Overview

Programme Aims

The purpose of the Programme is to nurture school leaders on school improvement and instructional leaders conducive to effective pedagogical practices. This programme aims to help participants to:

• acquire understanding of different perspectives and theories related to school improvement and school evaluation;
• apply the acquired knowledge to analyse how schools develop, improve and formulate school plans;
• acquire practical and contextualised strategies to initiate school improvement in context and develop a self-improvement mechanism;
• become an instructional leader implementing pedagogical practices conducive to students’ learning, through orchestrating whole-school efforts; and
• conduct pedagogical research.

Programme Structure

The programme comprises the following three core courses of 3 credit points each:

Foundations on School Improvement

This course focuses on theoretical foundations on school improvement and leadership, evaluation models of school education, comprehensive school improvement projects in the local context, macro planning of school improvement: contextual analysis, planning and implementation and study of change agents regarding local school improvement.

Issues and Advances in School Improvement

This course focuses on approaches and strategies to initiate action learning and research-related school improvement projects, the essence of school improvement: an inquiry into teaching and learning effectiveness, addressing emerging issues of educational leadership and school-based curriculum reform in Hong Kong: catering learners’ diversity, self-directed learning and e-learning, case studies and experience sharing from principals and middle managers in schools and group discussion and presentation.

Guided School Improvement Project

This course focuses on an understanding of research findings related to teacher capacity building for school improvement and pedagogical practices, how to conduct pedagogical research and guided improvement projects related to school improvement and teachers/students learning practices.

Participants will be assessed with either assessment task:

• Individual assignment of each course with about 3000 words (100%); or
• Cross-courses assignment of about 6000 words (70%), group project and presentation (20%) and Individual performance in the group (10%).

Medium of Instruction

The medium of instruction is mainly Chinese and will be supplemented by English where appropriate.

Entrance Requirements

To be eligible for admission, applicants should be:

• serving primary, secondary or special education school teachers, middle leaders, vice principals, preferably those responsible for teacher development and school improvement; and
• recommended by school principals.

Remarks: Each school can recommend more than one teacher.

Award

To be awarded a Certificate of Completion, participants must obtain a pass in all assessment tasks required and successfully fulfill the attendance requirements as stipulated by the programme.

Other Information

This Government-funded programme is supported by the Education Bureau (EDB). Schools which release teachers to take this programme are eligible for supply teachers, if deemed necessary. Government and aided schools shall contact the EDB for detailed arrangements. Private and DSS schools shall make their own arrangements for the employment of supply teachers.

Participants who complete our PDPs are eligible to apply for credit transfer if they enroll in our postgraduate programmes. Their applications will be considered on an individual basis.

Disclaimer
Every effort has been made to ensure that information contained in this website is correct. Changes to any aspects of the programmes may be made from time to time due to unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control and the University reserves the right to make amendments to any information contained in this website without prior notice. The University accepts no liability for any loss or damage arising from any use or misuse of or reliance on any information contained in this website. Any aspect of the course and course offerings (including, without limitation, the content of the course and the manner in which the course is taught) may be subject to change at any time at the sole discretion of the University. Without limiting the right of the University to amend the course and its course offerings, it is envisaged that changes may be required due to factors such as staffing, enrolment levels, logistical arrangements and curriculum changes.