The Autonomy Project aims to promote autonomy in the students at the Hong Kong Institute of Education by providing them with hands-on experience of being in a learning environment where learner and teacher autonomy are highly encouraged. The project draws upon the lecturers’ extensive teaching and research experiences in Language and Education programmes by inviting them to incorporate pedagogical strategies for autonomy in the courses they teach. Through promoting innovative approaches to teaching (e.g., interactive assessment for learning, peer teaching), the lecturers develop specific materials and adopt certain pedagogical principles in the classroom to encourage students to be autonomous learners and teachers. As learner autonomy and teacher autonomy are interdependent, it is our hope that not only our students will benefit from the autonomous experience in the programme, but also their future students in Hong Kong and around the region. The project started in July 2010 and was completed in August 2011.

The 7th International Symposium on Teaching English at Tertiary Level,
Hong Kong, 14 October 2011