Amidst the various demands created by curriculum reforms in Hong Kong, the core business of schools - 'high quality teaching and learning' - has become the focus of attention. Teachers and schools are vested with the responsibilities to put the reform ideals into practice. Schools are accountable for improving student learning outcomes, the empowerment of teachers through mentoring, peer review and appraisal, and turning themselves into learning organisations. This paper describes how Learning Study, which initially started as a modest project to find ways to cater for individual differences in mainstream schools in Hong Kong, became a powerful tool for schools to achieve the aims mentioned above. We did this in a series of projects by using Learning Study as a major component of a mentoring system, which resulted in the creation of learning communities in schools, with a focus on teaching and learning. Such a system benefited all teachers involved, both novice and experienced. Starting with only two schools in 1999, schools in the Learning Study network rapidly expanded to over 100 in 2004, and in the next three years, at least another 120 schools will join the network. The success of Learning Study in Hong Kong will be analysed under the following factors: its conceptual framework, methodology, partnership with higher education institutions, positioning, reform context and culture, and dissemination strategy. Its potential in moving towards improving the status of the profession as a whole will also be discussed.

This paper is dual in purpose. First, it describes what a professional learning community is and how it develops in schools in Hong Kong. A professional learning – 1012 – community is one where teachers relate their own professional learning to the improvement of their students' learning; take collaborative responsibility for students' learning; and work together to maximize their learning. Learning Study, which is premised on a conceptual framework that builds on three types of variation, is employed as the key agent in the development of such community. The three types of variation are: variation in students' understanding of a specific object of learning (V1); variation in teachers' understanding and ways of handling the object (V2); and the use of patterns of variation based on the Theory of Variation (V3). By focusing on the three types of variation in a specific object of learning, teachers in the professional learning communities are able to learn from their students, from each other and from researchers what should be worthwhile for their students to learn, how they can help students learn better and find out if each child is learning. Dissemination through public presentations is also an integral part of the participating teachers' professional learning, as they reflect and prepare a presentation on the results of the Learning Study. Each teacher's personal professional development thus contributes to a collective knowledge base. Second, this papers draws on the data of a Learning Study about the teaching of Three states of water at Primary 3 level to illustrate how teachers' learning can be enhanced through engaging in the study that permits a professional dialogue among colleagues; enhances collaboration with tertiary institution; encourages teachers taking inquiry stance; opens opportunities for multiple means of dissemination; opens opportunities for teachers to reflect on their own practices in a more systematic way.

This paper explores issues arising from large-scale, relatively short-term (4-16 week) overseas language immersion and study abroad programmes for Hong Kong's pre-and in-service teachers. It argues that shortterm study abroad is an under-researched and under-valued field that both benefits and suffers from intuitive, often ill-informed judgements of worth. An overview is provided of: typical issues encountered by staff and students in the course of delivering and taking part in such programmes; possible solutions to problems observed; and the type, range and scale of gains that might reasonably be expected of participants. Reference is made to various contexts - under- and post-graduate programmes; culturally diverse locations ranging over three continents and to changing global circumstances - which may impinge on such programmes. Discussion takes account of the literature on generic study abroad and addresses the specific learning environments required of successful commissioned programmes of this type. In particular, issues of classroom vs communitybased learning, combined focuses of learning within a single multiply-oriented context, implicit learning and reflection vs pedagogical cultural imperialism, intercultural communication and constructive engagement are explored. Finally, recommendations for optimisation and research-based development are offered, based on hard and soft data acquired during extensive formal and informal evaluation and ongoing development of shortterm English language immersion programmes. The paper is of interest to academics seeking a framework from which to approach learning-focused links between tertiary education, language and culture and to current or potential study abroad providers and commissioners.

This paper describes how a team of teachers and researchers in Hong Kong worked together to develop a research lesson on electro-chemical series in a Learning Study at Secondary 4 level in the subject of Chemistry. Learning study is premised on a conceptual framework that builds on three types of variation: variation in students' understanding of a specific object of learning (V1); variation in teachers' understanding and ways of handling the object (V2); and the use of patterns of variation based on the Theory of Variation (V3). The study reported in this paper illustrates how the conceptual framework, in particular, the use of patterns of variation, helps to enhance student learning. In this study, the same teacher taught the research lesson in two cycles to two Secondary 4 Chemistry classes in the same school. The two cycles of research lesson were videotaped, analyzed and triangulated with the student learning outcomes in a diagnostic test administered before and after the lesson, and a post-lesson group interview with a sample of students. Whereas the theoretical framework of variation was employed to analyze what patterns of variation were created and hence what was made possible to learn in the lessons, the results of the pre- and post- test were compared to trace the students' progress in categories of questions that measured for their understanding. In the research lesson, patterns of variation which served the functions of ìseparation and ìgeneralization were used to help the students to understand how the electro-chemical series is derived, and to discern that the order of the metals in the series and the potential difference between any two given metals are constant and independent of the reference metal used. The student learning outcomes showed that there was substantial growth in the students' understanding of these concepts.