機管理、資源管理和教育法律等課題有強烈的培訓需求。本研究建議香港教育局開設的中層管理培訓課程必須有針對性，其內容及方式應多元化，以滿足中層人員對培訓的需求。
[Copyright © 香港中文大學 2009.]

It is noticed that up till 1997-98 academic year, there are only 200 primary schools which is approximately 23% of the total number of primary schools of Hong Kong, joining the School Management Initiative (SMI) Scheme since its first initiation in 1992. Referring to the SMI handbooks and other related reports, a well organized staff development and appraisal system is very significant in the effective management of schools. However, the main concern of this paper is not focussing on why not many schools join SMI scheme. Instead, this paper describes a qualitative case study of three Hong Kong primary schools, aiming at revealing the present situation of staff development and appraisal practices implementing in HK primary schools. Researchers also want to study how school practitioners, especially from the views of the people in the frontier, i.e. the heads (the manager), the senior teachers (the middle manager) and the teachers (the staff) value and act in the whole staff development and appraisal programmes. In the study, researchers have interviewed 3 school heads, 9 senior teachers and 12 teachers. The three sample schools are chosen by convenience but the interviewees are selected by ramdom sampling. The experience explored in the study is hoped to have some important implications to the effective management, especially in the areas of staff development and appraisal practices in primary schools of Hong Kong.

Hong Kong schools experience an era of educational change in the 1990s. In the perspective of school management, the School Management Initiative was first introduced in 1991 and later replaced by the School Based Management in 1999, allowing school management greater autonomy in general administration, finance and personnel matters but at the same time requiring a higher degree of accountability for school performance. Other major change items fall into the categories of curriculum ( TOC, curriculum adaptation), medium of instruction (EMI and CMI schools), educational technology (SAMs and information technology in teaching) and funding system (Quality Education Fund). To enhance the quality of school education, it is further recommended by the Education Commission Report no.7, apart from others (1) a framework to raise the professional standards of principals and teachers and (2) a framework of quality indicators for school performance. These changes denote a demand for professional competence of principals and teachers to meet the needs and difficulties of school. While there are various means to raise the competence of principals and teachers, the running of staff development programmes is obvious a generally acceptable one as it is less disruptive to school administration. It also has the advantages of being more school-based to meet the particular needs of individual schools. The popularity of staff development programmes can be reflected by the increasing number of services provided by the Continuing Professional Education of the HKIEd upon request. The authors of this paper have been heavily involved in the staff development programmes of primary and secondary schools since the past few years. Through participant observation, interviews and other data-collecting techniques, this paper attempts to provide information, as reflected by the programmes organized, specifically on (1) the different professional needs of different types of schools and (2) the different

The importance of school-institute partnerships for professional development is widely acknowledged by many studies. Through partnership, tertiary institutions can gain access to schools’ teaching practices, while schools can gain new ideas and knowledge. Such collaboration not only ensures teacher development but also makes action research feasible, which in turn promotes teaching and learning effectiveness in schools. The resultant school improvement is notable in the achievement of high quality education in Hong Kong. This chapter describes the successful experience of building a professional partnership in staff development between The Hong Kong Institute of Education and the Shanghai School for the Blind. Although there are dissimilarities in terms of vision, mission and target students between the two partners, the collaborative arrangement was found to be workable as a result of the explicit aims and shared goals. The experience gained in the partnership was meaningful and productive. Sharing responsibilities between partners not only minimized misunderstandings but also maximized the sense of involvement and contribution of the partners. The conclusion highlights the essential elements of a successful partnership, that is, mutuality, trust and reciprocal benefit (Anderson & Cheung, 1999; Fullan, Erskine-Cullen, & Watson, 1995; Goodlad, 1985; Osguthorpe, Harris, Black, Cutler, & Harris, 1995).
[Copyright © 2004 The Chinese University Press, Hong Kong Institute of Educational Research.]

The symposium aims at sharing the personal experience of the principals of the Hong Kong Catholic Diocesan Kindergartens on the effect of Staff Development Programme on promoting quality kindergarten programme in their schools. In order to promote the quality of the Hong Kong Catholic Diocesan Kindergarten education, the Management Committee of Hong Kong Catholic Diocesan Kindergartens had organized a series of staff development programme for the teaching staff and principals. The staff development programme which included a one workshop on teaching approaches, a 13-session staff development seminars for principals and head teachers funded by the Quality Education Fund and a project on reading stories with young children had been conducted from March 98 to July 98. the principals found that the series of staff development programme had enhanced their construction of professional knowledge and the management of their kindergartens. The symposium will provide opportunities for the presenters and the audience to share their first hand experience on the related issues.

從基層教師走進學校的管理階層，小學中層人員既要兼顧學科教學的發展，又要承擔學校行政管理的工作，他們對學校的發展與改善有著舉足輕重的作用。自從教統會於2000年推出《香港教育制度建議》後，這幾年香港小學教育急遽的發展，加上課程改革的落實、外評視學的推行和學校縮班殺校的壓力，本港大部分小學都處於變革中。為了支援及發展小學中層人員的成長，香港初等教育研究學會於2004至2005年獲得優質教育基金撥款資助，開展「小學中層人員專業培訓」計劃，分別為50個小學中層人員提供系統培訓課程並為8間所小學提供校本中層人員培訓。在推行校本中層人員提供系統培訓中，筆者發現小學中層人員是否理解自己在校務及科務的角色，是否明白學校團隊工作的理念和技巧，都或多或少會影響他們對自己工作的表現及其滿足感。為了進一步了解中層人員在教育變革中對自己角色與成長的看法，筆者將開展一個小型問卷調查，以了解小學中層人員就個人在學校的角色、在教改中的感受、對持續進修內容的要求、對個人專業成長等四方面的看法，以提供實證資料供關心小學中層人員成長的政策制訂者、培訓人員及學校管理者參考，以期更好地促進小學中層人員的成長與發展。