Perceptions of leadership and curriculum change in Hong Kong primary schools

The aim of the study is to examine the perceptions of curriculum change and leadership of curriculum change among Hong Kong primary teachers in four case study schools. The main research questions of the study are: 1. What perceptions of curriculum change do teachers hold?, and 2. What perceptions of the leadership of curriculum change do teachers hold? This case study employed multi-site methodology to gather qualitative data for a more in-depth and holistic understanding of the teachers’ perceptions of curriculum change and leadership of curriculum change. A total of 24 teachers in four case schools participated in this study. The primary source of data was semi-structured interviews. The secondary source of data included school documents. Key findings of the study are as follows: (1) The majority of the teachers regarded the purpose of curriculum change related to academic-rationalism. It is very rare for them to view curriculum change in terms of social-economic efficiency, social reconstruction and child- centredness. (2) There were varied attitudes among the teachers in the study. There exist different perceived support and difficulties for curriculum change in terms of three perspectives: technical, socio-cultural and political. (3) The participants in this study perceived leadership as multi-faceted. (4) The Principal, the curriculum development leaders and department heads were regarded as the key figures who had the greatest influence in curriculum change. (5) Teachers seemed not to regard themselves as change leaders. The positional holders with high ranks tended to be more active in leading change while those with lower ranks claimed more that they only dealt with managerial and administrative tasks in their roles. (6) Among the four case study schools, the teachers revealed that to a large extent, the nature of change initiated by the school was ‘top-down’. Implications, recommendations and limitations of the study were also discussed