From the back of a Maths class
Our photo-posting facility has returned, inspiring me to write a blog entry. That isn't, however, the inspiration I refer to in the title. I've been reflecting how miserable circumstances can lead to inspiration. At least, that is what I've taken from the last ten days. The first miserable experience was observing a Maths teacher deliver a model lesson at Simao No 4 Middle School. On the surface it wasn't a bad performance - the teacher was friendly, smiling, stepped off the podium now and again, had everything pre-prepared in a Powerpoint Presentation to the point that students didn't even have to turn a page in their books. A performance, however, is exactly what it was. Those who seemed to learn something, already knew the answers - They amounted to around a third of the class, at my estimate, although only a handful of those volunteered to answer any questions. The rest trailed along behind, joining in the teacher-student rhetoric. Even I could do that, though I didn't have a clue what was going on. Teacher: shi bu shi (is that right or not); Students: shi...and so on, as the teacher spoon-fed them the problems, the formulas and the results. No time to think, experiment, check; just passive, mundane, routine reading, nodding and copying.
So why is this inspiring? Well, once I had got over my stress-induced migraine (stress caused by seeing a problem that seems too vast to solve, particularly as the school leaders and teachers here all think the teaching is hunky-dory), I returned to our Teaching Practice preparation of Maths students with even greater determination. All the (student-centred) Maths lesson plans written by Paul were promptly translated, copied and distributed to Maths students and I started planning my own model lesson, which I delivered the following week.
Sadly some of the teachers, at the end of my lesson, said: "Well, these methods are only suitable because Lesley doesn't have to take exams." That's right, I took my exams some time ago, not to mention the ten years at university studying in similar ways. Do the teachers really believe that China is the only country where exam results count? It's not uncommon for me to get such feedback, but I found it particularly difficult to deal with this time. In the run-up to leaving these negative attitudes and insights into the on-going state of affairs are causing me even more distress than before. The inspiring news is, the students know better. What's more, they know that there's more to learning than repetition and other mind-numbing exercises that the teachers give them (like copying passages three times from the book, or translating the reading texts word-for-word into Chinese, so that the final passage doesn't even make sense). According to some insider feedback, they loved the lesson, actually learned some English for a change and want me to teach them again. That's the inspiring part - that there are actually some free-thinkers amidst the student body, who aren't afraid to open their minds to new ways.
So why is this inspiring? Well, once I had got over my stress-induced migraine (stress caused by seeing a problem that seems too vast to solve, particularly as the school leaders and teachers here all think the teaching is hunky-dory), I returned to our Teaching Practice preparation of Maths students with even greater determination. All the (student-centred) Maths lesson plans written by Paul were promptly translated, copied and distributed to Maths students and I started planning my own model lesson, which I delivered the following week.
Sadly some of the teachers, at the end of my lesson, said: "Well, these methods are only suitable because Lesley doesn't have to take exams." That's right, I took my exams some time ago, not to mention the ten years at university studying in similar ways. Do the teachers really believe that China is the only country where exam results count? It's not uncommon for me to get such feedback, but I found it particularly difficult to deal with this time. In the run-up to leaving these negative attitudes and insights into the on-going state of affairs are causing me even more distress than before. The inspiring news is, the students know better. What's more, they know that there's more to learning than repetition and other mind-numbing exercises that the teachers give them (like copying passages three times from the book, or translating the reading texts word-for-word into Chinese, so that the final passage doesn't even make sense). According to some insider feedback, they loved the lesson, actually learned some English for a change and want me to teach them again. That's the inspiring part - that there are actually some free-thinkers amidst the student body, who aren't afraid to open their minds to new ways.
One of my English classes, from the front. There were over 70 students in each of the two class I taught that morning, and between 40 and 60 observers each time. Daunting stuff.
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