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The central focus of this study is to explore how three primary school teachers were implementing Hong Kong's Target-Oriented Curriculum (TOC) in their lower primary English classrooms. TOC is a task-based, process-oriented innovation, introduced from 1995 onwards. The study involved a case study approach by which teachers' perceptions and behaviours were analysed during the period of a single academic year. Data collection methods for the study comprised mainly classroom observation and interviews. The former involved the study of five or six consecutive English lessons for each teacher in three separate cycles, the latter involved six semi-structured interviews per teacher. The emphasis was on qualitative data and analysis, although quantitative classroom and attitude scale data were also collected. The main findings from the study were as follows. Teacher A was positively oriented towards TOC, had a sound understanding and was implementing TOC principles to a high degree. Teacher B was somewhat neutrally disposed towards the innovation, was only in the process of developing an understanding of it, and was not implementing it as much as teacher A. Teacher C was very positively oriented towards TOC, had a sound understanding of its principles but was only able to implement it to a similar extent to teacher B. The main significance of the study includes: insights into research methodology derived from the execution of the study; confirmation and development of the theory of the management of change; insights into the classroom implementation of the key TOC classroom principles, task-based learning and catering for individual learner differences; and implications on the cultural appropriateness of TOC for the Hong Kong context.

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This thesis is a case study of curriculum innovation in the primary school at a time of major change during the introduction of the National Curriculum. It involved a small number of primary schools, teachers and children. In particular the processes and impacts of the innovation were investigated. Action research methodology (Carr and Kemmis, 1986 McNiff, 1988) was employed and teachers' plans, classroom activities and children's responses were analysed. The research informs us about the nature and effects of opportunities created and constraints imposed by the National Curriculum. The case study indicates that teachers responded to the innovation as if it were a topic and not a single subject, but they incorporated National Curriculum subjects and themes into it. Geography was the major subject developed, but the teachers tended to view this subject as a body of knowledge, with accompanying skills, rather than a process of learning to be taught and this was related, at least in part, to the nature of the National Curriculum. A number of activities concerned with values and attitudes were developed, despite the lack of obvious links to the National Curriculum. The study shows that these teachers were 'pragmatists' rather than 'progressives' or 'traditionalists' in their use of teaching methods. The research also indicated the problems of the relationships between these teachers and the Project co-ordinator. The case study demonstrated that this Project had local relevance, had significant effects on teachers and children directly involved and reached a wider educational community who gave a generally favourable response, indicating the educational value of introducing work on travel and tourism to the primary curriculum.

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