On-site Professional Support Services for Secondary Schools/Special Schools Catering for Learner Diversity
Schools can apply for the following Catering for Learner Diversity-related school-based support service:
Support Service Type I - Catering for Learner Diversity
1. Support Service Co-ordinator
School-based Curriculum Development (Secondary) Section, Quality Assurance and School-based Support Division, Education Bureau
2. Areas of Collaboration
Curriculum development, learning and teaching of Catering for Learner Diversity in secondary schools
3. Foci of Development
The school development officers of the Education Bureau will collaborate with teachers on different aspects of Catering for Learner Diversity. The foci of development are as follows:
To assist schools in reviewing the effectiveness of school policies and practices on issues pertaining to catering for learner diversity thereby formulating school-based curriculum development plan
To formulate learning and teaching strategies such as differentiated instruction, curriculum adaptation and blended learning, and design learning and teaching materials such as parallel tasks, tiered assignments and cross-subject projects, with the concerted effort of school curriculum leaders and teachers in view of the diverse learning needs and learning styles of students
To implement and review learning, teaching and assessment strategies adopted to cater for learner diversity including non-Chinese speaking (NCS) students, newly-arrived children (NAC), students with special educational needs (SEN) as well as the gifted students
To cultivate teachers’ curriculum leadership and strengthen their professional capacity
To establish a learning community in school and promote the culture of sharing and exchange among teachers
To promote experience sharing and exchange through inter-school professional network activities
4. Modes of Exchange and Collaboration
Support Service Type I
To promote curriculum leadership and facilitate exchange and collaboration among teachers, the following modes are adopted:
On-site Professional Support
In the light of the school’s context and developmental needs, school development officers provide diversified collaborative support services, including reviewing and planning school-based curricula, lesson studies, assessment for learning, formulating development plan and professional development programmes (e.g. seminars, workshop and sharing sessions), as well as pedagogical designs. The primary aim is to promote curriculum leadership for strengthened professional capacity, refined professional practices and sustainable school development.
Support through Professional Network
Professional Network is complementary with the on-site professional support. It facilitates collegial sharing and dissemination of effective practices and resources, thus promoting inter-school sharing.
Differences between Support Service Type I and Type II Support Service Type I Catering for Learner Diversity
Support Service Type II Curriculum Leadership Learning
Community on Catering for Learner Diversity Participants A core team of teachers of each
participating school
2 to 3 curriculum leaders (e.g. Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCO) and subject panel chairpersons) of each participating school
Modes Mainly on-site support Mainly inter-school sharing,
collaboration and reflection, with the support from school development officers
Frequency of meetings
Comparatively more Comparatively less Expectations
on
participants
Develop school-based curriculum and conduct lesson study in collaboration withschool development officers
Explore strategies to cope with the specific issues in developing school- based curriculum, through sharing, collaboration and reflection on pedagogical practices
5. Expectations on Participating Schools
To maximise the support services, participating schools are to find it obligatory to:
delegate a designated personnel, say a Vice Principal or a panel chairperson, to lead a core team of teachers to take forward the on-site professional support services, liaise with school development
officers and map out the collaboration work plan
schedule a common time slot for all school personnel involved for regular meetings (around 1.5 hours per week/cycle, preferably within the timetable) to ensure ample opportunities for professional discourse on curriculum development, collaborative lesson preparation, tryout and lesson observation, review and follow-up tasks, so that the communication and collaboration among teachers will be strengthened. School development officers would provide views and advices throughout, to step up curriculum leadership and professional capacity of teachers
share with other teachers experiences in school-based curriculum development and resources developed such as work plans, learning and teaching materials, student work (the copyright of these materials will be co-owned by the Education Bureau (EDB) and the schools concerned. The EDB also reserves the right to compile and refine the materials for dissemination purposes)
observe strictly the legal obligations and, in all cases, comply with the Copyright Ordinance in developing school-based curriculum as well as learning and teaching materials
6. Points to Note
The support service will normally last for 1 year
The School-based Curriculum Development (Secondary) Section, in collaboration with teachers, generates knowledge from classroom practices, such as exemplars of learning and teaching, experiences in collaborative lesson planning etc., part of which has been uploaded to the Section’s homepage. For details, please visit the website: http://www.edb.gov.hk/sbss/sbcds
7. Enquiries
Ms HUNG Lai-ting, Venus
School-based Curriculum Development (Secondary) Section Tel: 2639 4745
E-mail: ssdosbcds1@edb.gov.hk
