Week Thirteen - Professional

Teaching in the Jockey Club Primary School commenced this week and it has certainly been a week of new experiences for me! I have always found teaching practice back home a demanding and tiring few weeks but inevitably it has always shown me that I love to teach and the hard work is well worth it in the end. I have found school life in Hong Kong to be slightly more relaxed as I am only teaching English as a second language to children in year 2 and year 6 (our p3 and p7). However the most challenging part has been trying to adapt to a new way of teaching, constantly having to remind myself that this is a foreign language for these children and I have to cover all parts of the English language, regardless of how small and insignificant they may seem to me! Teaching the children has also made me more aware of the need to be a good communicator, presenting new words accurately and discussing things clearing with the children. My first lesson was on the topic of cows and why they have four stomachs, so as you could probably guess, Ballymena people tend to say the word ‘cow’ a lot differently from others in the world! (I quickly realised my mistake though and everything became a little clearer for the children!!) One of the most challenging aspects of teaching here has been trying to help those children who are from Mainland China. There is a very distinct lack of motivation from most of these children to develop their English language skills and it is very obvious that they have few opportunities to practice and refine their skills at home. It is difficult for me to offer them words of encouragement as they carry out their tasks, as they just do not understand what I am saying. I have tried to communicate with them through the class teacher but I feel that for these children to progress in their English, the work in the classroom needs to be adapted in a certain way to suit their needs. I have tried to include visual prompts as I teach and from time to time I have other children in the class translate so that they can understand exactly what is going on. I realise that these methods are very basic, however it is important for these children to practice these skills at school as this is very often the only place they can learn the English language.

The 7 storey Jockey Club Primary School

 The teachers in the school have been extremely friendly and helpful, and we have had a meeting with the head of the parent-teacher association who would like us to carry out home visits to see some of the children in their home setting. This will be an excellent experience not only for the children as it will give them the opportunity to practice and become more confident in speaking English, but also for me as I visit the parents and interact with them.

As the numbers of children who enter our primary schools in Northern Ireland with English as a second language increases, I feel that this experience of teaching English in Hong Kong will help me to develop teaching strategies and a better understanding of how best to teach ESL children. (I will hopefully have more pictures of the school and of me teaching after Easter) 

Week Twelve - Professional

This week I had the opportunity to visit the primary school I will be teaching in during my teaching placement here in Hong Kong. The school is called the Hong Kong Jockey Club Primary School and it is located on the campus of the university. Schools in Hong Kong are banded according to ability, so band one has more able children attending the school, whereas a band three school is for those children who struggle, frequently due to a learning difficulty. The HK Jockey Club Primary school is classified as a band one school and there are around 500 pupils in the school and three classes in each year group, with approximately 30 pupils in each class. This banding system is very different to Northern Ireland where children with special educational needs are included in mainstream primary classrooms, allowing them to have the opportunity to enjoy education alongside their peers. The range of abilities within the NI classroom is obviously quite broad because of this, and teachers face greater challenges looking to differentiate work in order to meet the needs of all pupils, regardless of their level of ability. While differentiation is key in the Northern Ireland Curriculum, it plays less of a role here in Hong Kong due to the banding of schools. During my meeting with my teacher I enquired about how I should look to differentiate the learning in the classroom and she said that no differentiation was needed, and that I was to set the work at an average level. Approaching teaching in this way seems very strange to me as, for three years in Stranmillis, differentiation has been at the heart of my planning and teaching during each of my school placements. I feel that differentiation is vital in any classroom, as it is extremely difficult to create a lesson in which all 30 children in the class learn and progress. It will certainly be interesting over the next number of weeks to see this different approach to teaching in the classroom. 

The school also runs in a way which is very similar to a secondary school back home as there are individual teachers for each individual subject, for example one teacher specialises in English, one teacher specialises in Chinese, one in P.E. and so on. I look forward over the next number of weeks to see the contrast this structure has from our typical Northern Irish schools, where one class is taught all subjects and areas of the curriculum by one teacher. I will be teaching English to a primary 2 and primary 6 class during my time in school, and my teacher Ms Kwok is actually a recent graduate from the Hong Kong Institute of Education. She has been extremely helpful in explaining to me what the Hong Kong Curriculum focuses on and she has also been very eager to hear if I have any ideas from my experience of the Northern Ireland Curriculum, which could be integrated into the classroom. Ms Kwok has explained to me how important assessment is within the Hong Kong Curriculum, and how there is so much pressure on teachers to ensure that children are prepared for frequent examinations which take place throughout the school year. 

I am looking forward to experiencing a way of schooling which seems so different to Northern Ireland. Hopefully I will be able to learn from this great experience and bring new ideas home with me, which will enable me to develop my teaching strategies and become better equipped as a teacher.

Week Eleven - Cultural

The weather has been fantastic this week in Hong Kong and some of my friends and I decided to take advantage of the sun and go for a barbecue on Friday. We headed off to Clearway Bay which is situated in the outer Kowloon area of the city and is well-known for its beautiful beaches and picturesque headlands. We were surrounded by local teenagers at the beach, all having finished school for the day and obviously having the same idea as us to have a relaxing evening in the sun. There must have been at least 40 young people around the age of 15 or 16 and they were cooking food, having fun on the beach and enjoying themselves. 

After a while of cooking and chatting the topic of conversation between the international students (most of whom are from central Europe) got round to how if we were sitting in the exact same scenario in our respective countries, it would be very likely that the teens around us at the beach would be drinking alcohol and causing some unwanted disturbance. Now I know that the thought was a sweeping generalisation of youths in European countries, but to me there is a certain amount of truth in what was being discussed. We are all well aware of the poor publicity the youths get back home and certainly in England from time to time, however from what I have seen and experienced here, there never seems to be the same issues in the press or in society in general. Back home in Britain it is well documented that there is a real ‘teen drinking culture’, with reports showing that many young children get drunk around the age of just 13 or 14. From my limited experience here in Hong Kong this just doesn’t seem to be an issue. Teenagers and youths are afraid to get in trouble with the authorities, and there seems to be a certain degree of innocence among the young people of Hong Kong. When we have activities organised by the halls committee here, such as the spring dinner, games nights or just times when we get together as a group, alcohol is something which is never present and having it doesn’t seem like something which they view as necessary, if they are to have a good time. It certainly has been one of the cultural differences which I have enjoyed seeing in Hong Kong. Something I have also noted about the youth here is the very obvious respect the young people have for their elders. This is shown in small ways such as always giving seats up to those who are older on the trains and buses, regardless of the length of journey. The innocence of the Chinese young people and the visible respect they have for their people is something which I hope Hong Kong never loses, because in my opinion, the small things like this are what make a country stand out for all the right reasons.

Clearwater Bay Beach

Ola lighting the barbecue

Barbecue done.....great day

I had my first experience of being unwell during my trip here in Hong Kong. I was sick for most of the week and you take for granted how much you get pampered and ‘looked after’ by your mum when you’re sick at home! We don’t have any toasters here in halls (I have honestly never craved a nice slice of toasted veda as much!) so I had to resort to making toast on the frying pan because the Chinese food didn’t really appeal to me while I was feeling so sick! But I have recovered from my illness and I was well enough to visit the village of Stanley on Saturday. Stanley is a nice coastal village which has a very close resemblance to a coastal resort in Europe. Bars and restaurants line the sea front and I had the opportunity to have my first fish and chips since I left Northern Ireland.... I am not exaggerating when I say this, but it was the best fish and chips I have ever had!!! 

Stanley Beach with our friend Tuomas

Tuomas and Michael sporting some questionable shades....