Distinctive progress has been achieved since mother tongue education was introduced on a much wider scale in secondary schools in Hong Kong. The elimination of language barriers boosted students’ confidence and facilitated inter-communication between teachers and students in the classroom. Without the language impediment factor, many mother tongue education practitioners have been liberated to establish effective space of learning in class to improve the outcomes of teaching. Guided group collaboration and project-based learning are major emphases in current curriculum reforms. Students are encouraged to define their own learning topics and devise personal study plans. This approach encourages students to face the challenge of serious personal thinking about their own responsibility for learning.  Teachers need to ensure that students raise sensible questions and reach certain levels in understanding the nature of problems. Teachers can also collect relevant data to monitor progress.

This book is concerned with a straightforward and effective approach: variation theory. By being led to see similarities and differences in subject matter, students are enabled to experience variability and variations in phenomena and to widen their space for learning and thought. It is proposed that variation is a golden key enabling students access to the treasury of knowledge.