Learning and Teaching in the Chinese Classroom: Responding to Individual Needs

About the authors

About the authors Shane N. Phillipson is an associate professor at Monash University and previously at the Hong Kong Institute of Education. After obtaining a B.Sc. (Hons) and a graduate diploma in secondary education, he worked for many years as a mathematics and science teacher in New South Wales and South Australia. Shane Phillipson then obtained a graduate certificate in gifted education and a PhD from Flinders University (Australia). His PhD thesis was awarded the International Award (1999–2000) for best PhD thesis by the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) in the UK, and the 2001 Flinders University nomination for the Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) Doctoral Thesis Award. Currently, Shane Phillipson teaches educational psychology, research methods and gifted education, and his research interests include cultural conceptions of giftedness and models of achievement. He has been awarded a number of research grants, resulting in publications in many international peer-reviewed journals, including High Ability Studies and Educational Psychology, and he is also a reviewer of research articles for these two journals. His edited books include Learning diversity in the Chinese classroom: Contexts and practice for students with special needs (2007), and Conceptions of giftedness: Socio-cultural perspectives (with M. McCann, 2007). Shane is a member of the American Psychological Association (APA), the Association for Psychological Science (APS), the World Council for Gifted and Talented Children, and the European Council for High Ability. Bick-har Lam is an associate professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction and in the Centre for Learning, Teaching and Technology at the Hong Kong Institute of Education. She obtained her degrees of bachelor in education and master in education from the University of East Anglia in the UK, and her PhD from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Bick-har Lam was a secondary school teacher before joining the Hong Kong Polytechnic University as an educational developer. She is currently involved in a number of research studies, which include a local study on ethnic minority students supported by the General Research Fund of the University Grants Committee, a series of studies on learner-oriented learning funded by the Teaching Development Grant, and an international project xx About the authors on adolescent’s art across cultural borders supported by the International Society of Education through Art. Her most recent books include Young people’s visions of the world (co-edited with T. T. Eca and R. Kroupp, 2010) and Curriculum integration: An institute–school partnership approach (2009). She developed a syllabus (1993) and courses on art and craft (1996) and primary school teaching (2002) for the Open University of Hong Kong, and has been a programme leader and developer for Hong Kong government-commissioned teacher professional development courses. She has also developed the Active Classroom (A Class) website (http://www.ied.edu.hk/ aclass/) as an exchange platform for teachers to promote teaching and learning. In 2010, Bick-har Lam was awarded the Excellence in Teaching Award by the Hong Kong Institute of Education. ...