The issue of the “research-practice gap” has been a long-standing concern in the education community. To tackle this issue, there is a growing interest in research–practice partnerships (RPPs) to connect research with practice by providing solutions for improving practice in schools. Although studies have reported that constructive relationship would produce positive outcomes, establishing long-term and mutually beneficial RPPs requires further investigation. In Hong Kong, the Learning Study (LS) approach with Variation Theory derived from phenomenology as the theoretical framework for pedagogical design has been adopted as a RPP model and has sustained for two decades. Like many RPPs models, LS approach has been facing different challenges when teachers are increasingly held accountable for meeting new demands from education reform. In this respect, this paper explores the challenges and strategies of the LS approach as a RPP model and its conditions of success. It reports a case study of how a group of English Language teachers adopting a LS approach while integrating education initiatives in their instructional design. The findings have identified trust building, teacher’s capacity building and visible outcomes as possible key factors of effective RPP model. This paper may shed light on the implementation of research–practice partnerships. Copyright © 2022 National Institute of Education, Singapore.

In the recent decades, there has been a trend of adopting community of practice (CoP) approach to a university-school partnership (USP) to promote teaching and learning and teacher professionalism since the Hong Kong education reform in 2000. Particularly, a CoP project entitled ‘Support Programme on Fostering Communities of Practice to Enhance Small Class Teaching’ has been lunched in 2015, which aims to enhance teachers’ pedagogical knowledge and effective teaching practice in applying self-directed learning (SRL) to students. Given that it is a pioneering initiative in promoting SRL in Hong Kong, this chapter intends to offer a conceptualization of CoP-USP within the local education context. In this chapter, the successful criteria and challenges of USP will be discussed, with brief introduction on the development of USP and SRL development in Hong Kong. A single-cluster case study method was adopted to review a case from a CoP project, a comprehensive scope of professional development programme for in-service teachers (ISTs) in Hong Kong, aiming at examining how the CoP project can work out as a USP to help develop teachers’ SRL-based instruction skills and strategies. The findings were revealed in themes through qualitative data analysis, with discussion on whether the CoP Project is a successful USP. Finally, this chapter attempts to offer further insights for future development of USP in other contexts. Copyright © 2022 selection and editorial matter, John Chi-Kin Lee and Timo Ehmke; individual chapters, the contributors.

Learning Study, an enriched version of lesson study, developed during the education reform era in Hong Kong and evolved into a participatory action research model with a theoretical underpinning framework and collaboration between teachers and university researchers. It has once been used as a major model for enhancing partnership between a university and schools for the preparation of pre-service teachers in Hong Kong. In recent years, a shifting focus of this partnership model has been witnessed with recognition of broader needs of schools as well as the accomplishment of a wide range of educational goals including: promoting peer observation through open lessons which serve as a platform for professional exchange; fostering assessment for learning; developing self-directed learning and e-learning strategies, etc.. With the university school collaboration under the Learning Study approach, the value and applicability of the above new initiatives are put into empirical research.This paper reviews the Learning Study programs and projects developed since year 2000 in one of the major teacher training university in Hong Kong, the Education University of Hong Kong. Documents including reports, program books, case studies reports, monographs and related research papers are collected and reviewed in order to identify the challenges encountered and the resolutions found in developing the Learning Study approach in the school community in Hong Kong. Using the framework of Walse & Backe (2013) about the characteristics of effective university-school partnership, this paper analyzes the strategies and critical elements of the Learning Study approach to be developed as a long-lasting and major universityschool partnership model.This paper first illustrates the development of the Learning Study approach in Hong Kong since year 2000 to explicate the shifting focus of university-school partnership - from meeting the need of school placement to accomplish broader education goals by

The present study examined how a group of Hong Kong in-service teachers improved their knowledge of how to promote self-regulated learning (SRL) in students when they participated in a teacher professional development program, which was designed according to the principles of Communities of Practice (CoP). A case study method design was employed and multiple sources of data were collected to investigate the teacher participants' improvement in the knowledge of SRL-based instruction. Findings showed that, over the period of six months, most teachers changed their knowledge of SRL-based instruction from providing students with full autonomy in self-studying a topic to strengthening teachers' role in creating a high-SRL classroom environment. Apart from the CoP experience, evidence of students' involvement in learning was also important to change the teachers' understanding of SRL-based instruction. Discussion and suggestions are provided at the end. Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Critical research review The paper will provide an overview of the learning and lesson study research strands in Chinese and English in Hong Kong, from the WALS 1st conference in 2005 to 2012 in classrooms, schools and communities. The presenter will provide an up-to-date overview of Hong Kong's diverse, multidimensional literature. She will focus on the lesson and learning study definitions, mapping of the process(es) and aspects that take priority. In light of this, she will offer a characterization of the research. Discussion will then focus on the implications of the research in terms of ultimate purposes and values, and emerging research trends and future directions. Not only will this be a discussion of the Hong Kong learning and lesson study research literature, but it will also provide a forum to nurture global dialogue.

The Learning Study approach has been developed over ten years by a research team comprising school teachers and academics in Hong Kong. It is a systematic process of enquiry into teaching and learning, employing an action research methodology, and underpinned by the Variation Theory. Under Learning Study, teachers are expected to learn cooperatively and become reflective practitioners by practicing the theories postulated from others. Learning Study can be used to enhance teachers’ pedagogical capabilities and professional development. This paper describes how Learning Study, which initially started as a modest project to find ways to cater for individual differences in main stream schools in Hong Kong, became a powerful tool for schools in achieving these aims. Working in close collaboration with the Hong Kong Institute of Education, Learning Study developed as a major component of a mentoring system, which resulted in the creation of learning communities in schools, where the focus is on enhancing teaching and learning. Such a system benefits all teachers involved, whether novice or very experienced. Starting with only two schools in 1999, schools in the Learning Study network rapidly expanded to over 200 schools in 2010. The success of Learning Study in Hong Kong will be analyzed under the following factors: its conceptual framework, methodology, partnership with higher education institutions, positioning, reform context and culture, and dissemination strategy and the diffusion process in and across schools. Its potential for moving towards improving the status of the profession as a whole will also be discussed.

This paper examines dominant views in Hong Kong with regard to the pedagogy of teaching and proposes a new perspective. The alternative view employs the Theory of Variation, which has its theoretical foundations in the phenomenographic approach to learning proposed by Marton and Booth (1997). The theory argues that learning takes place when the learner discerns “something” in a new and meaningful way. This theory argues that problems in learning lie in the failure in discerning the critical aspects for a particular way of seeing a phenomenon, or certain aspect of reality, i.e. the object of learning. Therefore, instead of attributing poor learning outcomes to the student’s innate incompetence, which teachers may be able to do little about, teaches should focus on changing students’ way of seeing what is/are intended for the learning, or developing an object of learning. The paper compares this conceptual framework with some other influential theories including the behavioristic, cognitive and constructivist learning theories. It also analyses how this approach to teaching and learning is able to enhance student learning, teacher professional development and school improvement.