Education reform is increasingly based on emulating the features of world-class' systems that top international attainment surveys and, in England specifically, East Asia is referenced as the inspiration' for their education reforms. However, the extent to which the features identified by the UK Government accord with the situation within East Asia is problematic. This paper examines the relationship between the English representation and the reality' of East Asian education systems, using school autonomy as an illustrative example. We focus on Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai, which are cited extensively to legitimate policies providing greater autonomy for schools in England. We argue firstly that the English representation has been largely discursive and inaccurate; has failed to recognise the variations across the region; and has been selected to endorse the Government's ideological preferences. Secondly, the scope, form and nature of school autonomy vary markedly, and are operationalised in each society in ways reflecting the prevailing sociopolitical priorities.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to trace the development of school autonomy and accountability and related multiple changes and impacts in key areas of school education in Hong Kong since implementing school-based management (SBM) from 1990s. Design/methodology/approach To explore the evolution and the uniqueness of autonomy and accountability in the Hong Kong school system, the paper begins with an historical account, followed by an evaluation of the effects of SBM as shown in policy documents, local research, international reviews and illustrative findings from a case study. The local and international implications of SBM for research and practice are then discussed. Findings This paper shows the links between school autonomy and accountability by exploring the potential effects of both of these factors on educational management and student achievement, which are increasingly emphasised in educational policies. The investigation shows that the assumed links and effects are not always consistent or empirically supported. The positive effects that school autonomy has on school governance and management, teachers' work, school-based curriculums and student learning are all significant when there is also strong leadership, comprehensive continuous professional development and a positive, collaborative school climate. These key elements work alongside school autonomy to facilitate positive change. Research limitations/implications School autonomy and accountability should be viewed as necessary, but not sufficient, conditions for school improvement and development. Further characterisation of the processes happening in schools is needed to explore the different realisations of school autonomy and accountability. Originality/value This investigation of school autonomy and accountability in Hong Kong provides the international audience with a deeper understanding of the dynamics involved in the development of SBM.

Education Bureaus in various regions have developed professional development programs to provide aspiring school leaders with the support they need to be successful. In Hong Kong, newly appointed principals and aspiring principals are required to have a good mastery of leadership capacities for the new paradigm of education development in the century. This paper aims to examine 188 senior teachers’ perception on how useful and applicable their learnt leadership skills in their leadership positions in schools. A questionnaire consisting of 24 questions in six core areas of leadership was constructed and mailed to the samples two years after they were awarded the Certificate for Principalship. Findings demonstrated that most of the aspirants found that leadership capacities of ‘strategic direction and policy environment', and ‘quality assurance and accountability' were more useful and applicable to their leadership positions in school than those in the leadership areas of ‘teacher professional growth and development', ‘external communication and connection to the outside world', ‘learning, teaching and curriculum', and ‘staff and resources management’.

近年，香港教育當局落實了校本管理的政策和推行著多項教育的變革，在學校大大增加了中層人員的工作量和他們在領導方面的需求。最近的研究指出，有很多學校的中層人員在領導方面遇著很大的困難，它們主要來自四方面：對自己領導的信心不足、同工的不合作、與校長不合拍、及環境的影響等，以致大大影響中層人員領導方面的信心與效能。其中「與校長不合拍」可能有很多原因，如雙方是否願意充分合作、溝通是否足夠、彼此是否遷就對方的處事方式等等。有研究亦指出，聰明且有幹勁的管理人員，常會忽略調理與上司的關係，最終傷害了自己及危及组織。要成為高效能的中層領導，他不僅需要努力建立團隊的關係，還要與上司有良好的關係及得到他的支持。本文以小學中層人員及校長為研究對象，透過面談，瞭解中層人員與校長之間相處的困難及協作方式，並且作出分析及建議。

The importance of expanding the leadership capacity of schools as a means of supporting education reform has been recognized by school system globally over the past decade. This has Ied to an intensified focus on school-based management, teacher leadership, distributed leadership, and shared leadership as potentially efficacious approaches to achieving this goal. This has been the case as well in Hong Kong where the formal adoption of school based management over a decade ago has Ied to the use of ‘school management teams’ as a vehicle for leading schools. In this study, we examine how levels of cooperation and constructive controversy evidenced within school management teams (SMT) relate to a broader levels of collaboration among teachers. Dyad survey data was collected from SMT members and teachers at 32 primary schools in Hong Kong. Results of multilevel regression analysis indicated that cooperation among members in these SMTs was positively related to levels of teacher collaboration. Moreover, the use of constructive controversy within SMTs mediated the path and contributed additional variance explained to the level of school-wide teacher collaboration. These findings affirm that the leadership dynamics of School Management Teams in Hong Kong primary schools do appear to have a positive influence on potentially important school level conditions. Notably the findings are also consistent with findings from similar studies of senior management teams in private sector organizations in China. If substantiated in further studies, the results suggest that investments in building broader leadership capacity in Hong Kong’s schools are achieving some system-level goals.

Civic education is a component of the school curriculum in most countries yet it is not always given a high priority compared to subjects such as Mathematics, Science and Language. Given the current climate of concern related to youth radicalization, the apparent attractiveness of radical solutions to social problems and the importance of adolescence as a key time for political socialization, new efforts should be made to make civic education a more central and more relevant part of the school experience. In particular, the role school leadership can play in developing more civically-oriented schools should be examined. Kennedy, Li & Chan (2014) and Li & Kennedy (2015) reported studies of the individual school and community influences on Hong Kong students’ civic knowledge and understanding. The results suggested that school could be differentiated by the extent to which students were encouraged to participate in school civic activities. School with high levels of student participation tended to have students with higher levels of civic knowledge. At the same time, resources in the community were also a significant influence on students’ civic learning. This result highlighted the importance of leadership in creating a culture of participation and suggested that ‘leading for civic learning’ should be a priority in responding to the current need for more relevant and meaningful civic education in schools. The purpose of this paper is to explore in greater depth what it means to adopt ‘leading for civic learning’ as a motif for student civic development. Implications will be drawn for classroom pedagogy, the school curriculum and school policies in order to show how schools might respond to the current climate of youth disaffection and alienation.