A partnership mode in supporting and maximizing individual learning efficacy: The Hong Kong Jockey Club SMILE project

Through the support of the Education Bureau for the Chief Executive’s Community Project in 2012/2013, the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust funded a three-year project (2013–2016) HKIEd for up to HK$10.5 million. The project, entitled ‘The Hong Kong Jockey Club Supporting and Maximizing Individual Learning Efficacy (SMILE) Project’ provide innovative front-line support to mainstream Hong Kong schools with the following objectives: 1. To enhance the learning and adaptive abilities of students with attention deficit/hyperactive disorder (AD/HD) or intellectual disability (ID); 2. To aid teachers in the development of appropriate teaching strategies and materials for such students; 3. To improve school-wide approaches to supporting these students by engaging school administration, teachers, and parents; 4. To establish learning communities within schools and enhance the professional capacity of teachers to cater to student diversity through professional exchanges, sharing of resources, and knowledge transfer In the project, a total of 24 schools will receive intensive school-based support and 120 schools will receive consultancy from the team. The expert team will provide innovative front-line assistance to mainstream Hong Kong schools by introducing a wide range of support strategies and curriculum approaches for the diverse learning needs of students with special educational needs (SEN), particularly students with AD/HD and ID. In this presentation, the team will refer to their work in the first year and state how the knowledge transfer reaches the schools successfully. In regard to the the work done in the intensive school-based support, consultancy and seminars, the team will share insights and examples on differentiated instruction, empirical study on student learning, school-wide support for teachers, strategic resource production, teacher empowerment and curricular support. Copyright © 2010 The Hong Kong Institute of Education.