Teachers sometimes limit the opportunities for students to learn because they perceive that their students have limited ability or potential for learning. In this paper, through a case study, we show how teachers taking part in a learning study learnt to cater for students’ individual differences and at the same time, opened up opportunities for students to reach their potential. The learning study took place in special school settings in Hong Kong. Instead of following their former practice which was considered to be tailoring the curriculum to the students’ perceived ability, the group of teachers tried to find a powerful object of learning, such that further learning can be built, leading to a level of learning that they had never dared to try to reach before. The outcome was encouraging and had great impact on the teachers involved.

The primary aim of this paper is to describe what a professional learning community is and how Learning Study can be regarded as a platform to develop such community in schools. This paper also aims to illustrate with a Learning Study case how the knowledge produced in the Learning Study process becomes public, first within the school in which the case is conducted and then widely across schools as part of the dissemination process. A professional learning community is one where teachers relate their 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 a form of action research premised on a conceptual framework that builds on three types of variation, is employed as the key agent in the development of such community. By focusing on these three types of variation in a specific object of learning, teachers in the professional learning communities are able to learn from their students, from other teachers and from researchers. Dissemination of the Learning Study case through public seminars to other teachers is an integral part of the participating teachers’ learning when they reflect and prepare for it. Each teacher’s personal professional development thus contributes to a collective knowledge base. This paper draws on the data of a Learning Study about the teaching of “Evaporation and Condensation of water” at Primary 3 level to illustrate how teachers’ professional learning can be enhanced through: engaging in the study that permits a professional dialogue among colleagues; enhances collaboration with tertiary institution; encourages teachers taking enquiry stance; opens opportunities for multiple means of dissemination; and opens opportunities for teachers to reflect on their own practices in a more systematic way.

Learning study aims at improving teaching and learning in the classroom. The paper describes the process of conducting a Learning Study in school, with illustrations drawn from one case study conducted in a Hong Kong primary General Studies lesson. Teachers began this particular Learning Study by selecting the topic of condensation and evaporation as their research lesson. The choice was based on the recognition that this topic is known to be difficult for students to learn. The Theory of Variation provided the team with an overarching framework for conducting the Learning Study and analyzing its results. Interviews with students and pre-test results indicated considerable confusion in students’ conceptions, especially in regard to where water ‘goes’ when evaporated. Teachers also discussed their previous attempts to teach this topic and the difficulties encountered. The teaching and learning difficulties provided the starting point for lesson planning, which used the pedagogy of variation to enhance student discernment in regard to the three states of water. The lesson was then taught and analysed, followed by further rounds of teaching and analysis, supported by post-test results. This paper will describe the process as a whole and the presentation will show video extracts of the case as it progressed through the various research cycles. The case study will illustrate how, within the practice of Learning Study, student learning and teachers’ professional development are viewed as interdependent. Each is enhanced as a result of the Learning Study process.

The paper will describe a case study of a beginning teacher in the teaching of an interdisciplinary subject, General Studies at primary level in Hong Kong. Given that General Studies forms a significant portion of the curriculum (five lessons per week), such an investigation of how teachers interpret this innovative curriculum is the pre-condition to its successful implementation. Through interviews, lesson plan analysis, classroom observation and post lesson observation interviews, the researchers examine how the teacher applies professional knowledge learnt during training years in classroom teaching. In this study, professional knowledge is delimited to the ideas, concepts, perspectives and attitudes the teacher has towards the newly implemented General Studies curriculum.
[Copyright © 2000 The Hong Kong Institute of Education.]

This paper will report how practicing teachers implement an interdisciplinary curriculum in Hong Kong classrooms. General Studies, as an interdisciplinary subject first developed for primary curriculum, has essential contribution to enhance meaningful learning relevant to daily experiences and develop pupils' high order thinking skills. Thus, the realization of the intended aims and objectives of this curriculum is of pivotal importance for the achievement of the overall aims of education for the 21st century. Through questionnaire survey, pre and post-lesson interviews and lesson observation, the researchers examine whether intended aims of the General Studis Curriculum have been achieved. Implications and suggestions will be discussed in relation to professional development of practicing teachers on integrated teaching.

There is a growing consensus that schools and practising teachers can, in collaboration and/or in partnership with higher education institutions, make valuable contributions to initial and continuous teacher development, specifically when teachers can see how their efforts result in improved student learning and achievement. Learning Study, a Hong Kong version of the Japanese Lesson Study, was developed and used as a tool in a three-year project (2000 - 2003) for improving teaching and learning. Learning Study, which is built on a school-university partnership model, and is grounded in a theoretical framework of variation (Marton & Booth, 1997), was found to be powerful for teachers' professional development. In four years' time, Learning Study has spread from two primary schools to over a hundred primary and secondary schools, and over a hundred Learning Studies had been developed. Learning Study was also used in mentoring to facilitate the forming of a "learning community", to supplement the one to one mentor-mentee model, where the professional growth of all teachers involved was enhanced. In this symposium, we will illustrate how learning communities can be facilitated through engaging teachers in action research cycles of Learning Studies, in which teachers are empowered to learn from their students, from each other and from research as well.

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.