Last MEd class

The last MEd class at HKU ended tonight.
Seems a bit sad to say goodbye to formal classes and yet this last one was very stimulating.

The topic that we discussed tonight in the course of "Global Perspectives on Education in Hong Kong" was about how education shall react in this emerging globalized world. As this is probably the only last class in HKU tonight (all the classes should have been completed except ours were postponed for two weeks), we got the bonus of moving to another room with the elegant classic big oval meeting table and upholstered armchairs for every one of us. It looks like a meeting room for board members ! How Prof Postiglione rewarded us in such a nice way. To began with, Prof Post mentioned about the practice of an elite high school (Exeter) in the States where students are not learn in regular classroom seating but around one big table so that everyone can see each other. When Prof Post asked us why Exeter made such seating: I thought it was because their conception of learning is different. The school administrator must believe that all students have their own ability and talent so that significant intellectual exchange is possible via round-table discussions. How powerful furnishing can alter learning! Therefore, I thought the reward for tonight should not stop at the cosy armchairs but the discussion followed. It was confirmed in two hours time.

Truly, it has been the greatest section that I ever had. Throwing up a question of “What are the things needed for education in facing the globalized world? by Prof Post, we all came up with different ideas and it's like a brainstorming gathering for senior management group at the top floor of the IFC. The discussion was started by a secondary teacher who thought computer knowledge should not be neglected in this decade. While other classmates with diverse background argued that learning from teachers who are from different countries helped. Well, I would say this is the most diverse, in terms of the background of the students, that I ever had. In this class, we have full time PhD students from Russia, Tanzania, Han Chinese as well as minority Chinese. For MEd students, we have teachers from secondary schools, primary schools, international school and administrator from the Education and Manpower Bureau. In terms of ethnicity of the MEd students, there are Canadian, British Chinese and local Hong Kongese. Isn't it the best group to discuss the topic of globalization?
The hottest discussion was on the article of “How Education Changes – consideration of History, Science and Values” written by Professor Howard Gardner. Mutter from Tansania argued that other than the contents and the methods should be our focus of discussion, we should also review on Garnder's remark “My recommendation in this area is to cut down radically on the number of subjects to mater in precollegiate education: I would favor all students learning at least one science, one area of history, one art form, expression and appreciation in their own language, and especially in countries where the principal language is not widely spoken beyond its borders, expression and appreciation of English.” Mutter emphasized that instead of accepting as it comes, shouldn't we think it over --- why “English?” He postulated that language is vital and powerful tool in the process of teaching and learning. If the principal language is not widely spoken, why Gardner concurred only on English but not the others? Good question. It usually leads to fruitful discussion and we did.

By reviewing through Gardner's article as the base, I agreed that interdisciplinary studies and cross-cultural learning are the direction of further learning. Education for globalization will craft hybrid identity which providing an edge for having the ability in comprehending problems and situations from different perspectives in the coming future. By incorporating this information in mind, I started realizing why there are lots of struggles or grievance over different issues in education. Either it's the College students complain about not learning much from their lecturers, or secondary school teachers' fatigue over workload and new curriculum, there must be criticism. Never did one think the reason could be that simple: We all are at the stage where old ideas and new ideas emerged. From spoon-feeding to scaffolding, it just takes time for the adjustment.

Not until this very last class did I realize lots of classmates have great ideas to share , in particular those who came on time towards the very last class. It's awesome to finish my MEd classes in this way. I thank Prof Post for his teaching and faciliation on the class discussion.

This is the end.

Or may be not.

This is just a beginning of another chapter in intellectual development.

Reading :
H Gardner (2004), “How Education Changes – consideration of History, Science and Values” in Marcelo M Suarez-Orozco and Desiree Baolian Qin-Hilliard (Ed), Globalization – Culture and Education in the New Millennium, L.A. : University of California Press, 235-258