Teachers' expectations of performance appraisal in Hong Kong secondaryschools

Abstract

The purpose of this dissertation is to provide an overview of teachers’ expectations of teachers’ performance appraisal (TPA) in Hong Kong secondary schools. Due to the implementation of School-based Management in 2000, all schools in Hong Kong were advised to implement TPA for long-term advancement and development. In other words, TPA seems to be a crucial practice for schools in Hong Kong nowadays.

In this research, two secondary schools with different school cultures are the main focus to study. 85 teachers in these two schools were invited to provide their views by means of questionnaire. Besides, seven interviewees were selected to provide further details about their thoughts concerning TPA. Two of them are Principals of the two schools, one of them is the Assistant Principal, one is the Senior Graduate Master, one is Senior Assistant Master and the remaining two are Graduate Mistress and Graduate Master.

In this research, respondents were asked to express their opinions towards four areas, namely, the purposes of TPA, the design of TPA, the relationship between appraisers and TPA, and the follow-up work of TPA.

From the research findings, it is found that the main purposes of TPA, according to the respondents, are related to helping teachers improve their teaching and for accountability. For the design of TPA, most respondents are satisfied with the present design of TPA in their schools and it is carried out in a fair and objective way. Concerning the relationship between appraisers and TPA, the respondents think that the appraisers are professional enough for making the whole process reasonable and objective. When asking about the follow-up of TPA, most respondents reply that they do treasure the TPA results for the sake of making further improvement at work.

It is hoped that after conducting this research, light could be shed on how the different school cultures influence the thoughts of staff towards TPA and also, the effectiveness of TPA.