Utilizing pedagogical strategies of the learner-centred model in primary small class teaching settings in Hong Kong

With the progressive phasing in of the integrated policy from 1997 and the enactment of the code of practice on education under the Disability Discrimination Ordinance in 2001, there has been a rapid growth of learner diversity in Hong Kong mainstream schools (Education Bureau of HKSAR, 2010). Teachers have raised concerns over meeting the challenging needs of the pupils with different ability levels within a classroom of 30 students. In response to this, and coupled with the continuing dropping birth rate, in the 2007 Policy Address the Hong Kong government announced that the small class teaching (hereafter SCT) policy would be implemented in all government and aided primary schools by phases, starting from the cohort of primary one students in the 2009/10 school year, then extending to all classes from primary one to primary six by the 2014/15 school year (Education Bureau of HKSAR, 2008). Since then, there has been much discussion on how schools can maximize the benefits that SCT may bring to students. Copyright © 2016, 2017 P. Blatchford, K.W. Chan, M. Galton, K.C. Lai, and J.C. Lee.