Deepening student learning: Finding a powerful object of learning that opens up possibilities for students in special needs schools

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.