Inquiry Project: Stage 2: The
cultural and educational context of your TAB placement
Now that you are in your TAB setting, describe your
experience of being in a new environment. How might this experience help
you understand learners in your classroom?
What have you learned about the country and
community in which you are placed that makes a difference to you as a teacher
and as a learner?
Macau is a unique place. Obviously it is
very different from Canada (despite their shared colonial pasts), but it is
also quite unique to the areas surrounding it. Unlike Hong Kong, which was a
British colony, Macau is still quite unused to foreigners. Certainly there was
(and still is to some extent) a Portuguese population present within Macau, but
the Portuguese took a rather hands off approach to governing Macau, and seemed,
for the most part, to keep themselves separate from the Chinese population. As
a result very few Chinese people speak or read Portuguese, despite many streets
and buildings having Portuguese names. The British took a different approach in
governing Hong Kong, and as a result most citizens speak and understand at
least a little English. Also there is a booming ex-patriot community present in
Hong Kong. In Macau the ex-pat community is small and mostly situated on the
Taipa peninsula. As we live on the Macau side in a largely Chinese community
(there is a small population of non-Chinese residents, mostly immigrants from
the Philippines) we stand out a lot.
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| Me in a newspaper clipping from The Macau Daily Times. |
While I don’t think I will ever get used
to being stared at everywhere I go, I have developed methods to cope with it,
and I have actually gotten a bit more comfortable with not blending into the
crowd. I cannot control the reactions from the people around me, so it is
better for me not to worry about those things. In fact, I am able to use these
differences to my benefit. As foreign teachers the fact that we are different makes us curiosities to our
students, and perhaps their exposure to us will not only help them improve
their English, but also broaden their understanding of the world they live in.
The students (especially in the primary
school) have many questions for us, and it’s nice that we are encouraged to
share things about ourselves with them. In my past teaching experiences I have
been a bit nervous to share too much about myself with the students, and I
think that as a result I came off as being to reserved and impersonal. When I
have my own classroom I think I will have the confidence to put more of myself
into my teaching, and to share more about myself with my students.
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| Students gave me tickets to see K-pop group Super Junior after I shared with them my love of Korean music. |
What differences in the schools and curriculum do you find significant?
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| Students at the primary school line up in the school playground with their classes during morning assembly, which starts the school day each day. |
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| One of my stronger English students (on the right) in J2A MCing a school event |
An offshoot of this class division system
is that the students are branded based on their behaviour. For instance,
teachers dread being assigned classes with B, C, or (God forbid) D classes because
they are the “bad” kids. I have heard teachers refer to teaching an A class as
“heaven”. To be honest, I only teach a Junior 2 A class, so I have nothing else
to compare the experience to, but the kids are certainly not angels. They are
not terrors either, but it is a class of 46 students in their early teens.
Junior high classes are challenging at the best of times, but sticking 46 of
them in a room for the better part of a day is a recipe for disaster (in
Macanese schools students stay in the same classroom for all core classes, and
the teachers rotate around). They are loud most of the time, there are usually
at least a few of them asleep at their desks, and when they are quiet during
lessons you can be assured that only a fraction of them are actually paying
attention. Also, because the room is so densely packed with desks and students,
my usually method of walking around during lectures or work periods to make
sure students are on task does not work.
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| Students from my S3 Elective, a C class who are actually delightful |
A major difference between Canadian
schools and CDSJ is that there doesn’t really seem to be a curriculum at CDSJ.
Instead teachers use textbooks to teach from. The textbooks are chosen by the
school, and are not following a government-mandated curriculum. The Macanese
school system is still in its infancy and I suspect this is something they are
working toward. Students buy their textbooks. They cost about $200MOP’s, which
is about $25CAD. The teachers are not required to teach entirely from the
textbook, but many of them do. There are probably a combination of reasons for
this including: lack of teacher training (teachers are not required to have a
teaching background to work in the schools); large class sizes, which make it
difficult to monitor and assess more innovative projects; and teachers drawing
too much from their own experiences in education when teaching rather than
critically thinking about why things are done. Also there is little to no
distinction between formative and summative assessment in the school. Virtually
everything is graded and those grades are counted in students’ final mark.
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| Primary 3 and 4 students presented a traditional Portuguese dance at a 7 diocesan school festival that occurred in Tap Seac Square in Macau. |
One very positive thing I see within CDSJ
is that the school really emphasizes community building within its population.
All students and teachers are required to join a club. The clubs meet on
Saturdays and there are a plethora of choices for students, such as English
club, badminton, pop music club, volunteering club, etc. Because these clubs
are mandatory, it forces students to interact within the school community
outside of their individual classes (with whom most of them stay from Junior 1
to Senior 3). In addition to these clubs, students and teachers are expected to
become involved in various other activities that celebrate the school, such as
the annual school anniversary, Chinese New Years celebrations, various school
festivals, and a school wide singing contest, in which each class must
participate. I really appreciate that these activities extend the community
beyond the classroom setting, and offer an opportunity to make school
enjoyable.
How have you changed as a learner or teacher?
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| Students at the primary school perform at the English Parade, an English language pageant that the English teachers organize each year. |
The biggest way I have changed as a
teacher is that I have had to become much stricter. Students here are very
accustomed to negative reinforcement and I have on more than one occasion seen teachers
yelling at individual students for prolonged periods of time. This even happens
at the kindergarten level. As a result often times students will respond only
to this manner of reprimand for their behaviour. In my practicum in Canada I
never came to the point of yelling at a class unless it was to get their
attention. Usually other methods worked just as well because the classrooms had
been established (prior to my arrival) on a basis of mutual respect. Most
students would pay attention if you addressed them directly.
At CDSJ simply asking for students to pay
attention usually amounts to nothing. They respond only to threats of homework
or to be kept in after class, and to yelling directly at them. I have only
yelled once, and while it did get the class to finally be quiet and listen to
me, I really hated to do it. I will admit I regularly threaten (and give)
homework and keep students after the bell.
I think that learning to be a bit stricter
has had some positive outcomes for me. I am sometimes too meek, and perhaps too
much of a pushover in the classroom. I think that outlining consequences for
bad behaviour and then following through is necessary. In the past my follow
through has sometimes been lacking. I think I have really begun to understand
the importance of this kind of consistency, because if students believe you
will not follow through on a threat then they will disregard what you say, and
the class will continue to be out of control. I know I will never be as strict
as some of the Chinese teachers, and I will never yell at the students the way
they do. I have no inclination to change in that manner. Rather I think I am
learning to approach difficult classes in a new way, with a combination of
patience and backbone.
Conclusion
Thus far I think my TAB experience has
been an educational one. It is definitely the most difficult environment in
which I have taught. The more comfortable I have become in the school, the
easier things have gotten, but I still find every lesson a challenge. While I
don’t get very much support from my partner teacher, I have built my own
network of teachers within the school that offer me advice and help me plan
lessons, and things seem to have been going a bit better. I don’t think I would
ever want to teach at CDSJ long term, but I do think the experiences I have had
since arriving and the connections I have made will have a last effect on me as
a professional and as a person.
***
Inquiry Project: Stage One: Preparation
Preface: Why I Chose TAB
I applied to the Bachelor of Education program with
the intention of becoming an international teacher. From the beginning I had
never intended to teach in Canada, or at least not for a while, so when I heard
about the TAB program it seemed like a perfect fit for me. I was very happy
when I heard I was accepted for the Macau trip, but I was also nervous and
stressed. This is how I prepared myself, mentally and physically, for the trip.
Decision to Live at Home
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| View of the mountains from my bedroom a few days before leaving. |
In anticipation of TAB I decided to move in with my
parents in Canmore rather than renting an apartment in Calgary. This was done
both in an effort to save money and to save me from the hassle of dealing with
a lease that could potentially overlap with my departure date. Even though I
hadn’t yet been chosen to participate in TAB, I knew there was a possibility
that I might be going overseas and living with my parents seemed like a good
decision. There were some downsides to living at home, including the added
pressure on the university to find me a practicum placement within reasonable
commuting distance. Unfortunately I was placed in junior high again, which
didn’t seem like a problem at the time, but circumstances have now led me to
think that I will probably be stuck teaching junior high forever as a result.
Risks Successfully Assessed
As part of the TAB program we had to attend a
mandatory Risk Management seminar. The seminar was chock full of helpful
advice, most of which would have been especially helpful if this had been my
first trip overseas. None the less, it never hurts to have a refresher. Some
suggestions they made were to register with the government and the risk
management office, not to eat street food, to ensure it is safe to drink the
water, and to make copies of all our travel documents. Subsequently I have
multiple copies of my travel documents at my disposal, including digital copies
in my Dropbox account (meaning they will be available to me anywhere I have
access to the internet).
Researching Macau
As part of my preparation I researched a bit about
Macau. I read the Wikipedia entry and the Lonely Planet page. I also bought a
Lonely Planet about China, which included a section on Macau, and the book Macau
: The Imaginary City : Culture and Society, 1577 to Present (New Perspectives
on Asian History) by Jonathan Porter. I received another travel book about
Macau at Christmas. As you may have guessed, I had many sources of information
at my disposal.
I also spoke to my cousin, who lives in China. He
told me that he did lot like Macau. Apparently it is not enough like Las Vegas
for his tastes. He did give me some advice about some of the cultural
differences he has noticed between Canada and China. For instance, the Chinese
will push by you on the sidewalk without an apology. In Canada we seem to
apologize even when we are not at fault. I think this might have to do with the
comparative difference in density of population between Canada and China. The
concept of personal space is very different. He also told me that meat is
expensive and hard to come by. It turns out this is not the case in Macau. It
is actually very difficult to find food without meat or seafood.
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| All the stuff I was told to bring, some of it useful, some not so much |
My good friend Stevie had also recently been to
China. She advised me on things I would need to bring with me. As a result I
stalked up on bottles of non-prescription pills (Aspirin, Tylenol Cold and
Sinus, Midol, Gravol, etc), and other toiletries that I was told would be
difficult to obtain. The medication was probably a necessary investment, but it
turns out tissue, hand sanitizer, gum, lozenges, and other things she told me I
would need to buy are commonly available and much cheaper here. Her advice to
bring tissue with you everywhere you go was excellent, however, as most
bathrooms do not come readily equipped with this (unless you are in a very
touristy area).
Michelle (and Tanya) and the Search for a
Bridesmaid Dress
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| Our bridesmaid dresses. |
One of the other things I had to do in preparation
for my trip was buy a bridesmaid dress. I have to fly home in May for my friend
Michelle’s wedding. There is one other bridesmaid named Tanya, and she has been
teaching in Vietnam until very recently. Michelle lives in Ontario (where I am
originally from as well) so it has been difficult to coordinate all of our
schedules. We met up in Toronto (we grew all grew up outside of Toronto, but
none of us live there anymore). Anyway, we had a rush job of picking out and
buying bridesmaid dresses and they were ridiculously expensive. At least
they’re pretty. I’m very excited for the wedding, even if it is going to cost a
lot (I’m flying back to Macau after the wedding to complete the last month of
my contract).
QT with the Fam
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| My grandmother Mil. |
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| Grandparents Mary and Gus on Xmas day |
I also spent Christmas in Ontario with my family.
It’s probably the last Christmas I will be spending in Canada for a while (if
all goes according to plan) so it was very important for me to be with them. I
was able to tell them about Macau, and it gave my grandparents an opportunity
to see me before I left. It also gave my parents the opportunity to see me a
lot and feel like they were involved in the planning for the trip, which is
good because they tend to get anxious.
Chinese Visa
Obtaining my visa was kind of a chore. We didn't actually need to apply for a visa to come to Macau (the school would take care of that), but it was recommended that we get a Chinese visa as we were going to be living so close. I decided to
try to go to the embassy in Ottawa, since I was in the city over Christmas
anyway. I made to attempts at going to the embassy, but it was closed on both
occasions (even though the website said it was supposed to be open). It’s kind
of tricky to find. In the end I just gave up and decided to do it in Calgary
instead.
It was still a challenge in Calgary. In the weeks
before leaving for Macau the weather in Canmore and Calgary was not great, and
neither were the roads. I had no desire to drive downtown, so I had to park,
take the train, and find the Chinese Consulate. I went with my friend Kat, and
she led me astray, so I made it into the consulate with only five minutes to
spare before it closed. The security guard scolded me, but I still got the
paperwork handing it in. It was a surprisingly easy process, considering I
requested a 6-month multiple entry visa without fulfilling any of their
required stipulations for receiving one.
Medical Considerations
Because I procrastinated scheduling an appointment
for my vaccinations, the Community Health Centre in Canmore was completely
booked for their travel clinics. The clinic in Banff was able to squeeze me in,
but only on the Tuesday before I left (in other words, two days before my
flight). Since I needed to see my doctor before I left anyway, I scheduled a
travel consultation with her. Six hundred dollars later, I was well equipped
(and then some) with the appropriate vaccines and antibiotics and medical
accoutrement for my trip. This included, but was not limited to, a Hepatitis A
vaccine, a Typhoid vaccine, and Malaria pills. Macau is not a Malarial zone,
but I wanted to cover all of my bases in case I decided to travel somewhere
more rural.
For reasons that still remain unclear to me, my
doctor’s office cannot schedule two appointments in the same day. Instead I was
back the following day to receive repeated stabbings in both arms. The nurse
gave me my Typhoid vaccination, as well as Hep A. I was relieved that they did
not recommend a Hep B booster as they had for Stevie.
I decided to keep my appointment at the Banff Community Health Center, so the Tuesday before I flew out I got three more vaccinations (Mumps, Measles, Rubella; the flu shot; and tetanus) and some literature outlining other medical concerns I might face in Macau. I was told to avoid bats and mosquitoes. I haven't seen any bats thus far, so my rabies concerns are minimal. Apparently Dengue fever is carried by mosquitoes and is common in this part of the world, so I brought bug repellent.
Shopping with my Mother
After my doctor’s appointment my mother wanted to
take me to Calgary to buy some teacher clothes and to look for shoes for the
wedding. The teachers at CDSJ dress less casually than the teachers at either
of my practicum schools, so I felt like I needed to buys more professional looking
clothes. I slept the entire trip from Canmore to Calgary, and by the time we
arrived I had developed extreme pain in my left arm, the Typhoid arm. I could
barely lift it. Turns out that trying on clothes with a useless arm really
brings a certain je ne sais qua to the whole experience. I’m sure my mother
enjoyed my constant complaints. In the end I came away from the day with some
nice teacher clothes, and two long naps.
Hair Cut
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| A dorky self-portrait of me post-haircut. |
I had heard from multiple sources that it is
difficult to find hairdressers in Asia that are adept at cutting hair as thin
and fine as mine, so I made sure to get it cut before leaving.
Conclusion
There were a number of other things I did to prepare for this trip that I have not documented here. These were some of the major considerations I made before leaving Canada. In some ways I felt I had over prepared for my trip (packing, reading up on the culture, etc.), but in other ways I felt completely out of my element upon arrival. I wish I had learned more about teaching ESL and that I had a better grasp on the Cantonese language. I'm working on both of these issue while I'm here. You'll here more in the next installment.
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| Last view of the Rockies from YVR. |
