Colin Marsh was an Adjunct Professor at Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia. He published many books in education, including Key Concepts for Understanding Curriculum (Routledge), currently in its fourth edition. He passed away in 2012.John Chi-Kin Lee is the Vice-President (Academic) and Chair Professor of Curriculum and Instruction, the Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd). He has served also as Co-Director of the Centre for Small Class Teaching (CSCT) and Co-Director of Centre for Education in Environmental Sustainability (CEES) at the HKIEd. He has been awarded as Chang Jiang Chair Professor to serve at Southwest University, China. Recently, he co-edited two books, Changing Schools in an Era of Globalization (with Prof. Brian Caldwell, Routledge, 2011) and New Understandings of Teacher’s Work: Emotions and Educational Change (with Prof. Chris Day, 2011).

One of the great strengths of this volume, as with other volumes in the Schools and Schooling in Asia series, lies in that fact that in examining how Hong Kong’s education system has sought to navigate tradition, modernity and globalisation, it also addresses Hong Kong’s culturally embedded practices and distinctive contexts for schools and schooling. In doing so, the chapters in this volume challenge some persistent stereotypes and homogenising assumptions about education. ... Asia’s High Performing Education Systems: The Case of Hong Kong commences with a dedication by co-editor John Chi-Kin Lee to Colin Marsh. Sadly, Colin died mid-way through the book’s genesis on 6 August 2012. By way of honouring Colin’s longstanding commitment, scholarship and dedication to curriculum matters, Chi-Kin Lee, the series editor Kerry Kennedy, and other colleagues completed the book. No doubt Colin would be delighted to see this volume in print. Its scholarly and comprehensive approach to encapsulating the ways in which Hong Kong’s education system has managed to attain and thus far, maintain high performance levels make it an excellent and essential reference. -- Deborah Henderson, Queensland University of Technology, Australia, in Curriculum Perspectives, 35(1), pp. 73-74

• 1. Asia’s High Performing Education System: the Case of Hong Kong Colin Marsh and John Chi-Kin Lee Part 1: Policy Context 2. Curriculum Reforms in Hong Kong: Historical and Changing Socio-political Contexts John Chi-Kin Lee 3. Centralization and Decentralization: An Historical Analysis of School-Based Curriculum Development Initiatives in Hong Kong Colin Marsh, Pual Morris and J.T.Y. Lo Part 2: Curriculum for New Times 4. Ideology and Priorities of School Curriculum in Hong Kong Shirley Sze-Yin Yeung 5. "Learning to Learn" Basic Curriculum Anthony Wai-Lun Leung 6. Liberal Studies in Hong Kong: Teachers’ Space, Place and Fusion of Horizons John Tak-Shing Lam 7. National Identity and Patriotism in Hong Kong’s Educational Reform: Student Attributes and Contested Curriculum Structures Kerry J. Kennedy and Xiaoxue Kuang Part 3: Changing Classrooms 8. The Impact of the Learning Study Approach on Chinese Classrooms – the Hong Kong Experience Po-Yuk Ko 9. Small Class Teaching in Hong Kong – Seizing the Opportunities Kwok-Chan Lai, Paul Kam-Wing Chan and John Chi-Kin Lee Part 4: School Leadership 10. Transformational School Leadership: Principals’ Strategic Vision and Teacher Development Practices James Yue-On Ko and Allan D. Walker 11. Curriculum Leadership Developments – Lessons Learned and Achievements Made Kwok-Tung Tsui Part 5: Curriculum Change and Implementation 12. Initiating Change and Innovations Edmond Hau-Fai Law 13. Curriculum Reform Implementation at the Classroom Level: Impacts and Challenges Jacqueline Kin-Sang Chan and Ping-Kwan Fok 14. Changes in English Language Education: Ideology and Reform Strategies Alice W.K. Chow Part 6: Assessment 15. Assessment for Learning in Hong Kong: Conceptions, Issues and Implications Rita Berry 16. School-Based Assessment in Secondary Schools Zi Yan 17. Accountability and Improvement: Lessons from Studying Hong Kong Teachers’ Conceptions of Assessment Sammy King-Fai Hui Part 7: Quality Assurance and School Evaluation 18.The Role of Quality Assurance System in the Implementation of Curriculum Reform Chi Chung Lam 19. The Effectiveness of Quality Assurance Mechanism for School Improvement Eric Chi-Keung Cheng and John Chi-Kin Lee 20. Curriculum and Teaching Reforms: Challenges and Prospects John Chi-Kin Lee