Talking Heads
S t u d e n t s I n A B i c u l t u ra l E n v i r o n m e n t
Learning in a bilingual environment also means learning in a
bicultural environment. What are your observations?
Pei Lu: I feel the western approach encourages students to apply what they have learnt in school outside
the classroom, while the eastern approach focuses more on the textbook. It would mean completely
different things to students when they are told to prepare for a certain topic as opposed to preparing
for a lesson. For instance, when students prepare for a topic such as Humans and Society, they wonder
about questions like: Why should we learn about society when we are so young? What is society? Which
aspects of society should we learn about? What are we supposed to read? Which books should we read?
Is Les Misérables an example of a society? Can I send a video clip about society? In short, they start on a
blank slate. But once they get used to the process, they will know that Les Misérables certainly relates to
the topic of Humans and Society; as are news briefs and short video clips so long as they are related to a
social phenomenon. Soon, students realize that literary works exist everywhere in life.
Science teacher Amanda Narkiewicz
with grade 4 students in the lab.
Li Haiyan: There are significant variations in the Chinese and Western learning cultures that may be
especially noticeable for middle school students. For instance, for a particular lesson taught in the
traditional style students would expect the teacher to provide standard answers that can be used for
tests or assignments to be able to score the maximum. This does not fit into the western teaching
approach. Teachers need to help students, accustomed to the traditional Chinese style, ease into
the international approach by explaining its philosophies and learning objectives. This will also help
students shift their focus from their scores to the learning process itself and the learning outcomes.
To thrive in an international educational system, students also need to learn how to manage their time
and prioritize tasks. It will take some time for the students to adjust to this new system, because it’s
not simply a change in assessment criteria, but also a quantum leap in their learning mindset.
Thom Ferlisi: I have observed these teaching approaches on students. Just as Pei Lu says, where the
approach requires more discussion and interactivity, students have to work harder as they have to get
accustomed to learning in an environment that enables the free flow of ideas, while when they are
working in a more traditional setting of paper/pencil, they can be more obviously productive. One way
I help students transition from one class to another is to make my schedule predictable. Sometimes
my students come from their Chinese class to my English class. So the students are welcomed at the
door, sit on the carpet, count the days of school, etc. There are no surprises in the schedule. This helps
transition from one class to another. And as Li Haiyan observes, things are different in middle and
high schools. It is so in the U.S. too. But here in Keystone’s primary school, though I emphasize to
my students that they should come to me for help, I al