Implementing an Eleven Year Through-train Model to complete Primary and Secondary Education: An innovative curriculum design, and Optimizing the roles of Subject Specialists in the Early Learning Stages

• Published in: Revista electrónica iberoamericana sobre calidad, eficacia y cambio en educación Vol. 3; no. 1; pp. 268 - 272
• Main Authors: Lee, Fanny K. F, Lau, Wendy Y. Y, Yau, Paul Y. H, Luk, Miranda S. P, Chan, Eva S. Y, Chui, Joseph Y. W
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Red Iberoamericana de Investigación sobre Cambio y Eficacia Escolar 2005
• Subjects: Homeroom Teacher; primary education; professional development; subject specialist; subject teacher
• ISSN: 1696-4713; 1696-4713

In an eleven year "through-train" model, to construct a new road map for learning, Logos Academy of Hong Kong has delineated clearly the roles of "Homeroom Teachers" and "Subject Specialists". In the Foundation Stage (The first three years in Primary Schooling), the "Homeroom Teachers" will no longer teach most of the academic subjects for their respective Homeroom classes. They will undertake mainly pastoral care functions whilst different subject specialists are deployed to teach different subject areas accordingly. Each Subject teacher will teach ALL the classes within a year-band. In some Subjects like English Studies, two or three teachers will share the teaching load according to their specialties. After putting in practice for two years, evidence has shown that with this "Subject specialist across the year band" approach, the curriculum rigor has been strengthened and children have made much more remarkable progress in specific learning areas. Moreover, it has created space and opportunities for co-teaching and joint projects. This has in turn facilitated communication, collaboration and professional development of teachers in their subject specialty. Within the same subject area, the inter-teacher difference between classes of the same year level has been diminished, and the effectiveness of teaching and learning across the whole year-band may be better monitored and evaluated. The subject specialist is also in a better position to design and organize necessary follow-up actions (including enrichment or remedial work) more efficiently.