Newsletter No. 78

C U H K Newsletter No. 78 19th November 1995 3 INTO the Third Month at C U H K Four new teachers have been invited to talk about their experiences in thefirst two months of teaching and working in theUniversity .Another four will recount their experiences in Chinese in the next issue. Lynne Nakano Herbert L. Jensen Jane Jackson Jeffrey Cody This is a forum for the free expression of opinions on specific topics — topics proposed by the CUHK Newsletter or by readers. Faculty and staff are welcome to suggest topics, contribute their commen t s , or respond to views expressed herein. My first concern in coming to teach at The Chinese University was gathering the material to teach the classes and planning the course syllabus. But, in retrospect, this seems to be the least important of m y concerns. Learning h ow the department and the University administration work, trying to understand the needs and expectations ofthe students, learning from and finding support among colleagues, and simply becoming accustomed to life in Hong Kong are the more immediate, time-consuming, and perhaps more important aspects of m y job as a teacher here. In any case, these are the concerns that have occupied most of m y thoughts and consumed the bulk ofm y energy over the past two months. A s for research, writing, and presenting m y work—these are exercises in which I have been trained in graduate school. Teaching, on the other hand, is a far different matter. Most ofm y education has been in small institutions, or at least small departments in large institutions, where teaching was done in seminars of 10 to 20 students in one class. Classes generally consisted of a teacher leading the class in a discussion of some sort. Although I was not always an active participant in these discussions, this is the format with which I a m familiar. M y teaching assignment this semester however includes two lecture classes with 45 students each. These classes are the most challenging for m e because I sat through so few similar lectures as a student. Instead of trying to recall a single professor's lecturing style, 1 find myself returning in m y mind again and again to those teachers who have inspired m e as I try to identify what made them great. I have thought a good deal about the university professors whose lectures were particularly interesting, but strangely, over the past two months m y thoughts have returned to m y fifth grade teacher in elementary school, Mrs. Godbold. She was in her late fifties which at that time seemed ancient to m e at 10, but she was able to make books and Greek civilization endlessly fascinating for me; her enthusiasm was contagious. A s I think about her and others that were effective teachers, I realize that they shared an enthusiasm for their subject and an ability to communicate that enthusiasm to us as students.Idon't remember the details of the subjects they taught but I do remember the spirit of the class and the main ideas that they wanted to convey. Yet, this is not easy to do. M y enthusiasm and desire to make lectures interactive and lively for the students are not always compatible with the ideas and topics 1 want to teach. A n d I cannot always effectively convey m y enthusiasm in a w a y that is palatable or even comprehensible to the students. Hence, m y respect for Mrs. Godbold grows daily. I have taught junior high school, high school and college courses in Japan, and m y own education, kindergarten through graduate school, has been at institutions in the United States. M y teaching experience in Japan and m y education in the States have prepared m e only partially for teaching in Hong Kong. The lives of the students, with their beepers and busy H o n g Kong-paced schedules, are somewhat of a mystery to me, and I suspect that 1 may be more interested in them than they are in m e or m y course material. 1 take m y curiosity as a healthy sign, for a teacher must be able to understand her students to know how to move them, although at this point m y knowledge of Hong Kong is painfully lacking. M y experience in Japan M s helped m ehowever ,for I am familiar with the problems of learningthrough a foreign language and with student hesitance in expressing themselves. Compared to the students I taught at an elite private university in Japan, the students here are polite, enthusiastic and seem to have better relationships with their teachers. A s teachers in the Japanese department in particular, it seems to m e that no matter whether we teach language, literature or culture, we must serve as the students' guides into that society. And to be effective as guides means that the students must stay close tous, at least in the beginning, before they can find their own way. The students seem to realize this, and the best students practise a combination of self-motivated learning together with frequent consultation with the teachers. In spite of m y previous teaching experience, I continue to find the transition from graduate student to teacher to be a jolting, startling one with unexpected complications as well as rewards. I did not anticipate that preparation for classes would take as long as it does, but I also did not expect the pleasure I experienced on being asked to write m y first student reference. A s a student I could not think beyond m y own experience to imagine the teacher's perspective, and in graduate school unfortunately there was no course offered on becoming an effective lecturer. This first semester I grope along, guided by colleagues' advice, student feedback, past teachers, and m y own trials and errors. Lynne Nakano Assistant lecturer in Japanese studies T h e first time 1 visited Hong Kong in 1968 I was a soldier in the U S A r my on leave from Vietnam. The Chinese University had been founded just five years earlier and none of its current undergraduate students had been b om yet. In 1972, I came to Hong Kong again, this time as a civilian travelling by liner from Taiwan. The highlight of that trip was a train ride to China's border at Lo W u which was then closed to foreigners. M y wife,looking at the land across the border, remarked, 'It's the same as over here Her words may be prophetic because the usual question 1 a m asked about teaching in Hong Kong today is, 'What are you going to do in 1997?' M y answer is, 'The same as I'm doing now. Nothing is likely to change too quickly.' I feel very comfortable teaching at the University and hope that m y contract will be renewed at the end of this academic year. Having lived for five years in Taiwan and two in Singapore, I a m well acculturated to Chinese society and feel quite at home in Hong Kong. The undergraduate students I am now teaching are quite similar to those I taught at The National University of Singapore from 1982 to 1984. Chinese students do their assignments diligently and come to class well-prepared for lectures. They do not like to be called upon in class and are generally unwilling to give the instructor feedback on any problems they are encountering with the subject matter. One unfortunate consequence of their reticence is that they are often subjected to coverage of material that is inappropriately difficult or easy. Another characteristic is that they indiscriminately take notes on extraneous or secondary information which has been included in the lectures or the textbook to enrich the course content and provide supplementary background material. Prior to teaching at The Chinese University, I spent two terms at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University as a visiting scholar. In 1993 and again in 1995 I worked with their faculty in developing research projects and encouraging doctoral studies. 1 team taught in their graduate degree programme as well. The School of Accountancy at C U H K differs by having well-established scholars on its staff,several of w h o m have publication records superior to m y own. Consequently, m y professional life at the University has so far been the most rewarding part of m y stay here. Herbert L, Jensen Senior lecturer in accountancy S i n c e m y arrival at The Chinese University in August, 1 have been immersed in academic life at the English Language Teaching Unit (ELTU). Looking back on m y first months here, I a m amazed at h ow quickly the time has passed and it is actually difficult to remember everything that has happened. There are so many activities and deadlines that there has been little time to reflect. I really appreciate the efforts that the University has made to welcome new staff to the C U H K community. In August, the Teaching Development Unit organized a two-day orientation for new faculty that gave interesting information about the cultural aspects of teaching in the Hong