Raising standards of teaching and learning in schools is a key issue of global concern. However, there are continuing concerns at government, organisational and classroom levels over how the change aspirations of the reforms are being managed and implemented by school leaders and teachers in ways which ensure the fulfilment of their intentions to improve existing pedagogical practices in classrooms. This resonates with more general concerns, internationally, about the ability of externally mandated systemic reforms (Elmore, 2004; Fullan, 2009) to influence and sustain change in the quality of teaching and learning at school and classroom levels. Drawing upon empirical research funded by ESRC-RGC (HK), this paper examines how reforms are mediated by schools for improvement.

Purpose and Objectives

The broad aim of this proposed research is to advance the state-of-the-art in theory and practice about the interface between the intentions of mandated reforms, their mediation by school leaders and teachers and, through these, their influence upon improving school and classroom structures and cultures and pupil outcomes.

This broad aim will be supplemented by four specific objectives:

1)   to examine the focus of change in recent top-down policy reforms in Hong Kong and England over time and key challenges identified at the interface between macro (country), meso (school) and micro (classroom) levels;

2)   to identify and analyse principles and practices of effective leadership and educational practice for change in improved and effective schools and classrooms;

3)   to identify and examine how school leaders at all levels and teachers mediate centrally mandated reforms reform which focus on improving classroom teaching and learning and pupil outcomes;

4)   to compare and contrast the similarities and differences between schools within and between each country in relation to 1)-3) and the implications for analysing the mediation of systemic change reforms  in different educational systems.

The Research Questions

The research will focus on the following questions:

1)   Are current government reform models in England and Hong Kong sufficient to achieve the objective of improving academic achievement for all pupils in secondary schools? What difficulties might they encounter or give rise to?

2)   To what extent and how have school leaders at all levels successfully maintained a strategic and operational focus on the leadership of learning and teaching whilst managing wider structural and cultural changes?

3)   What new leadership knowledge, skills and capacities have these leaders acquired and what do they need to acquire in order to be effective in responding to government reforms and change whilst maintaining what they consider to be good existing educational practices?

4)   How do school leaders at all levels, and teachers across different contexts, respond to government systemic reforms and change? What are the key challenges and issues that they face in mediating change and sustaining standards for all?

5)   In relation to 1)-4) above, what are the similarities and differences between schools (in terms of leadership, culture, school and classroom processes, and responses to reforms) within and between each country?

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