Purpose: This paper aims to contribute to one's understanding of how beginning principals in Hong Kong exercise leadership by exploring the concurrent influence of their inner worlds and the external contexts on their leadership within a reforming environment. Design/methodology/approach: Based on a study of the work lives of beginning principals…

Interviews with nine principals of Hong Kong schools found that faced with uncertainties arising from Hong Kong's political transition, principals were somewhat confident about coping with changes in curricula and school management but felt less control over broader changes in access and opportunity following the expected influx of teachers and…