Talking Heads
Te a c h i n g I n A B i l i n g u a l S e t t i n g
Students in Wushu Class
How has working in a bicultural environment
impacted on your teaching approach?
Pei Lu: I am in favor of the International Baccalaureate (IB) educational
approach, so when I first started teaching I couldn’t appreciate some of the
more traditional pedagogical approaches. But after some serious thinking,
I realized that different approaches bring different positive impacts to my
teaching. For instance, while teaching the Chinese language, I became
highly appreciative of the efforts of those teachers from public schools who
have laid such a solid foundation for my students. I was amazed at how
knowledgeable my students are, and this achievement is due in no small part
to their previous teachers.
At the same time, I believe that some traditional teaching methods also
have room for improvement. For instance, their views on some issues
and analyses of some figures should be more multifaceted and dialectical
rather than in absolutes. Our children in public schools are seldom exposed
to discussion-based education, which unfortunately has made them
accustomed to accepting ideas from others rather than formulating their
own through independent thinking. This is an area that I think needs change.
Thom Ferlisi: I would say that Dr. Jin Li’s understanding of culturally
different teaching approaches was very theoretical. Her study is for
academic purposes, and does not capture the nuances of the pragmatic
aspects of teaching in a bicultural environment. It has been beneficial
for me to hear the Chinese teachers talk about the way they are teaching.
For instance, teaching to read in Chinese and in English is not the same.
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The Keystone Magazine
My partner-Chinese teacher is able to inform parents on a daily basis
about the characters their children learnt. But I am unable to do that –
reading in English cannot be assessed at one word a day. And I have not
done that in my previous schools. But my partner teacher was able to
make me understand that parents in China feel it is important to know
what their children learned in a day. So I invited a group of parents to my
class and explained my teaching approach and how reading in English is
evaluated on progressive levels. They were very understanding. And we
agreed that I would inform a parent when their child moved up a level.
Flexibility is key here.
Li Haiyan: IB is not a textbook curriculum. It advocates instead for
teachers to design the course to their personal strengths and styles.
This was challenging for me, when I first started working with the IB.
I was used to working from systematic textbooks, teaching references,
and exercise books. But today, I feel this is its most attractive feature.
I can lace the official syllabus with my academic strengths, teaching
styles, and incorporate the most recent updates into the lesson. This
makes a more fulfilling learning experience. For example, when my class
celebrated Chung Yeung (commemoration of ancestors) and observed
its customs, I took the opportunity to talk about its history and culture,
and then asked my students to explore how the festival had transformed
over time and why. By examining how histories and cultures are passed
down and changed over time, students gained a more tangible grasp of
these histories and cultures that are often remote and abstract. It also
enabled them to discover, experience, and reflect upon living culture and
cultural living.