The top job in a school soon will require a return to school. Under government policy to be implemented next year, principals and aspiring ones will have to complete continuous professional education to be licensed to lead a school. So a host of programmes has been launched by local and overseas institutions to fill the need. It will be through principals that Hong Kong's ambitious education reform programme will rise or fall. Research by the Chinese University of Hong Kong has shown that when principals are unprepared for change, the whole school stands still. When they are, the result is a 'culture of collective learning'. Lilian Chan Lui Ling-yee, a former principal and a member of the working group that came up with the new framework for principals' professional development, said schools used to be subject to tight central control from government. Under the reforms, they are being given more responsibility but also face greater accountability. 'Principals are now responsible for their own strategic planning and must be more flexible in the deployment of staff, funding and curriculum planning. There is also greater accountability. New concepts of stakeholders and quality assurance have to be taken on board,' she said. Principals must learn to lead rather than manage their schools, she said, and are doing so through training programmes for aspiring, new and serving heads. Newly appointed principals are trained by the Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd) in a two-year programme involving workshops, mentoring, action research and overseas study visits. Ip Kin-yuen, who runs that programme, said: 'Leadership is becoming more complicated. Traditionally it used to be about getting things done. Now we count on principals to set the direction for a school. We also have to count on them for understanding the outside world, locally and internationally, because schools are under intense external pressures.' The support available to Hong Kong's new principals, from each other and their mentors, was one of the strengths of the programme, he said. Principals had been lonely figures, having to rely only on their own resources. Allan David Walker, chairman of the Department of Educational Administration and Policy and professor in the Faculty of Education, Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), said: 'I think it's great that they're starting to require some kind of formal preparation and training for principals. A few years back, it used to be sink-or-swim. You moved up and became a principal because you were a good teacher, but being a good principal requires a different set of skills, which is why preparation is so important.' CUHK's 'Principals of Tomorrow' programme requires a needs analysis, a formal course and preparation of a portfolio. 'We are working very closely and with serving principals to develop programmes in needs analysis and assessment,' Professor Walker said. 'Everything we do is in the Hong Kong context. We like to think of it as being for principals and by principals.' For experienced principals, during each cycle of three years they must clock at least 150 hours of professional development related to their roles, including formal and action learning. This can include higher degrees and diplomas, and projects they have initiated in their schools. Mark Bray, dean of the Faculty of Education, the University of Hong Kong (HKU): 'We are doing our best to respond to the reforms. As society changes, the education system needs to change, too.' Technological, sociological, economic, and political developments in recent years mean that the pace of change is getting faster all the time, creating challenges that educators, academics, and teacher trainers never had to face before. 'It used to be we could train someone to teach English and they would go and teach English for the next 20 or 30 years,' Professor Bray said. Not only was change taking place faster, it was also becoming increasingly erratic, he said. 'The reason I say that is partly because of the influence of globalisation and the flow of financial and human capital. These are affecting all societies and all places. But Hong Kong is special because of its changing relationship with the mainland. We are now partnered with and part of a society which is changing at breakneck speed and in some ways, these changes are unpredictable.' HKU's programmes range from the training of teachers to the professional upgrading of teachers and administrators. 'One of the things we are seeing is that people need training in how to think, react, and be responsive,' Professor Bray said. The HKIEd provides other options for leadership development. The University of Melbourne in Australia delivers a master's and a postgraduate certificate in education management in conjunction with HKIEd's Division of Continuing and Professional Education. CUHK's Faculty of Education, meanwhile, offers doctoral, MPhils, taught master's (MScs and MAs), advanced postgraduate diploma, and postgraduate diploma programmes, many providing the knowledge to allow greater specialisation in education. Permanent Secretary of Education Fanny Law Fan Chiu-fun is among its master's students. For her, the course is an opportunity to deepen her understanding of curriculum issues - key to education reforms - and to work alongside front-line teachers, according to her spokeswoman. Chris Husbands, professor of education at the University of East Anglia (UEA) in Britain, which offers a doctorate programme through the British Council, said: 'Many of the challenges are similar all over the world, but they are being addressed in a different cultural context.' Six years ago UEA launched its PhD in educational and professional development here. About 60 people are enrolled in the programme, which takes five to six years to complete. 'This was a response to the need to provide high quality and high-level support for very senior staff and aspiring senior staff at universities, schools, and government agencies,' Professor Husbands said. 'UEA has had long links with education in Hong Kong. It has been involved with its reforms and people here have been going to UEA.' Hong Kong's former colonial status meant the educational systems of Britain and Hong Kong had much in common. 'Listening to teachers here is very similar to listening to those in Britain,' he said. But there were also significant differences. 'For one thing, it's a more coherent system here, with stronger links between government and schools,' he said. 'And expectations are probably higher across the system.' Teachers know of those expectations all too well. The requirements for continuous professional development may be rewarding, but also constitute added pressure for many. Additional reporting by Katherine Forestier
