特点: Touring Kaohsiung's Public Schools

Oh dear.  Well, there’s no getting around it, so I’ll just come right out and say it.  I have been grossly negligent in my blog posting for the past few weeks.  But the time has come for me to end the vicious cycle of not writing, then feeling guilty for not writing, then avoiding thinking about writing to avoid feeling guilty—which serves only to compound the feelings of guilt.  In short, this writing will likely prove as therapeutic for me as it is informative for you, if not more so.

But enough on my malformed cognitive and writing habits.  What have I been up to for the past three weeks?  The quality of my answer likely will have some impact on your willingness to forgive my recent sloth.  To expedite the writing process, and to include as much as I am able of my comings and goings, I am thematically organizing the following several posts, which will not necessarily present events in chronological order.  By clumping similar experiences together and condensing them to the highlights, I hope to skirt needless repetition and present a compelling narrative in a reasonable amount of time. 

狮甲國小 (Shijia) Elementary School Group Photo

Today, I will cover a series of school visits I made with my fellow English Teaching Assistant (ETA) grantees to all 23 of the elementary schools participating in Kaohsiung’s Fulbright ETA program this school year.  Each of the 11 ETAs in our Kaohsiung group will be teaching cooperatively with experienced Taiwanese Local English Teachers (LETs) at two or three local elementary schools.  During our second week here in Kaohsiung, we spent three days visiting these schools to meet their staffs, tour their facilities, and view presentations about each establishment’s unique features.  These schools range in size from 200-300 students up to over 3,000 students at the largest school.  The week following the tours, ETAs were matched with schools by a random draw designed to make the decision process fair and balanced. 

Although the school tours presented very busy and draining days, we were overwhelmed by the warmth and hospitality that greeted us at each campus.  Every school organized a welcoming delegation of faculty and staff members to receive us—these groups often included school principals, English teachers, and academic affairs administrators.  At each place, the school’s painstaking preparations were evident immediately, in the form of prepared speeches and small gifts.  Nearly every school furnished bottled water, tea, or some other beverage for us.  Some provided snacks such as fresh fruit slices, shaved ice, or pineapple cakes.  A few schools also presented us with small tokens such as key chains or post cards—one principal even gave us a small light-up paperweight.     

Gifts from various schools

At some campuses, I also noticed an ineffable quality of weighty apprehension—an unspoken imperative to impress us.  From what we have been told, the selection process for partner schools is highly competitive and selective each year, with only 20 of Gaoxiong’s 150+ elementary schools earning the privilege to host a foreign Fulbright teacher.  As a result, some of the schools’ representatives seemed noticeably nervous to meet us.  These individuals stuck closely to formal, pre-written speeches of welcome, and they went to great lengths to communicate their schools’ distinguishing features, including litanies of their achievements in competitions with other area schools.  I am not at all accustomed to being regarded as someone worth impressing, so that aspect of the experience was a bit uncomfortable for me, and it underscored the high esteem and expectations with which the Taiwanese school representatives viewed us.  As someone with little classroom teaching experience, this dynamic had a humbling effect on me—I just hope I am up to the task of helping students progress in their confidence and abilities to use English comfortably.  I suppose time will tell.

福東國小 (Fudong) Elementary School

But all in all, the tours were warm and inviting.  In most cases, I was genuinely impressed by all the schools had to offer.  Nearly all of the campuses were beautifully green, populated by fruit trees and other forms of lush vegetation.  Even those schools embarrassed by the clutter of in-progress renovations remained havens of natural beauty amidst the hustle and bustle of Gaoxiong’s neighborhoods.  The vast majority of schools strongly emphasized ecology and environmental consciousness; some encouraged students to participate in cultivating campuses’ plant life as a metaphor for the educational process.  Many of the schools also had international partnerships with foreign schools in Japan, Singapore, and other places, with which they coordinated trips and student visits throughout the school year.

青山國小 (Qingshan) Elementary School

The school facilities were equally impressive.  Many of the classrooms came equipped with projectors or smart-boards, with one school even boasting computer listening stations for each student to practice English.  Quite a few schools had exercise facilities, including Ping-Pong rooms, yoga studios, dance studios, weight rooms, and even a few swimming pools.  Many teachers encouraged us to get involved with Ping-Pong lessons or other physical activities after class.  One or two schools included activity rooms that housed air hockey tables and arcade-themed basketball games.  This struck me as all the more impressive considering that all of these schools are stand-alone elementary schools, administered and housed separately from middle or high schools.  

Calligrapher @ 漢民國小 (Hanmin) Elementary

But all these commonalities and generalizations mask the fact that many of these schools had distinguishing features or 特點 (tedian) that they were quite proud of and keen to emphasize.  One or two schools had greenhouse-enclosed butterfly gardens onsite.  One school brought in a well-regarded local calligrapher to make us personalized scroll messages in Chinese characters.  Another school had an enormous music program that allowed students to begin learning instruments in third or fourth grade.  Still another one hosted artists on campus to hone their craft and teach art classes to students.  Yet another brought in traditional waist drums for us to try on and demonstrate our cultural acumen.
 

苓洲國小 (Lingzhou) Elementary School

These characteristics were fun and interesting to hear about, and sometimes unintentionally hilarious.  One school principal took such pride in his potted plants that he offered to provide his school’s ETA with as many house plants as he or she could possibly desire.  Another school had a prominent statue that was alternatively introduced as a lollipop or a cloud, but better-resembled a mushroom to most of us.  Finally, another school gave us a hearty introduction to its mascot: the Anti-Noise Monster, whose support conceivably could be mustered to counter students’ noisy escapades in the classroom. 

明義國小 (Mingyi) Elementary
"Anti-Noise Monster" Mascot

As overwhelming as it was to see so many schools in such a short amount of time, we all felt blessed to experience all they had to offer both students and us.  How heartening it was to see that no matter which schools we would be teaching at, we would be placed in well-equipped places that value both their students and the unique backgrounds that we bring to the table as ETAs.  Before long, I hope to introduce you to the three Taiwanese English teachers I will be working with, as well as the ESL crash courses that have occupied my weekdays for the past month.  Phew, it’s good to be writing again.  Thanks for your patience and thanks for reading! 

龍華國小 (Longhua) Elementary School
Lollypop, Cloud, or Mushroom?