Enhancing students' capacity to become self-motivated and independent learners

Date :

20 June 2016

Time :

2:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Place :

Lecture Theatre, 4/F, West Block, Kowloon Tong Education Services Centre, Kowloon Tong

Aims of Activity :

To share good practices on how to:

• develop students into self-motivated, self-disciplined and reflective learners through changing teachers' roles;

• motivate students to write confidently and independently through adopting different self-regulated learning models; and

• prepare primary students for the learning demands at the secondary level through a cross-curricular reading project

1:45 pm - 2:00 pm

2:00 pm - 2:15 pm

Miss Amy Poon, Senior Curriculum Development Officer of Language Learning Support Section, gave an introduction to the essential capabilities that primary students need to develop to cope with the changing contexts and meet the demands of secondary education.

2:15 pm - 3:05 pm

The teachers of Si Yuan School of the Precious Blood recognised the need to develop their students' self-directed learning capabilities. Some seed teachers from P2 were identified and equipped for a change in role from instructors to facilitators. They shifted from giving direct and teacher-centred instruction with emphasis on controlled tasks to adopting more student-centred approaches which provided more choices and autonomy for students. They served as leaders and shared the effective strategies and good practices in implementing self-directed learning with other English panel members. As a result, the teaching team has become more confident in coping with the changes required to develop students into self-motivated, self-disciplined and reflective learners.

3:20 pm - 4:05 pm

Teachers at Yan Tak Catholic Primary School adopted the gradual release of responsibility model (Pearson & Gallagher, 1983) and Self-regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) model (Case, Harris & Graham, 1992) to develop students into independent writers. The school-based writing curriculum was designed progressively with reference to the learning targets stated in the English Language Curriculum Guide (P.1-6) and the Learning Progression Framework. Evident changes were found in students' motivation to write and their ability to produce better quality writing. They were engaged and participated actively in the writing activities. They showed improvement in content, language and organisation.

4:05 pm - 4:50 pm

To prepare students for the demands of the secondary curriculum, English teachers of Shatin Tsung Tsin School worked collaboratively with the General Studies teachers and the librarian to promote reading of non-fiction texts at KS2. A wide range of non-fiction texts on various themes were chosen to enrich students' knowledge relating to different content subjects. Relevant learning to learn skills were taught explicitly. There was a significant increase in the number of books read by students. Students mastered the skills of extracting information from different sources, note-taking, organising and synthesising information.

4:50 pm - 5:00 pm