From the academic year 2012/2013 onward, the Department of Early Childhood Education was placed under the newly formed Faculty of Education and Human Development. This transition coincided with the Hong Kong Institute of Education ("HKIEd")’s diversification into multidisciplinary programmes at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, aligning with the implementation of the new 3-3-4 academic structure in September 2012. After years of strategic planning, the Institute’s three Faculties were re-aligned and renamed as the Faculty of Humanities, Faculty of Education and Human Development, and Faculty of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, reflecting a modernised and comprehensive academic framework that continues to support the department’s growth and leadership in early childhood education.
The Colleges of Education Joint Selection Board was created in 1971 to centralize the selection of students for the Full-Time Two-Year Courses offered by Northcote College of Education, Grantham College of Education and Sir Robert Black College of Education. The scope of the Board's responsibilities and research undertakings broadened with the introduction of new courses and the joining of new member. For example, in 1980, the Board began to administer for the selection of the Two-Year Part-Time In-Service Course of Training for Kindergarten Teachers, the Initial Course of Teacher Training (Primary) for Special School Teachers and the Two-Year Part-Time In-Service Course of Training for Teachers of Handicapped Children, in addition to the selection of all full-time courses. As from 1985/1986, the Hong Kong Technical Teachers' College also became a member of the Board, and since then the Board had to manage the selection of all full-time and part-time courses of the four Colleges as the overarching administrative machinery. In 1989, there was a review of the responsibility of the Board. It was felt that the Board should only be concerned with the selection of students of the full-time courses and those part-time courses which accord qualified teacher status and were common courses in the four Colleges. Thus the selections for courses for Special Education, Kindergarten, and the Refresher and Retraining Courses were no longer included.
The Board was supported and assisted by its subsidiary committees which comprised all professional staff members of the four Colleges in the smooth mounting of all joint selection exercises. Membership of the Board included Principals of the four Colleges, who took turns to serve as the Chairman in each reporting year; and representative(s) of the Assistant Director (Further Education Division), Chairpersons of Committees, appointed members, and a secretary. They held board meetings to monitor, direct and evaluate the selection exercises throughout the year. The Board underwent some restructuring in 1989 and set up committees to look after the different aspects of the selection exercises. The professional staff members of the four Colleges, on the other hand, were organised into various Executive Committees, a Research and Statistics Unit and various Subject Advisory Committees, and carried out the execution of the selection procedures in accordance with the Board policies. Apart from involving in the selection of students which took place at various times of the year, the professional staff members also had to concurrently involve in their regular programmes of lecturing at their own Colleges and supervising students of both the full-time and part-time courses in practical teaching.
The selection exercises had always been done manually but in September 1992, in collaboration with the Information Technology Services Department, the joint selection exercise was computerised to streamline and standardise the selection of students, though only for the Full-Time Two-Year and Three-Year Courses of Initial Teacher Education 1992-93.
The establishment of the four Boards of Studies (1. the Board of Educational Studies, 2. the Board of Language in Education, 3. the Board of Mathematics, Science and Technology, and 4. the Board of Social and Business Studies) was a crucial step in strengthening subject specialisation. Each board was responsible for developing its own subject or discipline, and was entrusted with the important task of overseeing the needs of its affiliated departments. Adopting this infrastructure enabled the twelve academic departments to strengthen their subject expertise and course planning with the support of their respective boards.
The Divisional Board met regularly during the reporting period and developed its own work agenda, focusing particularly on programme coordination, staff development, and the maintenance and monitoring academic and professional standards during the 1994–95 academic year. During the academic year 1995-96, Divisional Board meetings were held once every two months, ensuring staff participation in the deliberation and decision of academic matters.
Dr. Lai Kwok-chan (黎國燦) was the first Head of the Department.
The Academic Staff Association of The Education University of Hong Kong was established in 1965 as the Association of Lecturers at Colleges of Education to secure the complete organisation of all grades of lecturers employed by the Education Department of Hong Kong Government in the Colleges of Education. Membership of the Association, at first, was open to lecturers in Northcote College of Education, Grantham College of Education, and Sir Robert Black College of Education. And since 1975, it also began to admit lecturers of the Hong Kong Technical Teachers' College. The Association was the only staff association for lecturers in Northcote College of Education, Grantham College of Education and Sir Robert Black College of Education, but lecturers from the Hong Kong Technical Teachers’ College had the option of joining, concurrently, the Hong Kong Technical Teachers’ College Lecturers’ Association.
Subsequent to the establishment of the Hong Kong Institute of Education ("HKIEd") on 25 April 1994 and the amalgamation of Northcote College of Education, Grantham College of Education, Sir Robert Black College of Education, the Hong Kong Technical Teachers' College and the Institute of Language in Education into HKIEd on 1 September 1994, membership of the Association was extended to the entire Institute including lecturers of the Bonham Campus (formerly the Institute of Language in Education, which was converted to one of the HKIEd campuses before the Tai Po Campus was completed). The Association was also renamed the Association of Lecturers at the Hong Kong Institute of Education. The name of the Association was later changed again, firstly on 25 September 2002 to the Academic Staff Association of the Hong Kong Institute of Education so as to better reflect and represent staff at HKIEd; and after the grant of university title in 2016, to the Academic Staff Association of The Education University of Hong Kong.
The Academic Board (Provisional) held its first meeting on 24 January 1995. At that time, the Board was chaired by the Director and had 28 members in its first year of operation, including 2 students who had been invited to attend the Board in the absence of elected representatives from the student body.
The Board functioned as a regular Institute-wide forum to discuss and make decisions on major academic matters and was supported by various working groups and coordination committees presided by academic staff. The Board was formally established when the Rules of Procedure were approved by The Council in May 1995.
Currently, the Board is the chief academic forum of the University with the President as the Chairperson. The Board comprises members from faculties, academic departments, academic support units and students. The main function of the Board is to formulate academic policies and oversee all academic matters of the University. To realise this function, an infrastructure of boards and committees is set up to deal with different academic decisions within the University. The quorum and procedures of the Board meetings are governed by its Rule of Procedure.