Asia's High Performing Education Systems ─ The Case of Hong Kong

Education officials, specialist leaders and teachers have all been involved in different ways to bring about school reform in Hong Kong. This book is a very current and relevant analysis of this reform, highlighting the way in which agencies have cooperated in bringing about change over the last several decades. Through a process of wide-ranging decision-making, collaboration and consensus among key bodies and agencies of change, some important developments have occurred. The reforms collectively have had, and are continuing to have, a major impact upon schooling in Hong Kong.

This volume represents a range of authors and specialists involved in a number of different reforms, covering themes such as historical policy contexts, new curriculum approaches, changing pedagogies, school leadership, implementation and change, and assessment and evaluation. This is a very topical book which provides a probing analysis of how an Asian education system has been able to reach and maintain a very high performing level.

Colin Marsh was an Adjunct Professor at Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia. He published many books in education, including Key Concepts for Understanding Curriculum (Routledge), currently in its fourth edition. He passed away in 2012.

John Chi-Kin Lee is the Vice-President (Academic) and Chair Professor of Curriculum and Instruction, the Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd). He has served also as Co-Director of the Centre for Small Class Teaching (CSCT) and Co-Director of Centre for Education in Environmental Sustainability (CEES) at the HKIEd. He has been awarded as Chang Jiang Chair Professor to serve at Southwest University, China. Recently, he co-edited two books, Changing Schools in an Era of Globalization (with Prof. Brian Caldwell, Routledge, 2011) and New Understandings of Teacher’s Work: Emotions and Educational Change (with Prof. Chris Day, 2011).