Forget Little Big Master: Hong Kong headteachers can't save schools alone

Recently, I saw a local film called Little Big Master, which is about a school headmistress who goes to a remote area out of love for kids to revive a dying kindergarten.

Although the film is not meant to be a blockbuster, many viewers have been touched by it, including some top government officials. I think people are touched by the generous and resilient spirit displayed by the headmistress - a real-life heroine in Hong Kong.

The film portrays her as having a genuine love of children and an undaunted determination to save the school. The suggestion is that if you can find the right head, all school problems will be resolved.

However, such reasoning ignores systemic or structural problems that can threaten a school's survival. The reality in Hong Kong's school system is that because of a sharp decline in the school-age population, schools failing to achieve a sufficient student intake will face closure.

Those which operate in ageing or remote communities will be the first casualties in these circumstances. Even the threat of closure itself can lead to school heads, teachers, and even students leaving for greener pastures, resulting in a downward spiral. Without enough, and the right, people, the decline can accelerate.

What the film extols is what some term "turnaround leadership". We can examine what constitutes this. Charisma is definitely a vital element. Charisma may be inbuilt, but it comes from a combination of vision, commitment, optimism, diligence, resilience, modelling, passion for education and love for students clearly displayed by the leader.

Turnaround leadership also demands a different skill set. Such leaders are able to visualise an alternative future for the failing school and restore students to the centre of the school's focus as a basic value.