Our Courses

Successful leaders, managers, and administrators underpin their behaviours and practices with a strong foundation of theoretical knowledge and conceptual ability. Accordingly, this course aims at developing students' theoretical and conceptual abilities. It introduces students to a range of important administrative and organizational theories and perspectives which have influenced management practice at all levels, from system to school, over the past century. These theories and perspectives adopt a wide purview, including structural, human resource, political, symbolic and cultural dimensions. Opportunities will beprovided for students to apply the theories and perspectives to current education policy and school management issues in Hong Kong.

This course aims to encourage students to reflect upon what constitutes effective leadership in schools, especially within a constantly shifting reform environment, and to construct their own 'theories' of effective leadership. A range of established and emerging approaches and understandings of leadership are explored and analyzed in relation to the assorted contexts within which leaders lead. While recognizing the importance of the principalship the course assumes that leadership resides and operates across various levels within and outside traditional school boundaries and that teacher leadership is an important area of study. Areas covered include strategic and ethical leadership, panel leadership, leadership for learning and comparative, cross-cultural understandings of leadership. The course attempts to locate school leadership at the local level within a broader national, regional and international perspective. Through a combination of case studies, journal writing, problem-based cases, experiential activities and self-guided learning students apply leadership knowledge to their own personal and school contexts.

This course is designed to familiarize students with theoretical and practical aspects of organizational change and educational planning. The course explores the current context of organizational change and introduces a number of theories and perspectives on change relevant to educational leaders in Hong Kong. Various approaches to educational planning for change are presented and applied. Particular attention is paid to school development planning for self-managing schools and the development of staff in these organizations. The course will include: (1) current theories and perspectives on organizational change; (2) current approaches to and techniques for implementing school development planning; (3) critique and application of change and planning models to relevant situations. Learning activities employed include case studies, solving problems, scenario writing and experience sharing. Through these activities students will develop conceptual and practical skills for the effective management of change in schools and other educational institutions.

This course introduces key concepts and issues in teacher and school development and the construction of professional learning communities and schools as learning organizations. Students are encouraged to think critically about the ways in which people are supported, rewarded and developed in schools and to reflect upon their own beliefs and experiences about leading people and working with others in different organizational contexts. The course assumes that leadership operates at multiple levels throughout the school. The course aims to bring together theoretical knowledge and critical application through utilizing group work, traditional lectures, web-based resources, self-guided learning and journal writing. General topic areas, depending on contextual demands, will include understandings of self-management and self as a learner, leading retention and rewards, optimizing professional and organizational capacity, focusing personal and professional development on student needs, communication and feedback, knowledge management, performance management and team growth, development and learning.

This course is designed to enrich students' understanding of current trends in educational administration and policy in Hong Kong. It aims to sharpen students' focus on the conceptual and methodological backgrounds of complex issues in a contested field where crucial educational matters are decided and put into action. A general treatment of the social, economic, and institutional perspectives will lay the foundation of inquiry into the approaches to policy formulation, policy implementation, and administrative conduct. A conscious effort to relate major policy and administration issues to relevant developmental experiences and research findings will facilitate political, social, and economic interpretations of policy and administrative measures that have far-reaching influence on the educational development of Hong Kong. Issues in educational structure, alternative models of schooling, organizational change in schools, parental voice and choice, curricular change, examination and assessment, and teacher development will constitute the major concerns of this course.

The course aims to help students to develop a basic scholarly foundation for policy studies in education. It is designed to introduce students to basic concepts, perspectives and approaches in educational policy studies. The course will explicate the different conceptions of educational policy as well as its content, process and effects. It will also introduce students to various theoretical perspectives that explore the nature of various dimensions of educational policy. There may include humanist, liberal and communitarian perspectives. Students will be exposed to different policy approaches, which define the orientations of inquiry underlying various policy designs. These approaches will include various normative and disciplinary approaches to policy studies. Different policy conceptions, perspectives and approaches will be illustrated with examples of research and practice in both local and international contexts.

The course is designed to introduce students to concepts, theories and research relevant to the relationship between education policy and its societal context. It will explicate the historical and societal contexts from which modern schooling system and its policies are generated. The course will analyze how education policies affect the structure and process of modern societies. It will also discuss the functions and effects of education policies in addressing social issues in modern society. These may include issues on identity formationin various domains of society, social selection, educational and social inequality, selection and distribution of educational knowledge, and freedom and choice in the educational process.

The course is designed to help students to study education and development from an international perspective. It will explicate how individual nation-states formulate their education policies within their particular political and historical context and how these policies are implemented in order to address social, economic, cultural and political issues in national development. Students will explore the common agendas governing the formulation and implementation of education policies from a comparative perspective. The course aims to expound the divergent and convergent trends among national education policies. The following issues will be examined: quality and equality of educational system, decentralization and devolution, relationship among home, school and community, globalization and education reform.

This course aims to introduce students to basic economic concepts, principles and theories to be used for analysis of outcomes and resources in education. It attempts to uncover the effects and resource considerations of education on the individual as well as the society as a whole in the long run. At the core of the course are: (1) theoretical foundations with particular reference to human capital theory and its alternative views and theories, education and economic growth, education and labor market, education and economic convergence, (2) the policy relevancy with particular reference to issues such as financing of education, cost analysis, concept and measurement of value-added in education, incentives policy and educational productivity, and (3) the use of resources at national, district and school levels with particular reference to the criteria and models of educational grants, budgeting and financial planning for change, and (re)allocation and utilization of teaching resources for quality school education. The focus of discussion will mainly be on the relating of relevant theories and research findings to policy issues, while relevant principles and experience will be illustrated for school consideration and implementation. Students are afforded an opportunity to apply empirical data analysis related to basic theories in planning and finance of education, which aims to equip them with databased decision-making skills.

The aim of this course is to illuminate major issues of educational change in Chinese societies. For the purpose of this course, "Chinese societies" will mainly refer to the Chinese Mainland, but will also touch upon Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. It attempts to unravel the web of historic, political, social, and cultural forces that have shaped educational change in these societies. At the core of examination is an analysis of nationhood, colonial rule, globalization and their impact on educational purposes. The scope of discussion will embody topics of interests that are commonly found in Chinese societies. Major concerns of this course include aims of education, structure and process of schooling, educational planning and finance, quality and equality of education, curriculum reform, teacher development and teacher education, and adult and nonformal education. The focus of discussion will mainly be on educational change in the Chinese Mainland, while relevant experiences in other Chinese societies will provide supplementary insights for reflection.

The specific course features a current and topical field of research in Educational Administration and Policy. Broadly, the course covers seminal theoretical texts related to the topic, and the current debates and issues. Empirical studies taken from global, regional and local contexts are used to examine implications on policy, schooling and practice.
Depending on the course topic, the format of teaching and learning may comprise lectures, workshops, practicum, case study, field visit or a combination of these. The course may vary from year to year and so is the content. Students should consult the Department for the course details.

Students in their second year, with the guidance of their supervisor, have to conduct a small project investigating one significant issue of question related to one of the following areas: 1) School-based management; 2) Education policy and decision analysis; 3) Leadership and organizational culture; 4) Roles and task of educational administrator; 5) School effectiveness and school improvement; 6) Environmental constraints and impacts on educational administration; 7) Accountability and ethical aspects of educational administration; 8) Personnel management; 9) Educational planning and school finance; 10) Decision making in education; 11) Others (with permission of supervisor). In general, this project may be a survey, and experimental study, or a case study. Students have to complete a research report of the project according to a standard format given by the Faculty of Education. With the permission of their supervisor, it is possible for a group of not more than three students to conduct one substantial project.

This course is designed to familiarize students with the theoretical and empirical foundations of the field of educational administration and policy. It will explicate the epistemological, ontological and ethical bases which have driven theory development and research in the field. It seeks to illuminate the social and empirical foundations, upon which research and practice of the field traditionally drawn. These social foundations will include, for examples, conceptions of the state, civil society, public sphere, rationality, and power. The course aims to help doctoral students to build solid theoretical and empirical foundations for their future inquiry into the field of educational administration and policy.

This course aims to provide an understanding of the major contextual forces that have shaped school reform. It seeks to investigate the dynamics of school reform as a global phenomenon and to analyze its impact on the international, societal, and institutional levels of educational policy and administration. School reform policies are viewed as endeavours to enhance national competitiveness in the world arena. New administrative measures are perceived as means to attain efficiency and effectiveness. By referring to the developmental experiences of societies that have influenced the direction of local school reform, and drawing insights from relevant research findings, this course will address critical issues in key areas of school reform. These issues will include school-based management, quality assurance, home-school cooperation, curriculum reform, medium of instruction, and information technology in education.

This course aims to provide an in-depth understanding of the complexities of school leadership and of how educational organizations 'work'. It seeks to locate these understandings within relevant theoretical, empirical and practical contexts. Processes central to effective administration are analyzed in relation to their influence on educational organizations and the ways leaders drive organizational change and development. Acquired knowledge and insights about educational organizations and leadership will be applied torelevant, practically-based problems through the use of case materials, critiques and other analytic tools. Through reviewing and applying a broad range of literature the course aims to encourage students to develop their own conceptualization of educational organizations and leadership approaches as a means to guide their future inquiry in the field.