In facing up with the challenges of globalization, IT, economic transformation, and international competitions in the new century, there are numerous educational reforms in many countries in the Asia-Pacific region. In these reforms, there is strong demand for a comprehensive knowledge base for educational innovation, policy development and practical improvement, supported by a wide range of research at different levels. This address aims to highlight the changing role of educational research in the emerging paradigm shifts in policy concerns and practical implementation in the nine trends and three waves of educational reforms in the Region. From analyzing the critical issues and challenges in the life cycle of policy development, the speech proposes a framework to draw implications for the future developments of educational research in the coming decade. In particular, the case of teachers and the teaching profession is used to illustrate what key issues that are challenging both policy development and educational research in the Asia-Pacific Region. At the end, it elaborates how educational research should be organized to support educational reforms and paradigm shifts in practice at the national, local, site and operational levels. Various types of local, national, regional and global research networks should be formed across areas and countries in the Region to create critical mass of multi-disciplinary research forces that can support high-level research for educational developments in the Region and other parts of the world. APERA should play a critical role in organizing and developing such networks.

Critical research review The paper will provide an overview of the learning and lesson study research strands in Chinese and English in Hong Kong, from the WALS 1st conference in 2005 to 2012 in classrooms, schools and communities. The presenter will provide an up-to-date overview of Hong Kong's diverse, multidimensional literature. She will focus on the lesson and learning study definitions, mapping of the process(es) and aspects that take priority. In light of this, she will offer a characterization of the research. Discussion will then focus on the implications of the research in terms of ultimate purposes and values, and emerging research trends and future directions. Not only will this be a discussion of the Hong Kong learning and lesson study research literature, but it will also provide a forum to nurture global dialogue.

With the processes of inter- and intranationalization, higher education in Hong Kong has been rapidly expanding in an effort to develop the city into a regional education hub. This article explores the trends and developments of higher education research (HER) in Hong Kong in the context of inter- and intranationalization. By drawing on the data from the Scopus database, this article analyzes a selection of journal articles on higher education published in Hong Kong over the past three decades. Findings show that significant growth and some new outputs have been seen in the field during the study period. In addition, local researchers have complied with the rule by forming more transnational and intranational research teams and by conducting more non-local studies. Interestingly, many of them have not abandoned local collaboration and studies, but they further developed their roots. These findings reveal that some internal signs of cosmopolitanization have been recorded in the field.
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This paper uses two action research cases to explore the potential for the implementation of assessment for learning in schools. Whilst there have been pockets of success in the UK (e.g. Black et al., 2003), what are the prospects for , assessment for learning in a Confucian-heritage culture, where the summative assessment paradigm has traditionally dominated? In order to show both the potential and challenges for assessment for learning in the Hong Kong primary school context, I decuss two action research cases of 'early adopters' of an ongoing reform. The first case examines a Cyber Zoo project which sought to develop information technology skills, collaboration skills and problem-solving abilities with a class aged 11-12 years old. The second case examines the implementation of peer assessment with the aim of sensitising 10-11 year old pupils to the grammatical errors which they make in their written English. The value of the paper lies in analysing assessment for learning in classroom practice within a specific international context. From this analysis, I draw out an exploratory cluster of the facilitating and inhibiting factors impinging on the implementation of assessment for learning in schools, building on a model of professional growth developed by Clarke & Hollingsworth (2002).

Background: Collaborative Action Research has been a popular form of research method conducted by the BEd (Hons) in-service and pre-service students studying the early childhood education at the Hong Kong Institute of Education. With a thorough understanding of the theory and practise of the collaborative action research by these novice teachers in this form of research methods, they could be benefited by an understanding on how they might develop a genuine school-based curriculum for an educational change in their schools. Aims: This paper aimed to provide guidelines on how to conduct a Collaborative Action Research for facilitating school-based Curriculum Development by theory and practise. A case study on how to carry out a collaborative action research is quoted for reference of those who would conduct this kind of research for the first time. The insertion of this case study is to highlight the meaning of 'collaborative' in an action research; it is not suffice to provide chances for teachers to voice out their opinions. What needs more to be done is to incorporate voices of teachers when formulating the plan in next action research cycle. With a thorough understanding of the theory and practise underpinned the Collaborative action research, it is anticipated that the novice teachers would gain in knowledge of what a "child-centred" curriculum and its pedagogic application would be like. In view of the variation in practices among today's teacher researchers, the theoretical and philosophical perspectives of Action Research will be reviewed to inform practitioners of the historical roots of their practise. What has been mentioned by Coulter (2002) as the essence of what constituting an authentic education "action' research would be revisited. Arguments: Allied with Coulter's argument in his What Counts as Action in Educational Action Research (2002), the author of this paper is keen to reiterate the differentiation of the three forms of Action research. In order

Education for sustainable Development (ESD) in Hong Kong schools is administered by the Environmental Campaign Committee (ECC) through its core education programs, mainly the Hong Kong Green School Awards (HKGSA) and Student Environmental Protection Ambassador Scheme (SEPAS). This is supported partly by the SAR Government Education and Development Bureau (EDB) which seeks the permeation of ESD through the formal curriculum but is seriously hindered by the curriculum structure. Research recently conducted by the authors reveals that there are still questions to be answered regarding the readiness and willingness of schools to engage with ESD. In China, on the other hand, ESD is being promoted mainly through its Green School Program administered by the State Ministry of Education (MOE) and sponsored by the State Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA). This chapter provides an in-depth description and comparison of the history, development, and the theoretical framework of ESD for schools in Hong Kong and Mainland China.