How Teach For Hong Kong Started
Teach for Hong Kong started by a group of young people with great passion and educational visions. It was originally based on the “Teach for” model in America and it was quite challenging to make it suitable and sustainable under the Hong Kong culture.
It all started with Seeing The Impact Of Teach For America
While I was studying in America, I met a lot of students who used to take part in or be influenced by Teach for America. Not only do they become young advocates, but they do not forget their own social responsibilities. Seeing them being so dedicated to society, I feel the enthusiasm and the future of young people. The more I learned about how the concept of Teach for America is rooted in the campus and how it has a profound impact on the future of society, the more determined I was to bring changes to Hong Kong education by adopting the same model.
In the summer of 2014, I decided to defer my study for a year and came back to Hong Kong to fully work on founding Teach for Hong Kong. I set a one-year target and aimed to start the Fellowship program in 2015.
It was not easy for young people like us to start something brand new and innovative in Hong Kong. We seemed to be a group of young people who didn’t have enough knowledge and imagination about education from the experts’ perspectives. The “Teach for” model had never been assessed and executed in Hong Kong and the difficulties it was facing were enormous. To come up with a more holistic plan, our team tried to find the best solutions based on our experience, knowledge, and research of the “Teach For” model. Moreover, to compensate for our lack of teaching experience, we actively invited educators and people who share a vision in education to give us suggestions to help adjust the plan of TFHK.
It was a blessing that we got a positive response from the Former Vice-Principal of the University of Hong Kong, Cheng Kai Ming. Not only that he gave us some suggestions, but he also initiated to be our consultant. On the other hand, Chui Hong Sheung, the former Principal of The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong, was opening Gratia Christian College at that moment. He promised that if Gratia Christian College successfully opened a secondary school, they would participate in our Fellowship program. The positive recognition and support from the educators meant a lot to our fledgling TFHK team.
Bringing “Teach For” To Hong Kong
To create a practical and successful plan for TFHK, we had to think in the position of Hong Kong educators and students.
Given that the “Teach for” model wasn’t commonly known by people in Hong Kong and the opportunity cost for a two-year program is relatively high for fresh graduates and young professionals. We decided to adjust our Fellowship Program from a two-year duration to pne-year. It helps to eliminate the barriers for applicants, especially those who are not majoring in education, and encourage them to join our movement.
It was a tough decision to shorten the duration of the Program as it might affect the final outcomes. Yet, it was necessary for us to localize the Program to make it more suitable and sustainable for young people in Hong Kong. We also believed that the more people apply and show interest in our program, the more likely we can find the right people to achieve our visions with. In the long run, when the timing is right, I would still like to have a go at the 2-year structure program.