Description

Raising standards of teaching and learning in schools is at the forefront of policy makers’ minds internationally. The importance attached to learning outcomes is obvious in the substance of key educational reforms across societies and contexts. However, there is continuing uncertainty about how and to what extent schools implement these reforms and, most importantly, whether they really have a positive impact on student learning outcomes. 

This project investigates whether government education reform policies make a real difference in schools, particularly to student outcomes, in Hong Kong and England. In order to build understanding we focus on three main areas – system policy, school leadership and the school community. The first area will detail and then compare systemic government reform models which seek to raise standards of pupil outcomes by changing teaching and learning, in school and classroom structures and cultures. This will involve an analysis of recent government reform documentation and interviews. 

The second area focuses on the roles and qualities school leaders need to lead and manage change successfully. This will involve an examination of how school leaders at all levels mediate reforms to make them work in their school contexts. Information will be sought about the skills, knowledge and capacities they need to build and sustain a strategic and operational focus, on the leadership of learning and teaching. The third area looks at outcomes at the grassroots level. This will involve identifying the challenges school leaders, teachers and pupils face as they respond to systemic government reforms. 

Drawing on existing and newly-collected data the project will compare and contrast the similarities and differences between schools both within and between Hong Kong and England. This comparative analysis will provide new insights into the nature of the leadership and management of change in educational practice. This will involve identifying similarities and differences in the social, cultural and societal values of the two countries as they reverse similar policy trajectories. 

Outputs

Book

Gu, Q., Day, C., Walker, A., Armstrong, P., Bryant, D., Chen, J., Ko, J., Sammons, P. (under preparation). Reshaping government reforms for improvement: How schools do it. London: Routledge.

Refereed Journals

1. Gu, Q., Day, C., Walker, A., & Leithwood, K. (2018). How successful secondary school principals enact policy. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 17(3), 327-331.
2. Gu, Q., & Day, C. (2018). How successful secondary school principals in England respond to policy reforms: The influence of biography. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 17(3), 332-344.
3. Bryant, D. A., Ko, J., & Walker, A. (2018). How do school principals in Hong Kong shape policy. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 17(3), 345-359.
4. Armstrong, P., Ko, J., & Bryant, D. A. (2018). Values-Driven leadership through institutional structures and practices: How successful schools in England and Hong Kong “absorb” policy. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 17(3), 360-372.
5. Gu, Q., Sammons, P., & Chen, J. (2018). How principals of successful schools enact education policy: Perceptions and accounts from senior and middle leaders. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 17(3), 373-390.
6. Leithwood, K. (2018). Postscript: Five insights about school leaders’ policy enactment. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 17(3), 391-395.

Refereed Conference Papers

1. Walker, A., Bryant, D. A., & Ko, J. (2016, August 22-23). How do school leaders in Hong Kong shape policy enactment? Paper presented at European Educational Research Association Conference 2016, Dublin, UK.
2. Day, C., Ylimaki, R., Bennett, J., Johansson, O., Walker, A., Armstrong, P., Gu, Q., & Uljens, M.  (2014, September 4). How successful school leaders mediate and enact government reforms. Paper presented at ECER 2014 -The Past, the Present and Future of Educational Research in Europe, Portugal.
3. Gu, Q., Day, C. & Walker, A. (2014, September 23-25). Overview of the research design for Reshaping Educational Practice for Improvement: How Successful Schools Enact Government Reforms in England and Hong Kong. Paper presented at the Symposium titled Reshaping Educational Practice for Improvement: How Successful Schools Enact Government Reforms in England and Hong Kong at the BERA 2014 Annual Conference. London, UK.
4. Chen, J., Ko, J., Sammons, P., Gu, Q. (2014, September 23-25). Models of the perceived impact of headteacher leadership on improvements in pupil outcomes: Results from the survey research on senior and middle leaders. Paper presented at the Symposium titled Reshaping Educational Practice for Improvement: How Successful Schools Enact Government Reforms in England and Hong Kong at the BERA 2014 Annual Conference. London, UK.
5. Armstrong, P., Bryant, D. A., Ko, J., Gu, Q., Day, C., & Walker, A.. (2014, September 23-25). Enacting values and educational purposes: How leaders of the case studies schools mediate policy for improvement. Paper presented at the Symposium titled Reshaping Educational Practice for Improvement: How Successful Schools Enact Government Reforms in England and Hong Kong at the BERA 2014 Annual Conference. London, UK.
6. Gu, Q., Day, C., Walker, A., Armstrong, P., Bryant, D. A., Ko, J., Chen, J., & Sammons, P. (2014, September 23-25). How successful secondary schools in England and Hong Kong reshape external educational reforms: Key messages from the Research. Paper presented at the Symposium titled Reshaping Educational Practice for Improvement: How Successful Schools Enact Government Reforms in England and Hong Kong at the BERA 2014 Annual Conference. London, UK.
7. Bryant, D., Walker, A., & Ko, J. (2014, April 5). How do school leaders in Hong Kong shape policy enactment? Paper presented at The American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting 2014, Philadelphia, USA.
   
8. Ko, J., & Walker, A. (2014, January 2-7). The dynamic roles of school principals in leading and improving school improvement in the 21st Century: Lessons from Hong Kong. Paper presented at the 27th ICSEI Congress, Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

Reports

1. Walker, A., & Team. (2014). Confidential research reports to project schools A-D: Reshaping Educational Practice for Improvement in HK and England. Hong Kong: The Joseph Lau Luen Hung Charitable Trust Asia Pacific Centre for Leadership and Change, Hong Kong Institute of Education.
2. Walker, A., & Team. (2013). Confidential Mid-term research report: Reshaping Educational Practice for Improvement in HK and England. Hong Kong: The Joseph Lau Luen Hung Charitable Trust Asia Pacific Centre for Leadership and Change, Hong Kong Institute of Education.