The most part of our days this week were taken up by visiting the schools which we were going to be teaching in. We're teaching in 5 schools over 5 weeks, spending one week in each, and so we needed to meet with the Principal of each school, check out the facilities available to us and discuss general rules relating to clothing and subject matter of lessons.
The schools are spread out over Hong Kong, so we started with the one closest to us. This school was wonderful. As we waited in the lobby, a girl of about 8 walked over and shyly said: 'hello, it's nice to meet you'. She was the cutest thing i had ever seen and was very good at English - especailly at her age. It was interesting to see the standard of English before we arrived, even though i'm sure it varies quite a bit, as we really have no idea of the standard before we walk into the classroom. The head teacher showed us around and gave us menus for lunch so that they could order food for us, and we were really impressed at the materials and technology that they have available to them. We walked in on a dance practice, where 5 girls were rehersing a traditional chinese dance for some foreign students that were coming to visit the school. It was so cool, and they were so good at it, and i expect they will be amazing when they do it in full costume. We also dropped by a music and dance class where some kids were playing music while others took it in pairs to do a Lion dance. It was brilliant. One kid holds the head of the lion and the other bends over so that they are horizontal from the waist upwards, and they act as the body. They use the music to tell the story of the waking lion and the kid at the front uses springs to open and close the lion's eyes and mouth to the beats and moves the head around. It was soooo professional - like the kind of performance you expect to see in the streets during chinese new year celebrations, and these kids were about six years old! We left the school with the impression that this is going to be a dream of a place to work.
The next school was also a primary school, but immediately it was obvious that it wasn't going to be like the last one. As we walked in i made alarmed faces at the others at the quotes plastered across the walls and classroom doors which read things like 'no pressure, no diamond' and 'move or be moved'. I instantly got the impression that this would be a highly stressful and pressurised environment to learn in. Again however, the facilities were excellent (the art room has four pottery wheels, and the school boasts 3 computer rooms) and there was actually some very impressive displays of artwork. I almost expect to have no difficulty with discipline here because i can't imagine the school tolerates non-conformers. Much in the same way that i had a warm feeling about the first school, i felt uneasy about the atmosphere of this one. i think we all are intending to bring a little life to this place, and hopefully we can do some lasting damage.
The third school we visited is the only secondary school that we will be teaching in. I'm really excited because in the other schools i'm teaching 6 year olds, and in this one i am teaching 14 year olds which will be a nice contrast. It also means that i get to do different lessons (we're generally repeating the same ones in each school), and the head teacher was very excited about the topic i am going to do: songs, lyrics and meaning. I spoke to the Deputy Head at length about my entz (entertainment activity) which is choir, and he was keen to be involved too as he's a bit of a musician himself. We can tell that this will be another great school. The staff were very welcoming and it seems that they have a very good relationship with the kids and insist on high activity and no homework during the course of our camp. They seem to promote interest in English by making learning as fun as possible and as a result were greatly oversubscribed for the course, despite this being a school predominantly consisting of very poor children from the surrounding estate. I left feeling very excited about this school.
School four also looked like a good school. There is a good standard of english spoken, which might have something to do with the very attractive and warm Canadian teacher who it seems both staff and pupils are besotted with jusding from the outrageous flirting of the teachers and the things the children had written about him. Staying true to our experiences so far, the school possessed every technical toy you could ever want. The Principal was more cagey than others had been as this was the first time that the had participated in the program and as it is expensive they of course want it to produce good results. on a side note, i didn't know that OCEP charged schools for these camps. Some in China are completely free, which is why i think they charge in the more affluent areas, like Hong Kong. The fees are still greatly subsidised, but it adds a greater importance to the camps and makes you really hope that everyone puts their all into it and that the kids get a lot from it.
The last school...well, what can you say? Grange Hill springs to mind, but then again that might be too soft a comparison. We made our way to the reception area, where we were met by a distinctly unimpressed-looking Head Teacher, who although COULD speak in English, refused to and spoke in Cantonese to Karen the whole time, only answering our questions in brief, impatient sentences. Charmed by the warmth of our hostess i squinted at team photos as we passed through the halls, and was none to thrilled to note that one consistent theme was that many of the faces had been scratched out by other kids. The best part is - this was a primary school. As the kids past in the corridor (it was hometime) she mentioned that they had a discipline problem. asked if she would like us to send especially disruptive children to her office, she simply answered 'no'. A group of passing kids shouted what sounded like 'hello' and we smiled and waved back, thinking that perhaps it wasn't all as bad as it seemed. However, when we got back on the bus, Nigel (our manager) turned and told us that this school would be 'hell' - the word that SOUNDED like hello, turned out to be a racist term for white people, which literally translates to 'ghost' in English, they had also used the rascist term for black people (translating to 'bad') at Shivi, until they were closer and realised she was Indian, at which point they substituted one rascist term for another and began shouting a derogatory term for South Asians, meaning 'inferior'. I suppose it will be an interesting experience, and as we get to leave after a week, i doubt that we will lose the will to live. You never know, maybe it will be a case of them being stuck in a rut where they act like punks and so are treated like punks. We're definately going to have to struggle to not get involved in that cycle. Optimism guys. It's all about optimism.
