| Since year 2000, Hong Kong government has initiated a number of educational reforms. Being a center figure in our school structure, the role of principals has become increasingly crucial to the success of those reforms. This study aims to understand Hong Kong school principals' strategies on instructional leadership and factors affecting them.;The study employed a multiple-case design. Two primary schools with widely recognized reform success were purposefully chosen. Data collected include interviews of principal, key middle managers and teachers; it also included observations of classes, student activities, staff development activities, and meetings at different levels; and reviews of documents from various sources.;The study found that there is no one-size-fits-all nor the best strategy when principals try to improve their schools or to upgrade teachers' knowledge and skills. Rather, principals should tailor their own plans for teachers' professional development and school improvement, and the strategies need to be context-specific. Faced by challenges from their changing educational environment, principals' problem-solving ability determined how well their schools could address these new challenges. All through their leading process, it was found that building a vision for the school, and cultivating a positive social relationship and school atmosphere are crucial tasks for the success.;This study further discovered that principals' beliefs, experiences, professional knowledge and skills, and personal characteristics are among others the crucial factors for successful leadership. These factors are interrelated in such a way that they either serve as guiding principle for decision making or they provide the essential capacity for the accomplishment.;More notably, this study identified a reciprocal effect between leadership strategies and school context, like the existing characteristics of school culture, teachers, students and their parents. Last but not least, empowered by the principal, the emerged senior and mid-level leaders not only helped the schools deepen and broaden the development, but also increased their capacity to address new challenges.;The study contributes to the knowledge of instructional leadership in three ways. First, it deepens the understandings of school principals' role in school improvement, particularly in choosing the focus of development and establishing a positive school culture. Second, it makes explicit the pathways of factors in changing school principals' strategies. Third, it reveals a good matching between strategies and personal factors as well as school context is an essential criterion for the effectiveness of instructional leadership.;Key words: Instructional leadership; principal leadership; school improvement. |
