Week 17 - So long Hong Kong! (Professional Blog)

A farewell gathering organised in our halls!

Yesterday I finished my teaching placement in Jockey Club Primary School. It has been a fantastic experience having the opportunity to teach and work with children in a different educational setting outside of Northern Ireland. On reflection, it has been a challenging placement, in particular as I was teaching children who use English as a second language. I feel, however, that this completely new experience will really be of benefit to me in the future.

The teacher who I was with during school placement.

Compared to my previous experiences of teaching back home, the students in Hong Kong aren’t as used to participatory classrooms with plenty of teacher-student dialogue. This was even noticeable in my classes at University here where the local students were very reluctant to answer questions and interact with the teachers. This meant that the exchange students were often the ones answering the questions! It was encouraging when I was teaching in the primary school however, that the students gradually got more used to me and eventually they became more receptive and confident in participating.

Grade 6 class.

Grade 5 class.

Having just concluded my teaching practice, I feel better equipped to evaluate the systems of primary education in Hong Kong and Northern Ireland.  When reflecting upon the differences, I feel there are definite advantages and disadvantages for each schooling system. From my prospective, I missed the opportunity to teach areas of the Curriculum other than English here in Hong Kong. Working back home offers variety through teaching a range of different subjects but with the same pupils in the same class. There is the obvious argument that in the Hong Kong schooling system teachers are specialists in their subject areas resulting in a higher standard of learning and teaching across all subject areas. Having experienced both systems, it is my considered opinion, that it is more advantageous for children at primary school to have the same teacher throughout the year so the teacher can closely monitor and help the pupils’ progress in their learning.  The children should also feel more comfortable building up positive working relationships with the same teacher.

Another enjoyable home visit!

As I mentioned in last week’s blog, I have been engaged in some out of school activities with the pupils and this week had another opportunity to visit a pupil’s home. I had a fantastic evening and really enjoyed sharing with them some traditional Chinese dishes which they cooked.  Again I was amazed at how gracious and courteous the local families are over here. I showed them some pictures of Northern Ireland and they were impressed by the scenery and also by the size of my house as most families here live in flats.

Having completed my teaching placement in Hong Kong, I now realise the wide-ranging opportunities we have as teachers. During discussions with the Principal, I was made aware of the high demand in South East Asia for Native English Teachers, an initiative which is being backed by the Hong Kong government. Certainly while I have been studying in Hong Kong, I have met many expats who are now teaching here full-time and Hong Kong, in my view would definitely be a great place to live and potentially work in the future.

I can’t believe my time in Hong Kong has now finally come to an end. It seems like no time since I arrived but I suppose this just goes to show what a great time I have had. Coming to Hong Kong and doing an international exchange has been an amazing and unforgettable experience which I will always look back upon with fond memories. I have made lots of new friends and met people from all over the world. This opportunity has also allowed me to immerse myself in a completely different culture and see parts of the world I would never have expected to have visited twelve months ago. I have had such a great time in Hong Kong, studying and teaching, doing a bungee jump in Macau, going to the Hong Kong Sevens, travelling to Vietnam at Easter and now flying to Sydney on Thursday morning. For those students in second year back home who want to go on international exchange I would really recommend Hong Kong. Having lived here for over 4 months it really is as they say – a place where ‘East meets West!’ Well it is now time to go as I still have lots of packing to do... I am leaving my halls at 5 a.m. tomorrow morning in order to catch the early flight to Sydney!

So long Hong Kong!

Joi Gin (Goodbye)

Michael

Week 16 - Extra curricular activities (Professional Blog)

At the railway museum.

This week has been a really interesting week in Hong Kong. The Chairperson of the Parent-Teacher Association has been trying to make the most of having ‘English speaking’ student teachers in the primary school and this week had organised some “events” including a home visit to a pupil’s house and a ‘tour’ of the local town on Saturday morning by the students. Although possibly unconvinced at first, I now feel that both of these events were really beneficial and constructive for the children as it gave them an excellent opportunity to practice and use their English outside the formal setting of the classroom.   As for me, I really enjoyed getting to know the children socially and spending time with them outside of school.

One of the old diesel electric trains.

On Saturday morning we met at 10 o’clock at Tai Po Market station with around 30 of the school children some of whom were accompanied by their parents. My “guided tour” of Tai Po commenced with the 6 pupils in my group first taking me to the Railway Museum which showed the transition of trains from a couple of hundred years ago to the trains we now have today. After this, the children thought it was very important that I went with them to Man Mo temple which is a temple where you go to if you want to pray and ask for good academic results!

Hopefully our prayers come true!

Trying some traditional Chinese desserts.

We also had great fun visiting some of the morning markets and tasting Old Chinese traditional desserts which were surprisingly quite good! It was also really interesting seeing the wide range and varying types of fresh fish and different meat in the local market with the children particularly enjoying watching the butchers chopping up and slicing the meat right in front of us. After a quick visit to the local library where we discussed all the different types of books we liked reading, we finished our morning by having lunch together and enjoyed eating some ‘Dim Sum’ which is probably the only traditional Chinese food that I may actually miss when I leave Hong Kong! 

Some of the colourful fish at the market!

During the week I also had the opportunity of visiting a student’s house and spending an evening with his family.  They generously invited me out to a restaurant and we all enjoyed dinner together. Not only was this very welcoming, but I felt it was a really worthwhile experience, because as student teachers we rarely get the chance to spend any time socially with children outside of the school environment and it provided me with an excellent opportunity to get to know the child better in an informal way. In Hong Kong helping children speak English is very important to their parents as it opens up many more opportunities and possibilities. The parent with whom I had dinner on Wednesday evening told me that her eldest child is over in England at a boarding school and really enjoying it.  So much so that he doesn’t even want to come back to Hong Kong during the holidays because there is such a range of activities, sports and opportunities “outside”  the school  day in England. The impression I get is that many parents are quite keen to send their children away, not only to improve their English but because growing up and settling in Hong Kong is now particularly difficult because of the colossal house prices. 

Enjoying some Japanese cuisine.

A farewell party was also organised by the International Office on Friday and it was nice to have everyone gathered together for one final time before we all go off on our own separate journeys. We watched a presentation showing lots of photos since we came to Hong Kong and we shared a few stories and experiences about the great time we had here, before we all joined together for one last lunch. At this event, it finally hit me that my adventure in Hong Kong is now coming to an end, and with many students already having left it has made me realise that I must try and make the most of the remaining days I have left!

HKIEd International Students 2011!

This week I am in school again and my final assignment is also due to be handed in so it will be a relief when that work is completed. Hopefully next weekend, which is my last here in Hong Kong, I will be free to do anything which I have not yet done!

Until next time...

Joi Gin (Goodbye)

Michael

Week 15 - Studying abroad... (Personal Blog)

"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” Mark Twain

It somehow seems appropriate that when I started my first blog all those weeks ago, I quoted from Mark Twain. Now that my time in Hong Kong is coming to an end, I thought I should seek further words of wisdom! Coming from Northern Ireland the words “prejudice”, "bigotry” and “narrow-mindedness” sometimes seem to go with the territory. So have I learned anything about the society and world we live in and gained anything from its diversity and variety?

I thought my blog this week was an important opportunity to think about how travel really does broaden the mind, now that our little group or “family” of international students are beginning to leave Hong Kong. Coming to Hong Kong has given me the most fantastic opportunity of meeting people from all over the world. Travel gives you a global perspective that allows you to view things through a much wider lens; to understand the world and its people; to appreciate the wealth of diversity you gain by such an assortment of cultures and beliefs. Most importantly of all however, is that it changes you in a totally unique way.

Getting to know the other international students over the past number of months has impressed on me how open-minded they are and how they are always willing to try and accept new things. This made me think about many people’s attitudes and perspectives back home where in spite of considerable progress over recent years, we can still be traditional in our views with uncompromising opinions and biased attitudes. This is exemplified by the widespread negativity surrounding the influx of new immigrants from Eastern Europe seeking employment (usually in jobs that no one else wants to do) or the continued sectarian violence between the protestant and catholic communities.

I think it is important that we realise society is now becoming a global one and that Northern Ireland in twenty years’ time will almost certainly need to be much more diverse and multi-cultural than it is today. As a prospective teacher, it is noticeable that the Northern Ireland Curriculum is strongly emphasising the importance of developing and encouraging children to be more open-minded and accepting of diversity and to be more tolerant in their views. Areas such as PDMU (Personal Development and Mutual Understanding) have now become an integral part of the Northern Ireland Curriculum with teachers being encouraged to strive to educate children to be open to diversity and accommodating of other cultures and traditions.

On a personal level, where I always considered myself to be broad minded and indeed, easy-going, I feel that having this great opportunity to study in such a cosmopolitan city, surrounded by people from all over the world has helped me develop personally with regards to becoming a much more liberal and tolerant person. I know that I now respect, and certainly appreciate, different cultures and traditions much more than before I came to study in Hong Kong. Hopefully we are all moving towards a global society, where diversity and inclusiveness are the norm. Travel and in my case studying abroad, is one sure way of bringing this about much sooner. As Mark Twain reminds us - "Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”