IB For All, Made Affordable
When people think about IB, they think about costly international schools. But one school is trying to change this perception. Janet (Fellow 17-18) was with the school from the start. She shared her experience creating an affordable IB from scratch, and her accelerated leadership journey in bringing education equity.
Janet (Fellow 17-18) becoming a core member of the team that is creating the affordable IB curriculum at Delia Memorial School (Glee Path)
Around 80% of students at Glee Path, where Janet teaches, are ethnic minorities, mainly from South-East Asia. Learning Chinese is particularly difficult for them and they are not familiar with many local issues as Janet observed from their Liberal Studies lessons.
Janet thinks that Hong Kong’s education system is “spoon-feeding” and “teaching to the test”. Curriculums under such a system often focus on preparing students for standardized tests which could cause immense stress for them. The traditional form of schooling would be dull and hard to digest for her students, she stated that an innovative type of education would suit her students best as they are lively and energetic.
Most of Janet's student come from ethnic minority origins with parents working in blue collar jobs
With that in mind, when the school decided to implement the International Baccalaureate (IB) program, Janet jumped on the opportunity to help develop the curriculum. It is designed to increase global awareness and emphasizes critical and independent thinking and logical inquiry. Furthermore, it highlights the importance of holistic and creative education aiming to develop a multi-skilled individual through experiential learning.
Education For All, Regardless Of Background
The IB program enables Janet’s students to learn with fewer limitations. Unlike traditional schooling which restricts the learning content to what appears on tests, the IB program, as Janet pointed out, encourages them to learn in interactive ways, such as debating, group activities, seminars, and presentations. Janet’s class, Research and Enquiry, allows her students to explore different research methods and assimilation of knowledge is often more effective as they are acquired through the students’ own experiences.
While the IB program’s popularity has been growing globally, critics argue that it is regarded as ‘elitist’ and is unaffordable. Janet said, “Education equity should not be measured by money and quality education should not be available only to children from well-off families. However, diversified teaching strategies and experienced teachers are often inaccessible to children from poorer households.”
The core value of the school is to "Go to Serve". Love and care is at the core of the IB implementation by Janet and her core team
In Hong Kong, the IB program is only offered in international schools, private schools, and high banding schools which are benefited from the Direct Subsidy Scheme. She believes that it is her responsibility to help underprivileged students as they do not have as many opportunities in their career paths when compared to the others and this boosted her determination to implement the low-cost IB program in Glee Path.
Taking The Lead, One Step At A Time
When the IB visitors came for the IB authorization, they made an impressive comment which touched Janet’s heart. “They recognized the principal’s belief in implementing low-cost IB as a way to strive for education equality. Besides, the coordinators remarked on the students’ unexpectedly well mannerisms and demeanors and said they do not seem like students from a low-banding school,” said Janet.
Janet concludes that her two years of teaching experience has changed her fundamentally. During the Fellowship Program, Teach for Hong Kong exposed her to a variety of innovative learning strategies and networking events which aided her construction of the IB curriculum.
Janet (left two) and her cohort of Fellows share the same passion to change education, and has taken positions in other school, business and other professions to continue their education equity journey
Her Fellowship experience has equipped her to take up the responsibility as one of the IB curriculum coordinators in Glee Path and host numerous training sessions. Janet is glad to see that many teachers are willing to learn with modesty and are open to opinions. She believes that, by joining hands, they could drive changes to cultivate underprivileged students and nurture one another.
Janet has undoubtedly contributed to help fight education inequity and will continue to take part in the transformative process of driving systemic change in education.
Janet Fu holds a BBA in Marketing and Operations Management from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. After her graduation in 2017, Janet joined the TFHK Fellowship program and served in Delia Memorial School (Glee Path). After her Fellowship, she continued to teach at the school. She teaches Liberal Studies, Economics and Research and Enquiry and she holds the position of the Theory of Knowledge coordinator in developing IB curriculum, the first Alumni to take on a school leadership role.