Ping's Progress

Shing Ling Kwi Le or Happy New Year!

Ping expected some official training and paperwork upon arrival, somehow that did not happen. However, Eddy’s friend, Mary Davis, picked up the ball and has done a remarkable job preparing him to meet with success. Although Edward’s years of work with “We the People…” and several “Project Citizen” workshops prepared him with much of the needed pedagogy, he gives huge kudos to Mary. Also, Travis and James have been helpful with the facilitation of a smooth transitioning of their roles as substitute-mentors to Edward’s position as the new full-time Mentor Teacher in the assigned five schools. Edward is Eddy’s “school name” in China. Here they call their teacher by their first names; Mr. Edward…sound familiar, BIH fans?

ALL of the schools have warmly welcomed us with tea, fruit and kind words. It is such a pleasure to work with educators who really care about improving the quality of their students’ performance. Fu Tian’s (school name) Headmaster asked the substitute mentor, Dan, and Edward to give a presentation to the entire staff, well over a 100 individuals, about “The State of Civic Education in America and How WE Could Improve China’s Program”. This presentation was to be given a week from the day we first met them! This opportunity went over very well. Although Dan chose not to attend, Edward improvised to cover his section that included a prepared mock debate. The school was impressed and asked Edward to speak to the staff again. Of course, he gladly agreed.

The Nan Hua Primary School asked Edward to give a 30-minute presentation about Project Citizen so the entire staff could become aware of what the new pilot Civic Education Program will look like for the fourth grade. Of course, the whole school will be encouraged to become as deeply involved as possible after February and even more so as we approach the time for the Showcase in May.

Mei Lian (school name) went to great lengths to welcome their new Mentor Teacher with a big red banner above the school gates! It said “Welcome Edward James Ormond” in English and Chinese! That really warms the soul. These enthusiastic people inspire us to have a dedicated and persistent optimism for this pilot program.

Through no fault of our own, we got a late start this semester and have only met with each of the schools a few times. All of them, including Fu Nan and Nan Yuan, are very willing to accommodate the program and any suggestions. Most will have their topic/problem (or as Edward likes to say, “opportunity for responsible citizenship!”) before the Winter Break.

On our third day in China, December 19, 2012, we attended a “Cluster Meeting” of the five schools Edward now mentors. Mr. Woo, from the Education Bureau, spoke very passionately about the civics program and everyone was really happy to hear about his commitment to the new pilot program (or “Project Citizen”).

The Fu Tian Primary School hosted Edward’s first “Official” Cluster Meeting on January 5, 2013. By now, Edward was familiar with the faces, and all expressed pleasure with his service as Mentor Teacher and the program’s progress. Once again, the leader of the meeting, Fu Tian’s Headmaster this time, spoke very highly of the program and what an important step it is in the progress of Shenzhen’s modernization. He emphasized his hopes that this new pilot program will soon be a part of the regular curriculum that teaches their students to become responsible citizens. His comments inspired the teachers to get involved at the next full-staff meeting at Fu Nan on January 18, 2013 by asking them to make connections between their class and our Civics Class, because the principles that make a good student are very much the same virtues that make a good citizen.

All of the schools seem very dedicated to the program. Some are more enthusiastic than others, however positive feedback has been received about how the program and the mentor are melding with the school system. Every Chinese Civic Education Teacher is performing to a proficient or accomplished rating level. Each day we spend in these schools with their marvelous teachers makes a difference in these schools’ educational process. It is an honor to have contributed to this success. It is hard to believe that in just a few weeks there would be so many success stories to share, so here are just a few.

Overall, teachers are open-minded about trying suggestions and successfully implementing them. We make good teams. As one teacher said, “Edward, you make very good suggestions. You inspire us and cheer us on. You make us feel like we can do it!” And they can.

First Year Teacher, Spencer (her adopted English name), has been a joy to work with. She encourages helpful suggestions, is eager to implement them, and demurely beams with pride at her accomplishments. “Old” & “Young,” or better yet, “Ying and Yan,” we share the same zest for teaching.

Fellow Fu Tian teachers, Marina and Hans, are there to help with whatever may be asked of them. HANSome Hans (Ping teases him because the good looking English teacher played Prince Charming in a school performance) even wore silly headgear to help along the crazy mentor’s “act” as Marina translated Edward’s school-wide presentation. (PPTs, they call them.)

Spencer (English nickname) let her mentor rearrange the desks in her room to offer four different types of cooperative grouping arrangements for the visitors on the day of the Cluster Meeting. Following that, she insisted he “rest” (as they take one hour naps after their one hour lunch break!). Then she (Spencer) allowed me to surprise her class with a brand new grouping style re-arranging all the kid’s desks. “The rearranged chairs surprised the kids and make a big difference,” she texted. Now she is able to fit 54 students into that tiny space and still be able to walk around to keep an eye on each and every student. In the states we call that “Teacher Proximity.” She was very pleased. The “First Year of Teaching” album is being scanned at home and sent to China because Spencer has expressed an interest in seeing Edward’s “style” in pictures. We predict she will continue to make amazing progress this year and develop her own “new” style of teaching in China.

Ms. Li (quoted above) and Mr. Han are a pair of seasoned and eager participants in this program and are exhilarating to work with. Each week begins and ends with these enthusiastic schools and teachers. Edward said at one of the debriefing sessions at Nan Yuan, “I can tell that Ms. Li is very excited about the students’ progress and Mr. Han really cares about their learning in this program.” That alone is a success.

But, what really is a success story is, in the beginning, how hesitant they were to take the suggestion that they “give the reins” over to their students for a class period. They were to let the learners choose an issue, create, and present a PowerPoint about a community problem (the crux of the program) to the class and entertain questions, etc. - all while keeping a formal approach. These caring teachers expressed concerns about students’ ability to successfully handle the workload. Edward advised them to have, like he did, high expectations for their students. “Shoot for the moon and you may hit a star!” he exclaimed. Besides his charades, the translator, Helen, is excellent, too.

Well, the sky was twinkling during the next class period because the star students did a stellar job! Sure, it was not perfect, and the teachers voiced concerns over that, the simple fact that they and their students took risks made for a successful lesson. The students even took their own lunchtime to edit their work after the teacher gave them suggestions earlier that morning! “Look how much learning was going on!” Edward told them excitedly. The class got involved with not only asking questions of the panel of presenters, but surprisingly, critiqued the style and content of their presentations, too. One opinionated boy, Leedochen, (and Ping’s favorite) even got into the beginnings of a debate! Debates for this dynamic duo were certainly in the future for their classes.

Bonus: Fu Tian (school) invited us to attend their Fairytale Festival last Saturday. Mary really

enjoyed Hans hosting and everyone adored his role as the Prince. It was some production! Edward wrote and directed musicals for the end of the school year at Tracey’s Elementary School (back in the good ole USA) that were very good, but these Fu Tian kids were awesome! Even the parents performed! We’ve got to network with them for some showcase help, later.

As we all continue to work together our teaching styles merge and communication improves. In case you can’t tell, we are very happy with the positive results.

Have a great Winter Break!
Posted by EddyTour-In-Chief: Doug

"Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young." – Henry Ford