XN000022-1995-06-06 — Page 16

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Schools administrators urged to be responsive

The Deputy Director of Education, Miss Elaine Chung, today (Tuesday) urged school administrators to avoid defensive euphemisms and to keep the organisation responsive, effective and efficient.

Speaking at the opening of the conference of the Hong Kong Association of Heads of Secondary Schools, Miss Chung said: "To manage change well, school administrators must accept the inevitability of change in the first place."

The theme of this year's conference is "The Role of the School Administrator in the Flux of Change".

"School administrators should think positively, anticipate and take charge of change rather than become its conduit or victim," she said.

Miss Chung said school administrators must keep abreast of the latest developments not only in education but also in society around them.

She said school administrators should conscientiously seek feedback from students, parents and teachers and should make them their partners in self-assessment and peer assessment.

Miss Chung said: "For all intents and purposes, schools are extraordinarily complex organisations, increasingly more stratified and pressurised.

"The school administrator is expected to be a professional, a charismatic leader, combining discipline with compassion, a visionary who is also pragmatic and realistic." she said.

In the 20th century, Miss Chung said, change was a fact of life for school supervisors, principals, teachers and students alike.

"There are two main types of changes to schools: firstly, changes to its micro environment and secondly, changes to its macro environment.

"Examples of the former would include new regulatory requirements, parental expectations, curriculum changes, student behavioural problems and new subsidy schemes.