Lee, Tak Man Anna Lisa (2025) Towards Developing an Interconnected 3H Collaborative Triple Leadership Framework and the STEAM Ecosystem Theory for Effectively Promoting, Managing, and Implementing STEAM Education in Hong Kong Schools. Doctoral thesis, University of Wales Trinity Saint David.
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Abstract
In the face of rapid technological advancement, a global shift towards STEAM education is prompting, it is being viewed as a critical pathway for preparing students to thrive in the technology-driven futures. Despite its transformative potential, traditional education systems struggle to keep pace, STEAM faces barriers including definitional ambiguity, limited teacher preparation, curriculum constraints, and resource shortages. Hong Kong features a distinctive educational system characterized by its unique combination of the Eastern and Western instructional principles, in which students have to learn both English and Chinese, making STEAM learning more complicated. In Hong Kong, STEAM implementation faces significant challenges rooted in its exam-oriented culture, rigid curriculum structures, and systemic inequities across school bandings. Teachers often lack pedagogical confidence and support, while students are discouraged from inquiry-based learning due to high academic pressures. These barriers raise critical concerns about the feasibility and equity of STEAM integration within Hong Kong’s traditional education framework. By conducting semi-structured in-depth interviews with principals, and frontline STEAM teachers of various school types, rich and nuanced data are obtained from their stories, emotions, and insights. Through thematic analyses of data, the research explores leadership styles, management strategies, and practical solutions that contribute to effective STEAM integration. The study also investigates the underlying causes of implementation inefficiencies and examines how model schools of STEAM education have achieved success, aiming to discover findings that will provide practical insights to advance equity, to overcome cultural and systemic roadblocks, and to enhance the sustainability of STEAM education in Hong Kong. The research findings highlight widespread support for Hong Kong STEAM education’s role in fostering creativity, innovation, and problem-solving skills among students. Notably, leadership of the Hong Kong Education Bureau, principals, teachers, and students emerged as one of the key factors contributing to the program’s success through distributed and collaborative leadership models. However, the effectiveness of implementation varied significantly across school types, and their challenges encountered became increasingly diverse. To overcome the challenges, holistic and human-centered strategies are needed. The research based on the 3H framework, encompassing the cognition of head, the emotion of heart, and the action of hands to offer a holistic approach that encourages collaboration among the EDB, school principals, and STEAM educators in unified efforts to elevate STEAM education. A new conceptual framework was developed and introduced under the name: Interconnected 3H Collaborative Triple Leadership Framework. The framework promotes a balanced development of intellectual capabilities, emotional intelligence, and practical skills among the EDB, school principals, and STEAM teachers. It encourages educators to collaboratively design learning experiences that are meaningful, values-driven, and action-oriented for the benefits of students. The framework aligns with key leadership theories to offer a comprehensive lens for managing educational transformation. Leadership must be redefined to inspire and empower collective action for fostering STEAM’s inclusive learning environments. However, leadership is not the sole influencer that leads to STEAM’s success. By viewing education and innovation as interconnected systems, this research introduces a novel theoretical framework known as the STEAM Ecosystem Theory, which emphasizes holistic development, fosters creativity, and promotes cross-disciplinary synergy. The theory synthesizes seven foundational theories to illuminate the design, implementation, and sustainability of interdisciplinary education. It conceptualizes STEAM education as a dynamic, multi-level system in which learning is inquiry-driven, socially embedded, and culturally grounded, it emphasizes the importance of strategic partnerships, resource negotiation, and planning to foster enduring interdisciplinary innovation. By mapping interactions across levels, the STEAM Ecosystem Theory offers a robust model for implementing and scaling STEAM initiatives in diverse educational landscape of Hong Kong. The research provides evidence-based and practical insights that can navigate policymakers, educators, students, and stakeholders to make well-informed decisions to embrace the technological future. Different techniques are employed to enhance the study’s credibility and reliability, such as in-method triangulation, and detailed transcription. The generalization of this research is considered achievable, and its findings have the potential to be transferable to other studies with similar attributes and contexts.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Hong Kong STEAM education, in-depth interviews, distributed leadership, thematic analysis, complementary educational theories, Interconnected 3H Collaborative Triple Leadership Framework, STEAM Ecosystem Theory |
| Subjects: | L Education > L Education (General) |
| Divisions: | Theses and Dissertations > Doctoral Theses |
| Identification Number: | https://doi.org/10.82227/repository.uwtsd.ac.uk.00003939 |
| Depositing User: | Victoria Hankinson |
| Date Deposited: | 02 Oct 2025 08:59 |
| Last Modified: | 02 Oct 2025 10:25 |
| URI: | https://repository.uwtsd.ac.uk/id/eprint/3939 |
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