Week Six - Professional

According to Protheroe (2004) reluctant and challenging learners ‘avoid challenges, don’t complete tasks, and are satisfied to “just get by.” They are reluctant to learn and often have the potential to excel but don’t seem to care about achieving in school.’ For all teachers children such as this can be the most frustrating and demanding to teach.  From my own personal experience on teaching practice I have always found myself becoming discouraged as children who have the potential to achieve great things in their learning, lack the motivation and will power to work in class. I have tried to employ many different strategies to try to encourage the child and keep them focussed on tasks; however it is very often a difficult job.

In one of my classes, Engaging reluctant and challenging learners, we have been studying some of the possible reasons why children distance themselves from their work and ‘plod along in class, finish work quickly and become easily distracted.’ (Michael P. F., 2002) Much of our learning has been focussed on the significance of a child’s self efficacy on their desire to participate in class. Children with a low self efficacy have a lack of motivation to learn as they feel they cannot do the work and often try to avoid failure. Whereas children with a high self efficacy look to develop their knowledge and broaden their understanding as they feel good about their learning and feel they have the ability to achieve. The class has shown me that there are many strategies the teacher can adopt which constitute good classroom practice and help raise reluctant learners’ self efficacy. Goal setting is an important motivational process and students with a clear goal will experience a sense of self efficacy for attaining it. They will essentially see the purpose of their learning and as they observe the goal being attained their self efficacy and desire to learn will grow. For me as a teacher I must look to provide children who are reluctant in their learning with attainable and challenging short term goals. I must always seek to provide the child with feedback on how they are progressing in reaching their goals as this will also enhance their self efficacy and their ability to reach their potential.

The class has also taught me to consider ways of developing children’s intrinsic motivation. Pintrich and Schunk (2002) suggest that for children to become more motivated they must have ‘challenge, curiosity, control and fantasy in their learning.’ One of the points which struck me was providing children with a sense of control over their learning outcomes and choices in their learning. This is becoming a major part of the Northern Ireland Curriculum, and it cannot be overlooked how important this is in motivating children to learn. Teachers must allow children to “have a voice in the classroom”, directing their own learning and inevitably becoming more involved in their education.

In this module, I look forward to hearing more learning theories directed to motivating unenthusiastic children in the classroom as it is an issue which can have a detrimental effect on the learning of all children in the classroom.

Week Five - Personal

The university grounds

At the end of this week it will officially be the longest period of time I have been away from Northern Ireland. I have travelled far afield in the past; however this trip goes well beyond anything I have experienced before. To visit a country on a holiday is one thing; but to live in one for 5 months and become part of the culture and way of life, is another. I often forget that in just over a years time I will hopefully be graduating from Stranmillis and looking for a job. While I have no doubt that this experience in Hong Kong will serve to prepare me for my future profession, I cannot overlook how significant it has been and will continue to be in developing me as a person. Even in these first few weeks I feel I have developed more independence and I have noticed a change in how I approach tasks in my classes. I feel I am developing skills as a better listener as I am taking part in so much group work and this also requires patience as tasks require more discussion to overcome the language barrier. 

Edmund who is in my group for one of my modules

 I met a principal from a primary school in the Sha Tin area which is situated quite close to the campus of HKIEd, and he told me how interested his school were in recruiting teachers from overseas, especially male teachers. He encouraged me to consider the possibility of taking a post in Hong Kong for perhaps a couple of years once I graduate. Prospective teachers are under no illusions of how competitive places are for jobs in Northern Ireland, and my encounter with the principal made me think that there are other great teaching opportunities outside of Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom. I think coming to Hong Kong has opened my eyes to how important it is to create global networks, not only in a social sense but also professionally. Education is always evolving and adapting to become more child-centred and having different perspectives on how to achieve this is vital. I feel that having experience of the education system in Hong Kong allows me to bring new and fresh knowledge of teaching back with me to Northern Ireland, allowing me to develop useful teaching strategies which will be of benefit to the children I teach. 

Michael, Marcus and Lok playing football

Michael's buddy Emily and her friends

Hong Kong is one of the most diverse places in the world. Yet, it has a particularly inclusive society, valuing the individual traditions and customs of many people from all over the world, while also welcoming people to experience local Chinese traditions. Northern Ireland is also becoming an extremely diverse and multi-cultural place and last semester much of my academic studies were focused on inclusion in Northern Irish education and society. My time here has shown me how important it is to make a real effort to help make Northern Ireland and in particular our primary classrooms, more inclusive and welcoming of cultural diversity. I am sometimes left astonished at how friendly and welcoming the Chinese people are. They have made me feel part of the university, both academically and also socially, and much of my positive attitude towards Hong Kong is down to the people here. If children in our primary schools feel valued and welcomed, regardless of their background, they will inevitably develop positive attitudes towards their schooling and also towards life in Northern Ireland.

My friends from my flat!

Week Four - Professional (some cultural)

I am studying 3 modules here at the Hong Kong Institute of Education and they are assessment, managing difficult and reluctant learners in the classroom and also Hong Kong History and Culture, a compulsory module for all international students. So far I have found them to be extremely relevant to my teaching studies in Stranmillis, also providing me with additional information and strategies on how to develop as a teaching professional. They have given me ideas of new approaches to aspects of classroom assessment, such as innovative formative assessment procedures, and also enabled me to experience how the curriculum in Hong Kong compares to the Northern Ireland Curriculum. 

I have found the modules to be extremely interactive and very much based upon group work. Class discussion forms a major part of the teaching here at the University, with international students such as myself encouraged to give insight into how different classroom issues relate to our  experiences back in our home countries. The lecturers always seem to value our input, and it is often interesting to see how similar the education systems in Hong Kong and Northern Ireland are. I feel group work is helping me to become a much more proficient communicator as I am communicating with people who study English as a second language. I have to remember to be clear and concise when I speak, and group work is a great opportunity for me to practice my communication skills before I start my teaching placement here in Hong Kong.

In my Hong Kong History and Culture class, I have a group presentation on Wednesday of this week. As a group we have decided to tackle the issue of the growing wealth divide between the rich and the poor in Hong Kong – a topic I have found to be particularly interesting and also very surprising. Hong Kong has the biggest wealth gap in the world, with a staggering 1.2 million Hong Kong citizens considered to be under the poverty line. In a country where wealth and money is everywhere to be seen, many people struggle to have a decent quality of life despite the fact that most of them work and contribute to society. At the moment there is no minimum wage in Hong Kong, which is one of the main reasons for the great divide as many businesses pay their workers very little money. As I walk around the streets of Hong Kong Island and see the lavish lifestyle of many people, the fact that Hong Kong has so many people who struggle to ‘get by’ is even more astonishing. 

I had an interesting conversation this week with a primary school teacher who drew my attention to a controversial book which is becoming extremely popular here in Hong Kong. It is called ‘The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother’ by Amy Chau. The book is viewed by many as an outline for Chinese parents on how to raise their children so that they are essentially better than Western children! It goes into great detail as to what parents should expect from their children both in a social sense and also academically. Some of the ‘guidelines’ Chau indicates in the book are that ‘any grade under an A is unacceptable’ and ‘that the child should be the number one student in every subject except for gym and drama.’ These are only a few of the rules she has stated, however I was shocked to hear that many parents in Asia endorse her views. The teacher I was talking to explained how generally in Hong Kong too much pressure is placed on children from a young age, and consequently many of them view themselves as failures in their education. 

The conversation made me more aware that as a prospective teacher it is vitally important for children to gain confidence in their ability, in order to succeed at school. If children are not given encouragement and are constantly labelled as failures because they achieve less than the top grade, they will never reach their full potential, and perhaps more importantly, enjoy their education.

Week Three - Cultural

This week has been one of the most unforgettable of my life! I had the opportunity to become totally immersed in the Chinese Culture as the people of Hong Kong celebrated the Chinese Lunar New Year. It is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays and during the week I was able to join with a Chinese family in eating some traditional Chinese New Year cuisine, watch the New Year street parade and enjoy the memorable fireworks at Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong Island.

Mike, Kerry and my buddy Fiona!

Enjoying some traditional Chinese cuisine!

Traditional Chinese Radish cake

 My friends from university, Fiona and Wing invited me to visit Fiona's house on Wednesday where her father cooked us some traditional radish cake and Niangao, a sweet Chinese New Year cake. Fiona's house is on the 36th floor of an apartment block and is quite small. Land is Hong Kong is so expensive and so people generally live in highrise apartments to keep the cost of living down. It was great to experience a truly Chinese home during the Chinese New Year celebrations and I am really grateful to Fiona and Wing for being so friendly and helping me to settle in here in Hong Kong. Fiona and Wing then took me to the flower markets in Causeway Bay which are like a street market run during the week of the celebrations. Traditional Chinese clothing, jewellery and other accessories were being sold, but you could barely move around as there were so many people!

Niangao cake

I watched the famous street parade on Thursday evening with some friends from church, Anastasia and Jamie. They have lived here for a while now and so they were able to find a good spot in Tsim Sha Tsui to watch as the giant floats and street performers passed by. There were performers representing many different countries of the world and it was great to be part of the crowd witnessing one of the most famous street festivals in the world. Perhaps the most anticipated activity of the week was the fireworks on Friday evening which were nothing short of fascinating. Hong Kong really does know how to put on a show! I think I may send some of my pictures and videos to the Council in Portrush to see if they can produce something similar at Ramore Head this year! After waiting for over two hours in Tsim Sha Tsui, Michael, Rachel, Ines and I had a perfect view of the spectacle which lit up the sky. It was certainly worth waiting for!

Chinese performers at street parade

Fireworks with Hong Kong skyline in background

On Saturday there was a trip planned for the international students to visit Lamma Island which sits below Hong Kong Island. We took a short boat trip to the tranquil island, famous for its breathtaking views and for the largest traditional fishing farm in Hong Kong. Buildings higher than three storeys are prohibited in Lamma Island so it provides a welcome alternative to the hectic life of Hong Kong Island. There are also many small seafood restaurants and bars which offer tourists with the opportunity to try some fresh seafood from the South China sea.

My friends here in Hong Kong have really helped me feel part of the New Year celebrations. I have learnt so much over the last week about the cultural importance of this festival and what exactly it means for the people here. It is a time which allows families and friends to come together and to ready themselves for the year which lies ahead, through offering good wishes to one another.



Until next time, Kung Hei Fat Choi! (Happy New Year!)
Allen

Lamma Island

Week Two - Cultural

My first two weeks in Hong Kong have been extremely eventful and I have been given many opportunties to experience the Chinese culture. This week I had the opportunity to visit some of the more remote parts of Hong Kong, away from all the highrise buildings and noise of the city, and into the beautiful countryside.
While I am away in Hong Kong I have vowed to try as many new and interesting things as possible, in order to fully experience the traditional culture of Hong Kong.
I have had the opportunity this week to try new foods for the first time such as sushi (even though it's Japanese!), dim sum (cantonese for a range of small individual portions of food) and a traditional cantonese dessert called tangyuan. I haven't tried the chicken feet yet but I'm here for five months so I've got plenty of time for that! Or so I keep telling everybody anyway! For me one of the biggest challenges so far has been getting used to the food in a such a different culture. However, as I try new traditional dishes I am starting to find some favourites! Some of my friends from halls took me out for dinner last Thursday evening and introduced me to a spicy noodle restaurant in Tai Po market, which was an instant hit and one which I will definately be returning to!

The ride on the crystal cable car

On Friday I visited Lantau Island with Michael, Rachel and our friend Ines from Austria. Lantau Island is the biggest island in Hong Kong and is famous for being the home of the biggest, outside standing, bronze Buddha in the world. We had to take the 'crystal cabin' cable car to the top of the mountain in order to visit the Buddha. Rachel insisted that we splash out and go for the crystal cabin as it had a glass floor, allowing us to look down at the ground below as we travelled over the mountain.

The Buddha

The Buddha is certainly an extremely impressive tourist attraction and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to climb the 268 steps to the top to witness this amazing statue. However, the Buddha holds much greater value for the people of Hong Kong as many regard it as a major centre for Buddhism in Hong Kong. I also had the opportunity to visit the Po Lin Monastery, which is located not far from the Buddha. Many people were burning incense and praying, indicating just how important in a cultural sense these sites are for the people here in Hong Kong. The Monastery was decorated with traditional Chinese art such as paintings of dragons and statues of chinese warriors.

The Po Lin Monastery

Traditional chinese soldier guarding the Buddha

People burning incense

On Sunday, Michael, Rachel and I went to a church in Hong Kong Island called Ambassadors International Church. We heard about the church from one of the girls from Stranmillis who had been away last year and had attended the church during her time in Hong Kong. The people were all extremely welcoming and hospitable, and we even meet some people from the promised land of Ballymena! After the service we were very kindly invited to go for a meal with the young people from the church. It was a great opportunity to meet new people from many different countries of the world, and to experience some more traditional chinese food.

Week One - Personal

Jawaharial Nerhu once said “We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” On the 17th January I boarded a plane for Hong Kong, realising that I was about to embark on one of the most significant and memorable experiences of my life. I was naturally a little apprehensive about moving away from home for such a long time, but life is about going outside your "comfort zone", experiencing the adventures the world has to offer and taking great opportunities, such as this when they present themselves. I have been blessed in the past with the opportunity to travel to many different countries such as South Africa, India and America through a wide range of organisations. However, Hong Kong will allow me to experience a different culture and way of life, and will enable me to develop both as a person and in preparing for my future profession.

In my first week in Hong Kong I have done so much and travelled so far! I arrived on Tuesday evening in Hong Kong at around 6.00pm and we were greeted at the airport by Rachel's buddy Jenny Zeng, who helped us find our way to the Hong Kong Institue of Education. The drive took around an hour and throughout the journey I got my first real look at just how different Hong Kong is to anywhere I have ever visited before. The highrise buildings and impressive skyline, coupled with the ranging mountains and open sea surrounding the city, make Hong Kong both a beautiful and cosmopolita city. I was welcomed into halls by my roommate, Michael, who prefers me to use his nickname Sushi (I haven't told him mine yet!). He is from Hong Kong and is extremely good at speaking English which was a relief to me, as my Cantonese is a little rusty!! On the first night I arrived I attended a Cantonese survival course, however I think it is going to take more than a couple of sessions learning Cantonese to help me get by!

One thing which has stood out for me so far is how friendly and welcoming all the people of Hong Kong have been, especially those in our halls. I have been invited on numerous occasions to go for meals this incoming week and I have attended both a wii night and a football tournament where I was made to feel fully involved. It has also been great to spend time getting to know the other international students. Most of them have been here since before the new year, so they have had a little more experience of Hong Kong and more time to get to know one another. Despite this I have been welcomed into the group and I had the opportunity to get to know some of them better during our tour of Hong Kong on Sunday. We visited the Hong Kong History Museum, the Avenue of Stars and caught the star ferry around the main attractions of Hong Kong. I also watched the symphony of lights on Sunday evening which involves all the main buildings in the city lighting up to music. It was very impressive and worth seeing.

I also travelled to Macau on Saturday evening with a friend from Stranmillis, Simon Duff. It was Simon's birthday and he wanted to celebrate in style by jumping off the biggest bungy jump in the world! Im not the best with heights so I decided to skip the bungy and just watch as the other boys threw themselves from a height of 322 metres! It was great to meet up with Simon and he was able to share a lot of his knowledge of Hong Kong with us and the amazing experiences he has had during his time teaching here.
All in all my first week has been amazing and I look forward to what the coming weeks have to offer in this fascinating city.
Allen McCluggage