Giving students a brighter future
“I think education should be broad, giving students space to play and think, and they will surprise you,” Karen (Fellow 17-18) reflected, “Students should know that life is not just about living humbly in the present, but also captivates us with its aesthetics and hopes for a bright future.”
Karen Tsang (Fellow 17-18) with her class of students
As long as you are willing to spend time, students will respond to you thoughtfully. I think education should be broad, giving students space to play and think, and they will surprise you.
Life is not just about living humbly in the present, but also captivates us with its aesthetics and hopes for a bright future.
When I first joined Teach For Hong Kong, I had a small dream – to expand my students’ horizons. Living in a narrow world, they can still see the boundless sky; because, being does not mean living.
A Year of Self Reflection
Being a survivor of the examination system, I found myself habitually adapt to the workplace norms, catch up on teaching progress, and find teaching methods within the rigid system.
I cared about my students. I made an effort to eat lunch with my students every day. I did mood checks before and after class. I hoped that I could help my students to solve their problems rather than just teaching.
Yet, I still unconsciously want my students to be model students, to succeed in exams, and to improve their grades. At the same time, I kept questioning myself:
Was I killing my students’ curiosity?
Was I making them the products of an industrialized society?
Would they still love learning even when I am gone?
Would my student who just learned all 26 alphabets still learn English earnestly next year?
I always felt that “something” is missing.
Faced with established systems and rules, I felt powerless. While I wanted my students to be able to imagine their own future, could I imagine my own? How could I make my students curious about what’s out there if I weren’t curious about the world? As teachers who came out from this limiting education system, could we break through our own limitations to bring a broader world to our children?
At the end of the Fellowship, Karen gifted her students a book full of their memories
Let Students Imagine Their Future
I still remembered that when the school had just begun, students were bored with learning English, and they did not take classes seriously.
Through observing and interacting with my students, I found that the biggest obstacle for them was that they did not understand the purpose of English. Because they only need to use Cantonese and/or Mandarin in their daily conversations, they never experienced the need of learning English. It is exactly this lack of realization that took away their learning motivation.
After that realization, I spent one entire lesson sharing my story in English. Through my story, I hoped my students would realize the benefits of learning English. In my story, I showed the pictures I took during my university exchange in foreign countries and English books that I liked. They were seeing the world through my eyes while grasping the importance of English.
Slowly, I built a connection with my students. They would trust me and share their thoughts with me. I realized the power of passion and how fast and direct a child’s change could be.
At the end of the Fellowship, Karen gifted her students a book full of their memories
When we are with children, our relationships are simple and straightforward. As long as you are willing to spend time, students will respond to you thoughtfully. I think education should be broad, giving students space to play and think, and they will then surprise you.
This is what I enjoyed the most in the process. While I might feel tired at times, I would never trade my experience for anything else.
As a teacher, I need to be able to imagine a future in order for students to imagine their own.
