Action research as a collaborative journey navigated by school teachers and university researchers: A feasible and prominent future within a context of curriculum change in Hong Kong

The education of Hong Kong is moving towards the 21st Century with a number of policy initiative introduced into a school context. Both the Target-Oriented Curriculum (TOC) and the School Management Initiative (SMI) address the importance of opening the education system, becoming more accountable to the public and increasing the degree of school-based decision-making for school administrators and teachers. Teachers are expected to implement the central policies which ‘should’ provide maximum benefits to students. While all these innovations are having an impact on school contexts, teachers work with paradox which in turn, could generate their daily school practice to make meanings out of their professional lives collaboratively. The introduction of Action Research by university researchers to work with school teachers would be both challenging and empowering. Engaging the practitioners to a research world which would celebrate the success of change by improvement, the collaboration by mutual contribution to shared values and beliefs, and the reconstruction of practice by ongoing critique and transformation. Teachers’ voices are seldom heard systemically in research where their tensions and dilemmas can be addressed from an inside-out. A research study is conducted to inquire teachers’ and principals’ lifeworld perspectives about teacher curriculum decision-making at a time of curriculum change as represented by the introduction of the TOC in Hong Kong. The study itself is in a form of curriculum inquiry by which Action Research is critical, collaborative, participative and communicative at a time of curriculum change. It is likely that in future, the research study might serve as a springboard to invite system personnels to work with teachers and university researchers, for conducting curriculum inquiry in the school context. It will be a feasible and prominent future when we join together from different educational sectors and work with collaboration and commitment to a research culture, which enables critique and reconstruction of professional practice and which celebrates change and improvement. This future might be a promising and rewarding one to school education by enhancing the quality of education in Hong Kong. Copyright © 2000 The Hong Kong Institute of Education.