Teaching in Hong Kong

Teaching in Hong Kong is rather hard to describe. It’s like explaining air travel. You could say, “It’s exciting but nerve wracking at the same time.” But that doesn’t provide the whole picture.

My dream job would have been at an international school. The pay is excellent, facilities are top of the line, and it’s good for networking. But most importantly the curriculum is loose and creative in comparison to local Chinese schools.

In mainland China it would have been easy to land an international position. Not many guilios (white ghosts) are willing to work in mainland. Frankly I just don’t have the proper credentials or experience to compete with Hong Kong ex-patriots.

So I work in Chinese kindergartens like other unqualified guilios in Hong Kong. And now that I’m with a placement agency, I’ve already been to four different schools in two weeks. Thus far my short experience as a teacher has spun me in circles.

Chinese kindergartens are much more strict than my own pre-school experience. For starters, there is the uniform. Every school has multiple uniforms that are required for different days of the week. This seems pretty hard to keep up with for the little ones. I always chuckle to myself when some of the kids are wearing the wrong uniform. Score one for diversity!

In kindergarten, the students are three to six years old. Once they turn six they can attend primary school. Kindergarten is like boot-camp for primary school. They beat the kids into submission with listening and rule-obeying skills.

The impression I get from the Chinese teachers is that fun is an after-school activity. Because this opposes my learning philosophies, I enter Chinese classes and get the kids moving and engage them in dramatic play. The teachers look worried. It’s like I’m the phys.ed. teacher in elementary school. Phys.ed. is the one class that EVERY student likes because thinking is not a requirement.

I often wonder how this strict environment effects these small children. Every class bows and chants in unison “Good Morning Miss Jenny” and the Chinese teachers are so proud. I wonder if these kids need to be making a mess with paints and getting muddy in the nearby creek.

The one reason that I appreciate this serious classroom style is because it nullifies any behavioral problems. Even three year olds will obey without a complaint. And they don’t pull the normal three year old trick of pretending that they don’t hear you. It would seem that respecting authority is drilled into Chinese from the womb.

But mostly I worry if the child-like spirit is drained at an early age. It makes me sad when I ask the students to play imaginary games and they look at each other in confusion.

Getting up in front of the class is also hard for these kids. They are used to collective games, not independent activities. I am sanding against the grain.

Over-obedient Chinese children make western children look like crazed squirrels. But Chinese children have trouble thinking for themselves. Although I prefer a western upbringing, when Maeli takes a fit in public I secretly praise what millions of Chinese mothers and teachers are doing.