Page 35 - Progress Report

As education practitioners shoulder the huge past decades and the changes in the education
responsibility of nurturing the growth and landscape in the 21st century, COTAP considers it
development of the younger generation, society timely that the TCF and the core areas of leadership
holds high expectations of the standards of the should be reviewed, updated and enhanced.

profession, in terms of their professional knowledge,
skills, values and attitudes. In high-performing Stakeholder groups have indicated to COTAP
education systems, e.g. Ontario and California, the need for a coherent set of standards for

rigorous competency standards or frameworks are the teaching profession in the KG, primary and
prescribed for the teaching profession. In some secondary sectors, including both teachers and
countries, e.g. Australia and Ireland, there are school leaders at different stages of maturity along
also threshold requirements for graduates of ITE the continuum of professional growth. It has been
programmes. suggested that, apart from enhancing the current

TCF as an updated set of standards for teachers,
In Hong Kong, the then ACTEQ introduced in 2003 a related set of standards for school leaders,
a TCF as a reference tool for individual teachers incorporating updated core areas of leadership,

to locate their own stages of professional maturity could be developed and interfaced with those
and for schools to look at the competency profiles for the teachers. This would form a unified set of
of their teachers individually and collectively. The standards, namely T-standard , for reference by
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TCF has since been widely accepted in the school members of the teaching profession at various
sector as a tool for CPD planning. Furthermore, stages of their professional growth. T-standard +

the Government prescribed in 2002 six core areas is to positively align at system level a coherent
of leadership for the professional development of direction for the planning, design, delivery and
principals, namely (1) strategic direction and policy review of ITE for student teachers and for CPD of

environment; (2) learning, teaching and curriculum; serving teachers and school leaders. It will support
(3) teacher professional growth and development; and facilitate CPD planning, implementation and
(4) staff and resources management, (5) quality evaluation at individual, subject panel, functional
assurance and accountability; and (6) external committee and school levels.
communication and connection to the outside

world. These core areas of leadership have since The development of T-standard and its successful
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been incorporated into the leadership training implementation will need to go hand in hand with a
programmes for aspiring, newly-appointed and robust infrastructure of evidence-based exemplars

serving principals. With the series of reforms in the of planning tools.

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