I too had quite a day today! All of my 2,000 new students are back from Spring Festival and I started my first day as a Foreign Expert English Teacher here at DanYang Sr. High School, China. Back in the states I have taught classes for Information Technology companies as a corporate trainer, developed training materials and resources as an instructional designer, and my graduate work at USF provided several years of teaching experience teaching adults - so I was comfortable knowing these high school kids are technically adults too and I'm used to standing in front of a class in a variety of environments. My anxiety however, came from not knowing what to expect as far as classroom setup (how were 60 students going to be sitting, for example), power options, projectors, etc. Trying to prepare for everything beforehand, I brought my laptop, some desktop speakers, a CD I had burned to set the tone of English early (love ballads from the 1970s should give them a good introduction, eh?), and a big bag of candy.
I got there early and instead of introducing myself immediately (it was still their break time and they don't get much of it), I got myself oriented but they all stopped what they were doing and simply stared anyway. I put on some music and just let them listen and relax a little while longer, pointing to my watch to let them know we were about to begin.
Before the starting bell rang, the room was filled with whispers, then laughter, then more giggles, then shouts to classmates in Chinese I couldn't understand and I could feel the curiosity and excitement reach a fever pitch. I waited as long as appropriate, then wrote my name on the blackboard and said hello. The whole class roared back, "Hello!" and I knew this was going to be fun. My supervisor, Mr. Chen, also joined the class early but I had 60 sets of eyeballs glued on me so intently that I honestly did not even think twice about him being there for my first day.
Because there are distinct differences in the way children learn (pedagogy) vs. the way adults learn (adragogy), I have been very much looking forward to teaching these high school kids because their typical learning environment is so different than our approach in the states. In the states, and most other countries, by the time young adults are in their last years of high school, they are usually independent thinkers who will question many teaching styles and they only value the subject matter if it can be applied to their immediate lives. As they get older they do not want, nor is it effective, to be spoon-fed information like younger children and this transformation requires a wider variety of teaching methods to motive them now (such as visual, kinesthetic, and auditory stimulation). Older students begin to demand respect for their maturity and autonomy and if that is not given they can be the bain of existence for many high school teachers.
Here in China however, there is a twist to this understanding of how students learn. The twist is that Chinese schools do not foster independent thought whatsoever, regardless of age, and in the past this type of autonomous thinking and behavior has resulted in negative, even tragic, consequences (I am understating these to remain polite to my gracious hosts). Instead, the Chinese classroom structure today still relies heavily on what we refer to as "the sage on the stage" approach to teaching. In other words, the teacher is absolute ruler in the classroom and in general they expect strict discipline and it is typically not a relaxed atmosphere.
Although as research into Chinese educational accomplishments can attest, this style of teaching can be very effective, it is much, much different than other teaching styles and approaches in other, more liberal societies. This type of classroom structure may be good for some learning, the military for instance uses it almost exclusively, but in my experience (and research confirms) it is simply not effective for teaching oral English to young adults.
With these dichotomies in mind, my goal was to be as open and friendly on our first day as possible, and let the students know that this oral English class is going to be modeled on classes in the United States so it will be different, and hopefully more fun and enjoyable than what they are usually expecting. Another cultural obstacle to learning oral English is the ingrained standard of saving face. Chinese students will do anything they can to "save face" and history shows it is difficult to get them to speak oral English especially with the social stigma of getting things wrong. Being wrong in front of a teacher is one thing, but being wrong in front of 60 of your peers can keep even the most confident and learned student quiet and timid. That's where the music and the candy come in.
I introduced myself and spent a good amount of our forty minutes on rules for the classroom. The first rule is that we are here to have fun, and talk! There will be lots of talking in my class and it also okay for you to raise your hand at any time if you need more information about what I am saying (verses not understanding what I am saying). I explained that I may talk too fast and for them to please raise their hand and slow me down - and it's okay to not know everything here because we are practicing English. Just like with sports, it takes practice and nobody is perfect all of the time. They nodded, and giggled, and I could tell they were eager to test their newfound liberties. I knew I was making headway when they answered my questions aloud, this is not typical in a Chinese classroom here, and by the time I got through with introducing myself, I could feel the classroom relax a bit.
With the bag of candy in hand, I had the entire class introduce themselves one by one, telling me a few things about themselves. Some of them have English names and some don't, most love basketball, table tennis, badminton, swimming, but many don't like sports at all. Just like kids all over the world; many enjoy music, spending time with friends, and an eye opening statement from more than a dozen was they enjoy sleeping. Sleeping. Imagine getting that response from a kid in the U.S. - "and one of my favorite things is sleeping!" Here, it is the norm and certainly understandable, considering the work load. Each student was nervous, some visibly shook while speaking to me and their class, but they struggled through it and their English level surprised me.
We made it around the room with the introductions, I gave them a small assignment for next week to write a short paragraph about what they did for Spring Festival (it was over a two week holiday for Chinese New Year), and asked them if they had any questions for me. They squirmed noticeably. I waited, smiled, and waited some more.
Nope. Not yet. No questions this morning.
But I did get them chatting amongst themselves and many of them wanted to ask me things but they opted not to jump into the spotlight yet. The bell rang and it was I who packed up and moved on, their next class was due to start in ten minutes. They all said goodbye in unison, and I told them I would see them next week and to have a great day. They exploded with laughter!
I understand their trepidation, and hopefully with more conversation, perhaps more candy, and small changes in their usual classroom routine, we all will be talking and learning together in a week or two. This is the beginning of an exciting year for me, and them too.
Cheers!
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