My Education Journey

As I finished my videos of Ted Talk, I realized that my concept of education outside of Canada is extremely lacking. Since I grew up under the western education system from primarily school all the way till now, I know little of how education is in other countries. Like what Charles Leadbeater said in Ted Talks, education in poorer areas focuses a lot more on survival than standard subjects like math and science. One example is a school in Africa that was teaching their students on how to avoid HIV, since it was their main concern at the time and the subjects such as Biology and Math was non-existent. This made me realize that the topic of education isn’t universal and I would have to cater and change my teaching in regards to what they need the most. For example, when I’m doing my practicum in Hong Kong, I would have to teach words that are more likely to be used in their environment rather than here. Another video in Ted Talk by Chimamanda Ngozi talked about how a single story may enforce stereotypes onto an entire culture. I’m lucky that I have parents that are from Hong Kong so I already know what people in Hong Kong are like and won’t experience a major cultural shock when I go there. But if I were to travel and teach in a completely different culture, I will have to make sure to research more on the culture and do my best not to impose any prejudice or stereotypes on them. Such habits are bad if I develop stereotypes on people of that culture. Not only will it be unprofessional, but it will also potentially cause tension if I did or say anything that might offend my students as well as my coworkers. The two videos helped me prepare my practicum as well as my future teaching career internationally. It made me realize that I need to cater my teaching methods to suit the area I’m in, as well as maintain a good social relationship with the student and colleagues there when I teach in Hong Kong.

I chose an international placement because I potentially want to work in Hong Kong or China for my teaching job so it would be great experience for me to get to know the culture and the working environment in Hong Kong.  It is also a good experience for me to see whether working in Hong Kong is suitable for me and whether I prefer it over Vancouver. I value the privilege of being able to go to another place to explore and diversify my experience in teaching. I look forward to meeting students in Hong Kong and getting to know the students and working with their curriculum. In addition, I am a city girl, I have a love for skyscrapers, the crowd and the flashing lights in the city and I am so eager to be able to stay in this environment for three weeks. My expectation for my CFE is hoping to gain experience with teaching another subject area, English as opposed to my specialization which is Home Economics. I hope to learn proper teaching etiquette as well as the level of professionalism that is expected of a teacher in a different school environment from what I was exposed to. I am very excited to start my community field experience to get first hands experience in teaching in a different culture and place. I am nevertheless, slightly nervous due to the prospect of being thrown into an environment that is completely different from Canada. It may be challenging having to learn the teaching manners in the working environment as well as the different teaching and student expectations required in Hong Kong. The experience to teach in Hong Kong is priceless.