My Memorable Learning Experience In China
On 21st of February 2019 (Thursday), I officially landed in Dalian, China. I was instantly greeted by the
Human Resource Department personnel to welcome me to the school.
I was being brought to the school’s dormitory to stay for a week while I find my accommodation
outside the school.
My impression of the school was great. It has curriculum for students ranging from kindergarten to
high school. After high school, the students will be given options both locally and overseas to pursue
their tertiary education.
I was assigned to teach in the middle school, namely Mathematics (IGCSE) and their high school
focuses on A level.
At kindergarten level, students are given the choice to pursue either their Normal Class ( Chinese
curriculum-basis) or their International Class – whereby 50% of the subjects will be taught in English
rather than their Normal Class ( where 100% of the subjects will be taught in Chinese)
Be it International Class or Normal Class, all students upon graduation from Middle school will have
to sit for the National Exam which is conducted in Chinese as a medium of instruction and
assessment.
For middle-school students, they are also given the choice to pursue their own TOEFL or IELTs to gain
high-school admission overseas. This is on their own efforts to learn and register for their own
examinations. After they had achieved the required score in TOEFL or IELTs, they will apply to their
high-school choices in overseas.
Due to the large population in China, students are quite limited in their choices if they decide to
pursue locally. They will have to sit for their National Chinese Exam. This examination is based on
individual’s merit and only the top 10% of the cohort will need to attain a reasonable score to gain
admission to the local University in China. Competition is very stiff if they decide to take the Normal
Class.
Henceforth, with limited spaces in the China Universities, private schools are flourishing because it
serves another tier of students whom are rich but unable to gain admission to their own local
University.
This is the segment of students whom I am working with daily.
Public schools are very affordable for the common people. Private schools, are only accessible to the
wealthy and effluent citizens of China. I am very honoured to be part of the teaching fraternity of
the private schools.
In my more than one month of interacting with them, the Chinese values (respect the teachers,
follow school rules) is still very much practised in China students in public or private schools.
One more significant difference as compared to Singapore’s education. Staying in dormitory started
as young as 13 years old which is equivalent to the middle school.
The need for independence kicks in as young as 13 years old. For those staying in dormitory, lesson
will be conducted till 9pm as the last lesson and the students will be allowed to rest for the day.
Lesson will resume by 8am the next following day
Right after two weeks of my stay in Dalian, China , my wife came on the 8 th of March 2019. She really
helped to settled in to the new rented place.
Initially I was quite reluctant to leave the dormitory as I was kind of used to the convenience of
waking up late and it is just within minutes that I be able to reach the school canteen to have my
meals and go to my office.
Setting up a home entails a lot of small details and my wife really went through the details but the
most detailed place in the house is definitely the kitchen wares.
Through the setting up of the kitchen, I have learnt to be self-sufficient to cook a simple one pot
meal for myself.
On the 11 th of March 2019, it was my wife’s birthday and we had a small celebration with a piece of
small cake.
I want to express my sincere gratitude to my wife for coming over to settle my home and guiding me
a few recipes so that I can prepare myself a few simple dishes rather than keep buying food outside.
She left on 20 th of March and it was reluctant to see her go but she had to go back to take care of my
two daughters who are staying in Singapore and they be coming over in the month of May for a
week of school and to celebrate my 41th birthday.
After she left for Singapore, I have also officially left my comfortable dormitory and started to live in
my new rented premise.
My daily commute to school and back to home as well as the meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) has
been taken care of by the school.
This is during the weekend that I will do my own cooking in the house and usually I have a simple
breakfast, either eggs or cereal drinks then I will go to the vegetables and fruit stall to get my usual
supplies of onion, spring onion, potatoes, carrot, tofu, ( beancurd), ginger and of course fruits.
My fruits (banana, dragon fruits, strawberries, papaya, mangoteen, mangoes, etc) all these fruits are
very important fruits for my regular bowl movement.
All these are important for survival because in Dalian, I seldom have the opportunity to sweat as
compared to a tropical country henceforth, my way of waste elimination from my body is strictly
through my daily regular bowel movement.
Another two important electrical appliances my wife had insisted me to buy is a warm humifier and
a movable home heater.
Humifier is a necessity because air is less dry and absorption of moisture is through our skin and
after using it for a week especially in the night when I was sleeping, my constipation issue
completely cured. Little did I know that while I was sleeping, I was actually losing moisture through
my body resulting in constipation. I am glad that these two life-saver appliances came to me through
my wife. I must really thank her for it.
Today marks the first day of my blog in China. The date for today is 19 th of March 2019.
Earlier in Singapore, my last entry to my blog was somewhere in December or November which I
could not even remember.
All I could remember was the family had a vacation in Penang and I had my second round of
interview by the Vice-Principal of High School.
I can still remember vividly that it was somewhere in the third week of November 2018that I started
actively to search for a teaching position in overseas.
In the entire year of 2018 was a year of reflection of what I have did and trying different jobs while
keeping the house finances in check and investment schemes that could brought instantaneous
rewards.
I left MOE (Ministry of Education) as an educator in end 2017. Started as financial planner with NTUC Income (January 2018 to May 2018 and began with Manulife Singapore and left in September and began with Great Eastern on November 2018 till present.
All these while juggling as a private tutor from 3pm to 7pm daily and with my mornings left for
driving for Grab as a part-timer driver or even the weekend once the family has been settled and
with the departure of our domestic helper in June due to financial embarrassment from licensed
moneylender.
But in June 2018, our family did a spectacular family vacation for two weeks in Europe. During these
two weeks we really had a great time travelling to Paris, Amsterdam and to Dubai.
In addition to our family vacation in June, my earlier March trip with my wife to Guanxi, Nanning, China.
Of course, the highlight of this year was, I managed to try other profession like being a financial
planner, Grab driver and even being an angel investor, which unfortunately turned out to be a scam
and how at that point of time, we turned to God to let go the amount of money we invested and
finally it was returned back to us through the grace of God.
The year 2018 was definitely a year of discovery for myself, whether to pursue education as a career
path or as a successful financial planner or even a top-notch private tutor or a professional Grab
driver.
Earlier in March 2018, we were introduced to a investment scheme in China, Guanxi (Nanning) , our
hearts were stirred not once but twice. Once in March 2018 and September 2018.
Through this introduction of the investment scheme, we lost our friendship with one of our closest
friends in our lives.
She has been the pillar of strength and support since I graduated from 2004, started my first job as a
banker till now.
Sad to say because of this investment scheme, our friendship was soured. It was painful for me as
she has been my friend since I started working and she has been through with me as a mentor, as a
mother and Godparent to both of my children.
Through this, we met different nice people on this investment scheme but financially, I am not ready
to invest 50K.
Somewhere in late October, we chanced upon a businessman whom has great ambition in the
education sector. His idea clearly resonates with mine and a close friend of mine. Both of us invested
25K each.
Unfortunately, his business partner from overseas did not commit to the financial support for the
proposed childcare centre. In the end, both of our investment went to the other financial obligations
of his investment.
Both of us were devasted and through close follow-up, with God’s grace, I managed to recover my
25K and my other close friend is still awaiting from her return of her 25K which I sincerely hoped
that she will get back her money in due time.
Through this entire year of 2018, I have learnt one life lesson.
Nothing is free in this world, we have to work hard and not seek shortcuts in success. Most
importantly, I regained back my passion as an educator. This is my calling and my dedication to the
society.
With God’s grace, I was given a job as an educator in China. I literally applied to so many countries
and till today, I cannot even believe that I am now in China, Dalian as a bilingual teacher in Maths
and PE.
I shall begin on my journey in penning down my thoughts and pedagogy in how I engage with the
students in China differently as compared with the students from Singapore.
With internationalisation and opening up of China, there is an increase demand for English medium
as a language of instruction especially for the more effluent population to seek overseas studies for
their children.
In China, there are basically two paths of education. One is primarily the Chinese National Exam
which is compulsory for their middle school but optional for their High School which is A level
equivalent.
The Chinese National Examination (middle school and high school) is considered like our O level or A level equivalent.
For students that are on the Chinese National Examination pathway, they are usually aiming for
tertiary studies within China. However, competition is very intense due to the large number of
applicants competing for limited seats in the top-notch universities like Beijing University, Tsinghua
University and Fudan University.
For those who did not make it locally through the National Exams, options are also available.
Overseas tertiary option is a popular options due to rising affluent of the people whom are willing
and financially sound to send their children overseas for a different exposure in a different landscape
of education to widen their perspectives in life after their studies.
Henceforth, new education regulations are changing rapidly to adapt to the expectations of parents.
With this new expectations, schools with bilingual language ( English and Chinese) as a medium of
instruction has gained trust and confidence of the parents. Chinese curriculum still forms the basis of
foundation of the local Chinese here.
Chinese curriculum is definitely the key pillar for the education system in China. However, English as a form of instructional medium act as a supporting role for aspiring student for overseas studies.
For a bilingual school, there are Chinese National Class and International Class within each level
spanning from Grade 1 to 11.
For the Chinese National Class, lessons are primarily taught in Chinese. For the International class,
lessons are taught in more in English ( 50 percent in Chinese and 50 percent in English). This applies
for Grade 1 to Grade 6.
However, from Grade 7 to Grade 9, lessons are taught mostly in English for the students to work
towards clearing their IGCSE in preparation for their A levels in Grade 10 and Grade 11.
The hurdle or steep learning begins with Grade 7 onwards. This shift is from Grade 1 to Grade 6 (
Chinese National Class) and Grade 1 to Grade 6 ( International Class).
In my interaction and teaching with the students from such a school setting, student in Chinese
National Class actually are more resilient and able to adapt to the change as compared to students
from International Class.
My own conclusion, students from Chinese National Class are more task-oriented and more focused
in their pursuit of academic success through the repetitive drills conducted from Grade 1 to Grade 6
through their Chinese National Class.
Two very important factors: Having a mindset that they must do well academically in their Chinese
National Exam is like the only choice for them
For the International Class, through Grade 7 to Grade 9, there is still a compulsory Chinese National
Exam which they have to sit through. They just have to pass without having the pressure to ace it.
With these two differentiating factors, students from Chinese National Class literally are left with no
choice but to succeed is the only option for them.
I have a lot of reflections in terms of engagement, communication and pedagogy
which I will share in my subsequent blog and not forgetting the hazzle of getting a work permit and
residence permit which are important document to validate my stay in China for an extended period
of time. To get a bank account, is another big milestone as a foreigner which I have share in between
my blog. Last word before I penned off and getting ready to go to bed in the midst of the cold
weather…STAY TUNE!!!
26 th of March
Exactly been a week since I penned down in my blog. I have spent with the students for about a
month or less.
Some of my key observations that I have made and small little touches that I am using to engage the
students.
1) Routine – Students need to have a routine. Routine is very important when setting the tone
of the classroom. This is so important when it comes to the initial contact and
communication with the Chinese students
2) Teacher’s Expectation- Teachers need to set the right and reasonable expectations for the
students. For the higher-abilities student, the expectations of a teacher is to stretch their
potential. For lower-abilities students, building up self-esteem and confidence for the
subject not only for themselves but they are concerned how they will look if they ask the
wrong questions or questions that do not make sense at all.
3) Engagement: Students need to be engaged in a fun yet competitive way. I will explain more
of this engagement.
4) Engagement comes in different forms (teacher-to -student) or (student-to-teacher),
(teacher-to-teacher) and (teacher-to-parent) and of course (student-teacher-parent). In this
context, as a subject teacher in the school, I will discuss in details of the first and second
forms of engagement.
For Teacher-to-student, this is like a traditional approach. When the teacher goes into the class.
Under this condition, I will discuss about Blended Learning.
There are 3 types of models under this Blended Learning
1) Flipped Classroom
For Flipped Classroom, students are being told to read up the chapter ahead of what the teachers
will teach and then during the lessons, through the engagement with the students, the teacher will
facilitate the discussion to further enhance their knowledge and competency in the chapter.
For instance, students are grouped in groups of 3 to 4 students each and are tasked to complete a
pre-assigned question before the lessons and then during the lesson, students will be picked by the
teacher to present the answer to the whole class.
Key is to pick the weakest student in the group, this rule can vary in different classroom scenarios.
With such a parameter in placed, the higher-abilities students will guide the lower-abilities students
in their learning.
When the students stand in front of the students, students will learn to be more confident and they
will make sure they really understand the concepts before standing in front of the students.
2) Lab-Based Model
Students are being divided into groups. As the word Lab-Based, it means practical approach towards
learning. During class, students are being given the actual task related to the chapters and in this
approach, peer-learning is more suitable rather than group discussion
3) In-Class Blending
Different abilities student will gather together and according to the abilities, students are tasked
differently. This type of classroom settings though promotes inclusiveness. This approach has pros
and cons. Pros is students
Next, is Gamification
Through organising of games, interest is being heightened and students are naturally engaged in the
process of learning whether directly or indirectly. One of the most commonly used methodology is
to organise the students into groups and use a point system to tabulate the score.
Since there is a weekly quiz, I will award the marks to the winner’s team into their weekly quiz’s
score and there is a option for the group to either use the points to add to their weekly quiz or use
the points to exchange another student from a different group.
Till date, this game seems to offer excitement and engagement in my daily lessons with them.
Thirdly is Computational Thinking
1) Analysis Thinking
2) Complicated questions: Segmenting into simpler questions
3) Step-by Step Solution
4) Understand the question, eliminate the unnecessary information
5) Understand the relationship between similar questions and related solutions.
Fourthly is Experiential Learning
- Project Based Learning; Real-life situations to evoke interest and the ability to think and
apply the related knowledge
- Service-Based Learning; Community Engagement; it can be a very small-scale activity like “
Keep our School Clean” through a small of picking up litter in the school, it reflects learning
in all areas, How to be Good Citizen, the motives behind learning, why do they want to learn,
how we can integrate learning in schools and what they will face in the future
- Teaching of Uncertainty Competence; Learning to be taking place outside the comfortable
zone of the school, tapping into unfamiliar ground and going into comfortable zone by its
own discovery. To achieve this, students in the group need to communicate and work
together as a team. Reflect and relate back to the society that they will be embarking after
graduation
To ensure experiential learning works, teachers need to facilitate by scaffolding.
What is Scaffolding?
- To provide support to the students, guidance, and facilitate the level of thinking needed for
each level of learning so that students will be guided at each step of the learning.
Fifth is Embodied Learning
It involves gaining of knowledge and the importance of learning towards integrating with society.
This is very important to create a personal learning experience. This involves the integration of the
physical body, mind as well as the emotional feeling. This is very important towards a holistic
learning sphere where students draws learning towards them and not the teachers creating it for
them.
Embodied Learning focus on a very important concept. The students realised the important of
application. This is more than the usual lesson whereby theory are being taught through a facilitator
or through the use of ICT lesson.
Though our brain registers the importance of learning. We must not underestimate that knowledge
is not just gained through our exposure to our brains.
Situational knowledge requires the exposure to the physical body, the emotional feelings and
integration with the society to the holistic learning experience of the students.
This type of learning focus on the student’s ability to think out of the box to exercise their creativity
and the ability to express their analytical thinking.
Embodied Learning focus on two nature’s abilities of the students. Creativity and Expression of
knowledge.
With the combination of these two important elements, students are able to gain more out of the
daily knowledge which has been passed to them through their interactions in class.
Sixth is Multiliteracies and Discussing-Based Learning.
This type of learning, embodied the competency level of different languages learnt, integrating the
world politics issues and different cultures of countries. This will in turn build up the student’s life
towards their interests in learning, the place they are residing now and affecting their views towards
the history of their country. All this place a very important part towards a more meaningful
discussion towards their learning.
For the above pedagogies to work effectively there are few pointers to bear in mind
1) Educators need to understand the student’s life and interest or where their passion lies
2) Educators need to understand the life of a student, the society which the students live-in
and the history of the country which the student resides
3) Educators need to support the students to lay the correct foundation to handle complex
issues and reflect about it
4) Allowing foreign language to be taught in classroom and be integrated in the student’s life
posed threat but this is a good route for a more diversified learning experience for the
students and the educators need to embrace such a change.
5) Educators need to collaborate with the experts to solve the student’s abilities in
communication and the obstacles face. At the same time, educators need to constantly
upgrade themselves to better equipped themselves to impart new and relevant learning
techniques to the students.
In summary, beside the above-mentioned six pathways of learning, schools need to adopt three
important directions for the students
1) School-based Physical Culture
Emphasis on physical education improves the quality of the students in terms of the enhancement of
the physical well-being and the ability to analyse complex issues
2) Arts-Integrated Learning
Combining academic subjects with arts to enhance student’s active participation and to enhance
learning at a deeper and more meaningful experience. This will in also prepare students for their
creativity, physical abilities to handle sports, confidence level in making a good decision for
themselves which hones their decision-making abilities in different types of scenarios
3) Maker Culture
This “Maker Culture” happens mostly in laboratory sessions especially during science practical
lessons. They are being exposed to the equipment during science sessions, they are tasked to
experiment and create. Under appropriate support and mutual learning from each other to go into
in-depth-learning to create a personal interest towards the lesson by themselves.
This is a big shift from the traditional type of learning (rote-learning) towards a learning which
embodied daily interaction, emotional and physical contact to enhance their individual learning
experience and to gain a deeper connection for themselves.
Today is the 6 th of April 2019 (Saturday).
It was actually a public holiday yesterday and I could get some rest and recharge after falling really
sick on 29th of March 2019.
It was also my first experience falling sick in a foreign land, where I am not familiar with my usual
surroundings where I was being raised and brought up which is Singapore.
I was down with a throat infection, probably due to the harsh cold weather coupled with the strong
wind.
In the northern part of China, the wind can get really strong and partly because, it is close to the sea
and Dalian is considered very close to the coastal areas.
Strong wind is definitely having its pros and cons. One of the pros is the wind can blow the air
pollution away really fast due to the neighbouring provinces having the industrial pollution through
air. However, China is such a huge place that one can imagine and just between province to
province, they can be miles apart.
Coming back to my medical experience, I was being brought to a clinic known as VITUP Dalian. I was impressed with the medical facilities and the professionalism of the doctors. This is where I was
being brought to an attention of the types of billing when the patient has to pay after the medical
treatment.
Most of the time, when one purchase the travel insurance to go abroad and if there is medical
treatment needed due to an unforeseen circumstance, we have to pay upfront of the treatment
however, if we can choose the types of billing after our treatment, it would be better as sometimes
the medical treatment can be of a substantial amount.
Henceforth, I would really recommend travellers to any countries to pay a slightly more premium to
enjoy the direct billing benefits for a less hassle travelling in the event of a medical treatment.
In today’s blog, I would like to mention two of my colleagues and share with you all what are my
learning experience as well as to end of today’s blog with my daughter, Rachel scoring full-marks for
her English spelling test and she called me over the phone to share with me her happy moments..
Let me begin with this colleague, his nickname is Mr Moon. Little did I know that he actually left
Dalian 6 years ago and went to the US to teach for 5 years before returning back.
Out of the 6 years, the first year he spend alone and the second year, he brought his only son to the
US school to learn English and then now they are back to Dalian and his son is studying at our school.
Throughout his six years abroad, his wife did not follow him but visited him and the son during
vacations. I was like blown away by the living conditions that people went through just to experience
life and stepping out of their comfort zone in pursuit of life.
Another colleague is Mr Vincent. Initially he was working in Harbin. 2 years ago, he decided to leave
Harbin and went to Dalian to pursue a better living environment and living conditions in Harbin is
harsh with minus 40 degree Celsius and yet amazingly, people still survive in such drastic conditions.
He came here, found his dream girl, married and now have his newborn baby. As I shared with him
of my story and how I came to China, he can also relate to me as he also left his hometown, a place
where everything is so familiar to a place where everything is so unfamiliar to him. He encouraged
me that life is worthless if we dare not step out of our comfort zone and experience new challenges.
Being a Singaporean for the last 40 years, I have learnt to be very careful in my approach in a lot of
things, my way of thinking, my decisions are all so calculated moves. I am driven by fear not to try
anything out of Singapore. I am deemed as convinced that everything in Singapore is safe and well-
protected.
As I stepped out of Singapore, my only constant worry is my family. Since the birth of my two
daughters, I have never left them alone in Singapore, be it small family vacations, they are always
close to my wife and me. This short phase of life in China marks an important milestone in my life.
Dare to be different and dare to step out of my comfort zone. I am not sure what holds ahead of us as a family but I am sure this short separation is good and beneficial for us as a family at least for me. I have been a pampered boy with a domestic helper helping with the chores and cooking. Now at the very least, I am starting to learn how to be independent and start to learn and appreciate cooking for a
survival point of view
Yesterday while I was at a shopping mall, I received a call from my elder daughter, Rachel , currently
in Primary Two. She called to share with me that her English has obtained full marks and I was
delighted and happy that I received a call from her. I asked her what she wanted for obtaining full
marks, her first reaction was “ Daddy, I do not want anything and if it is too expensive, I do not want
you not to have money” I was very touched when I heard this and almost in tears because this
daughter of mine has slowly matured.
While in overseas, I would not imagine this words coming from her to tell me not to spend money. In
my heart, i felt more reassured that she is getting on well in her life without me in Singapore.
In May 2019, she would be coming for a week’s trial at my school and I am not sure whether she will
like it or get adjusted to the new environment or are we making the right decision to send her over
to study in Dalian. To be honest, I just want to say we will take baby steps progressively for any
major transition to be introduced to the family.
Secondly, I would like to personally thank my wife for coming down to spend her 40th birthday with
me and settling my home though initially I was very reluctant to do that. Nevertheless, just want to
thank her for always having my best interests at heart and always inspiring me to do great things in
life and believing in me. Thank you so much my dear wife, I will love you.
Before I penned off, I just remembered to share my experience of opening of a bank account in
China.
Especially for a foreigner, it is really a hazzle of opening up a bank account in China. This is because
of the strict and tight banking regulations. For money to be remitted out of China, it is highly
regulated because inflow of funds is preferred rather than outflow. This is very important when the
economy wants to expand aggressively and to keep exchange rate favourable to the Chinese dollars.
The reason why I want to open a bank account so that I can link my Wechat Pay to this bank
account.
Wechat Pay is a daily necessity when it comes to payment because almost everyone uses this for
their daily transactions and hardly anyone uses cash these days. I must say that China is the leading
country for mobile payment as compared to the rest of the countries I have travelled so far.
In my next blog, I will share more of my experience in their enrichment programmes. The types of
enrichment programmes offered and is there a demand for such program offered in China.
Today is 2nd of May 2019, (Thursday), yesterday was also a public holiday in China, it is known as
Labour Day,
It was a long holiday for me from yesterday ( Wednesday till Saturday) and Sunday is actually a
working day.
Been here for the last two months and I must say that whatever starts out with excitement slowly
turned into reality.
The reality is I thought I could be away from the family, I was slowly been proven wrong, every night.
I started to miss my family. Used to having my children surrounding me when sleeping every single
night to sleeping alone in the cold bed.
Spring is starting and weather is getting warmer and warmer and leading towards Summer and of
course the much-anticipated summer vacation from 15 th of July to 25 th of August.
I have already listed a few important things which I need to personally follow-up in Singapore.
I came here at end of February, and it seems like winter stretches from October to April. ( 7 months
of cold weather) and from April to September, it will be Spring and Summer and Autumn will be
short period followed by the harsh winter and the strong wind.
At the very least, when I started out to come here, I will stay for a full cycle of 4 seasons to
experience what I been waiting for since I was a child, to touch snow and I believe my dream will
come true very soon.
Till today, every night when I close my eyes to sleep, I still wonder in my mind, did I make a right
decision to come China alone to work while my wife and both children are at Singapore.
Though my working contract is 2.5 years, I will finish till 2020 September, 1.5 years.
I enjoyed the pace of working life in Dalian, however what dreads me the most is when weekend is
approaching.
Back in Singapore, I used to bring my two daughters out on every weekend. However, in China, I just
lost to motivation to explore new places because I will tell myself, what is the point of having money
and time when your loved ones are not around by your side.
I have to numb myself that I am working towards a family, to save money to pursue my further
studies in Masters in Education in the UK or in Singapore next time when I am back.
Initially when I came here, because I am a full-time teacher in a international school, tuition fees are
being waived, yearly flight allowance, accommodation and meals.
To be honest, I can really save a big portion of my savings because cost of living in a Tier 2/3 cities
within China is very low. I do not get chance to spend money on weekdays and on weekend, I am at
home most if not all the times. The opportunities to spend money is very low and henceforth,
savings is very achievable.
To share about enrichment programmes in China, beside English, parents are willing to spend money
on robotics, coding, music, sports and activities that can enhance their child’s fullest potential.
However, all these enrichment programmes are only accessible to the wealthy and more affluent
families.
The school which I am working now is a private school for the wealthy students. I will share more
details about my school.
This school is known as Jiahui Foeign Language School. It has curriculum for kindergarten till high
school.
Within this structure, there is the national curriculum and the international curriculum, however
from my two months of stay in Dalian, Liaoning Province, there is still a scope of work for
international route. Their international route is mainly IGCSE and A levels.
Students are exposed to the IGCSE route when they reach middle school age. This is considered a
barrier or hurdle as students were primarily exposed to the national curriculum with Chinese as their
first language and when they hit the middle years, they have to switch to the textbooks with English
wordings. This poses a huge challenge as well as disruptive to their learning.
English is a language and the younger a child is exposed to different languages, they will pickup
naturally and at a faster attainment rate as compared to adults.
Henceforth, when the middle school students are being exposed to a new English-based curriculum,
they take a longer time to adjust as well as to absorb the content of the curriculum.
This is considered the biggest challenge for both the educator and the students on the international
curriculum route
To overcome this, different pathways are designed to suit to the needs of different students.
China, though has progressed economically and has been the limelight of international platform in
terms of growth. China still advocate the Chinese curriculum to be administered at middle school.
Students on middle school has to take the national curriculum exam at Grade 9 and take the IGCSE
exam if they are on the international route.
Students on the national curriculum route only has to the national curriculum examinations at Grade 9. During Grade 7 to Grade 9, students will be automatically promoted to the next level even if their
academic requirements did not meet the stipulated requirements.
This resulted in students not putting their best efforts as they know that they will get promoted to
the next level even their results did not meet the school requirements for their promotion to the
next level.
International Route students have the options not take the pathways designed by the school and
during their middle school, they can actually take a junior TOEFT to gain admission to US high school and then pursue their University degree.
Basically, students from International route has more options when it comes to choosing their
pathways.
To have the option to choose literally means that they have a better family in terms of financial
ability to support their overseas pursuit for tertiary education as compared to the local students
whereby they have to face stiff competition for a local position in the local university.
Human Resource Department personnel to welcome me to the school.
I was being brought to the school’s dormitory to stay for a week while I find my accommodation
outside the school.
My impression of the school was great. It has curriculum for students ranging from kindergarten to
high school. After high school, the students will be given options both locally and overseas to pursue
their tertiary education.
I was assigned to teach in the middle school, namely Mathematics (IGCSE) and their high school
focuses on A level.
At kindergarten level, students are given the choice to pursue either their Normal Class ( Chinese
curriculum-basis) or their International Class – whereby 50% of the subjects will be taught in English
rather than their Normal Class ( where 100% of the subjects will be taught in Chinese)
Be it International Class or Normal Class, all students upon graduation from Middle school will have
to sit for the National Exam which is conducted in Chinese as a medium of instruction and
assessment.
For middle-school students, they are also given the choice to pursue their own TOEFL or IELTs to gain
high-school admission overseas. This is on their own efforts to learn and register for their own
examinations. After they had achieved the required score in TOEFL or IELTs, they will apply to their
high-school choices in overseas.
Due to the large population in China, students are quite limited in their choices if they decide to
pursue locally. They will have to sit for their National Chinese Exam. This examination is based on
individual’s merit and only the top 10% of the cohort will need to attain a reasonable score to gain
admission to the local University in China. Competition is very stiff if they decide to take the Normal
Class.
Henceforth, with limited spaces in the China Universities, private schools are flourishing because it
serves another tier of students whom are rich but unable to gain admission to their own local
University.
This is the segment of students whom I am working with daily.
Public schools are very affordable for the common people. Private schools, are only accessible to the
wealthy and effluent citizens of China. I am very honoured to be part of the teaching fraternity of
the private schools.
In my more than one month of interacting with them, the Chinese values (respect the teachers,
follow school rules) is still very much practised in China students in public or private schools.
One more significant difference as compared to Singapore’s education. Staying in dormitory started
as young as 13 years old which is equivalent to the middle school.
The need for independence kicks in as young as 13 years old. For those staying in dormitory, lesson
will be conducted till 9pm as the last lesson and the students will be allowed to rest for the day.
Lesson will resume by 8am the next following day
Right after two weeks of my stay in Dalian, China , my wife came on the 8 th of March 2019. She really
helped to settled in to the new rented place.
Initially I was quite reluctant to leave the dormitory as I was kind of used to the convenience of
waking up late and it is just within minutes that I be able to reach the school canteen to have my
meals and go to my office.
Setting up a home entails a lot of small details and my wife really went through the details but the
most detailed place in the house is definitely the kitchen wares.
Through the setting up of the kitchen, I have learnt to be self-sufficient to cook a simple one pot
meal for myself.
On the 11 th of March 2019, it was my wife’s birthday and we had a small celebration with a piece of
small cake.
I want to express my sincere gratitude to my wife for coming over to settle my home and guiding me
a few recipes so that I can prepare myself a few simple dishes rather than keep buying food outside.
She left on 20 th of March and it was reluctant to see her go but she had to go back to take care of my
two daughters who are staying in Singapore and they be coming over in the month of May for a
week of school and to celebrate my 41th birthday.
After she left for Singapore, I have also officially left my comfortable dormitory and started to live in
my new rented premise.
My daily commute to school and back to home as well as the meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) has
been taken care of by the school.
This is during the weekend that I will do my own cooking in the house and usually I have a simple
breakfast, either eggs or cereal drinks then I will go to the vegetables and fruit stall to get my usual
supplies of onion, spring onion, potatoes, carrot, tofu, ( beancurd), ginger and of course fruits.
My fruits (banana, dragon fruits, strawberries, papaya, mangoteen, mangoes, etc) all these fruits are
very important fruits for my regular bowl movement.
All these are important for survival because in Dalian, I seldom have the opportunity to sweat as
compared to a tropical country henceforth, my way of waste elimination from my body is strictly
through my daily regular bowel movement.
Another two important electrical appliances my wife had insisted me to buy is a warm humifier and
a movable home heater.
Humifier is a necessity because air is less dry and absorption of moisture is through our skin and
after using it for a week especially in the night when I was sleeping, my constipation issue
completely cured. Little did I know that while I was sleeping, I was actually losing moisture through
my body resulting in constipation. I am glad that these two life-saver appliances came to me through
my wife. I must really thank her for it.
Today marks the first day of my blog in China. The date for today is 19 th of March 2019.
Earlier in Singapore, my last entry to my blog was somewhere in December or November which I
could not even remember.
All I could remember was the family had a vacation in Penang and I had my second round of
interview by the Vice-Principal of High School.
I can still remember vividly that it was somewhere in the third week of November 2018that I started
actively to search for a teaching position in overseas.
In the entire year of 2018 was a year of reflection of what I have did and trying different jobs while
keeping the house finances in check and investment schemes that could brought instantaneous
rewards.
I left MOE (Ministry of Education) as an educator in end 2017. Started as financial planner with NTUC Income (January 2018 to May 2018 and began with Manulife Singapore and left in September and began with Great Eastern on November 2018 till present.
All these while juggling as a private tutor from 3pm to 7pm daily and with my mornings left for
driving for Grab as a part-timer driver or even the weekend once the family has been settled and
with the departure of our domestic helper in June due to financial embarrassment from licensed
moneylender.
But in June 2018, our family did a spectacular family vacation for two weeks in Europe. During these
two weeks we really had a great time travelling to Paris, Amsterdam and to Dubai.
In addition to our family vacation in June, my earlier March trip with my wife to Guanxi, Nanning, China.
Of course, the highlight of this year was, I managed to try other profession like being a financial
planner, Grab driver and even being an angel investor, which unfortunately turned out to be a scam
and how at that point of time, we turned to God to let go the amount of money we invested and
finally it was returned back to us through the grace of God.
The year 2018 was definitely a year of discovery for myself, whether to pursue education as a career
path or as a successful financial planner or even a top-notch private tutor or a professional Grab
driver.
Earlier in March 2018, we were introduced to a investment scheme in China, Guanxi (Nanning) , our
hearts were stirred not once but twice. Once in March 2018 and September 2018.
Through this introduction of the investment scheme, we lost our friendship with one of our closest
friends in our lives.
She has been the pillar of strength and support since I graduated from 2004, started my first job as a
banker till now.
Sad to say because of this investment scheme, our friendship was soured. It was painful for me as
she has been my friend since I started working and she has been through with me as a mentor, as a
mother and Godparent to both of my children.
Through this, we met different nice people on this investment scheme but financially, I am not ready
to invest 50K.
Somewhere in late October, we chanced upon a businessman whom has great ambition in the
education sector. His idea clearly resonates with mine and a close friend of mine. Both of us invested
25K each.
Unfortunately, his business partner from overseas did not commit to the financial support for the
proposed childcare centre. In the end, both of our investment went to the other financial obligations
of his investment.
Both of us were devasted and through close follow-up, with God’s grace, I managed to recover my
25K and my other close friend is still awaiting from her return of her 25K which I sincerely hoped
that she will get back her money in due time.
Through this entire year of 2018, I have learnt one life lesson.
Nothing is free in this world, we have to work hard and not seek shortcuts in success. Most
importantly, I regained back my passion as an educator. This is my calling and my dedication to the
society.
With God’s grace, I was given a job as an educator in China. I literally applied to so many countries
and till today, I cannot even believe that I am now in China, Dalian as a bilingual teacher in Maths
and PE.
I shall begin on my journey in penning down my thoughts and pedagogy in how I engage with the
students in China differently as compared with the students from Singapore.
With internationalisation and opening up of China, there is an increase demand for English medium
as a language of instruction especially for the more effluent population to seek overseas studies for
their children.
In China, there are basically two paths of education. One is primarily the Chinese National Exam
which is compulsory for their middle school but optional for their High School which is A level
equivalent.
The Chinese National Examination (middle school and high school) is considered like our O level or A level equivalent.
For students that are on the Chinese National Examination pathway, they are usually aiming for
tertiary studies within China. However, competition is very intense due to the large number of
applicants competing for limited seats in the top-notch universities like Beijing University, Tsinghua
University and Fudan University.
For those who did not make it locally through the National Exams, options are also available.
Overseas tertiary option is a popular options due to rising affluent of the people whom are willing
and financially sound to send their children overseas for a different exposure in a different landscape
of education to widen their perspectives in life after their studies.
Henceforth, new education regulations are changing rapidly to adapt to the expectations of parents.
With this new expectations, schools with bilingual language ( English and Chinese) as a medium of
instruction has gained trust and confidence of the parents. Chinese curriculum still forms the basis of
foundation of the local Chinese here.
Chinese curriculum is definitely the key pillar for the education system in China. However, English as a form of instructional medium act as a supporting role for aspiring student for overseas studies.
For a bilingual school, there are Chinese National Class and International Class within each level
spanning from Grade 1 to 11.
For the Chinese National Class, lessons are primarily taught in Chinese. For the International class,
lessons are taught in more in English ( 50 percent in Chinese and 50 percent in English). This applies
for Grade 1 to Grade 6.
However, from Grade 7 to Grade 9, lessons are taught mostly in English for the students to work
towards clearing their IGCSE in preparation for their A levels in Grade 10 and Grade 11.
The hurdle or steep learning begins with Grade 7 onwards. This shift is from Grade 1 to Grade 6 (
Chinese National Class) and Grade 1 to Grade 6 ( International Class).
In my interaction and teaching with the students from such a school setting, student in Chinese
National Class actually are more resilient and able to adapt to the change as compared to students
from International Class.
My own conclusion, students from Chinese National Class are more task-oriented and more focused
in their pursuit of academic success through the repetitive drills conducted from Grade 1 to Grade 6
through their Chinese National Class.
Two very important factors: Having a mindset that they must do well academically in their Chinese
National Exam is like the only choice for them
For the International Class, through Grade 7 to Grade 9, there is still a compulsory Chinese National
Exam which they have to sit through. They just have to pass without having the pressure to ace it.
With these two differentiating factors, students from Chinese National Class literally are left with no
choice but to succeed is the only option for them.
I have a lot of reflections in terms of engagement, communication and pedagogy
which I will share in my subsequent blog and not forgetting the hazzle of getting a work permit and
residence permit which are important document to validate my stay in China for an extended period
of time. To get a bank account, is another big milestone as a foreigner which I have share in between
my blog. Last word before I penned off and getting ready to go to bed in the midst of the cold
weather…STAY TUNE!!!
26 th of March
Exactly been a week since I penned down in my blog. I have spent with the students for about a
month or less.
Some of my key observations that I have made and small little touches that I am using to engage the
students.
1) Routine – Students need to have a routine. Routine is very important when setting the tone
of the classroom. This is so important when it comes to the initial contact and
communication with the Chinese students
2) Teacher’s Expectation- Teachers need to set the right and reasonable expectations for the
students. For the higher-abilities student, the expectations of a teacher is to stretch their
potential. For lower-abilities students, building up self-esteem and confidence for the
subject not only for themselves but they are concerned how they will look if they ask the
wrong questions or questions that do not make sense at all.
3) Engagement: Students need to be engaged in a fun yet competitive way. I will explain more
of this engagement.
4) Engagement comes in different forms (teacher-to -student) or (student-to-teacher),
(teacher-to-teacher) and (teacher-to-parent) and of course (student-teacher-parent). In this
context, as a subject teacher in the school, I will discuss in details of the first and second
forms of engagement.
For Teacher-to-student, this is like a traditional approach. When the teacher goes into the class.
Under this condition, I will discuss about Blended Learning.
There are 3 types of models under this Blended Learning
1) Flipped Classroom
For Flipped Classroom, students are being told to read up the chapter ahead of what the teachers
will teach and then during the lessons, through the engagement with the students, the teacher will
facilitate the discussion to further enhance their knowledge and competency in the chapter.
For instance, students are grouped in groups of 3 to 4 students each and are tasked to complete a
pre-assigned question before the lessons and then during the lesson, students will be picked by the
teacher to present the answer to the whole class.
Key is to pick the weakest student in the group, this rule can vary in different classroom scenarios.
With such a parameter in placed, the higher-abilities students will guide the lower-abilities students
in their learning.
When the students stand in front of the students, students will learn to be more confident and they
will make sure they really understand the concepts before standing in front of the students.
2) Lab-Based Model
Students are being divided into groups. As the word Lab-Based, it means practical approach towards
learning. During class, students are being given the actual task related to the chapters and in this
approach, peer-learning is more suitable rather than group discussion
3) In-Class Blending
Different abilities student will gather together and according to the abilities, students are tasked
differently. This type of classroom settings though promotes inclusiveness. This approach has pros
and cons. Pros is students
Next, is Gamification
Through organising of games, interest is being heightened and students are naturally engaged in the
process of learning whether directly or indirectly. One of the most commonly used methodology is
to organise the students into groups and use a point system to tabulate the score.
Since there is a weekly quiz, I will award the marks to the winner’s team into their weekly quiz’s
score and there is a option for the group to either use the points to add to their weekly quiz or use
the points to exchange another student from a different group.
Till date, this game seems to offer excitement and engagement in my daily lessons with them.
Thirdly is Computational Thinking
1) Analysis Thinking
2) Complicated questions: Segmenting into simpler questions
3) Step-by Step Solution
4) Understand the question, eliminate the unnecessary information
5) Understand the relationship between similar questions and related solutions.
Fourthly is Experiential Learning
- Project Based Learning; Real-life situations to evoke interest and the ability to think and
apply the related knowledge
- Service-Based Learning; Community Engagement; it can be a very small-scale activity like “
Keep our School Clean” through a small of picking up litter in the school, it reflects learning
in all areas, How to be Good Citizen, the motives behind learning, why do they want to learn,
how we can integrate learning in schools and what they will face in the future
- Teaching of Uncertainty Competence; Learning to be taking place outside the comfortable
zone of the school, tapping into unfamiliar ground and going into comfortable zone by its
own discovery. To achieve this, students in the group need to communicate and work
together as a team. Reflect and relate back to the society that they will be embarking after
graduation
To ensure experiential learning works, teachers need to facilitate by scaffolding.
What is Scaffolding?
- To provide support to the students, guidance, and facilitate the level of thinking needed for
each level of learning so that students will be guided at each step of the learning.
Fifth is Embodied Learning
It involves gaining of knowledge and the importance of learning towards integrating with society.
This is very important to create a personal learning experience. This involves the integration of the
physical body, mind as well as the emotional feeling. This is very important towards a holistic
learning sphere where students draws learning towards them and not the teachers creating it for
them.
Embodied Learning focus on a very important concept. The students realised the important of
application. This is more than the usual lesson whereby theory are being taught through a facilitator
or through the use of ICT lesson.
Though our brain registers the importance of learning. We must not underestimate that knowledge
is not just gained through our exposure to our brains.
Situational knowledge requires the exposure to the physical body, the emotional feelings and
integration with the society to the holistic learning experience of the students.
This type of learning focus on the student’s ability to think out of the box to exercise their creativity
and the ability to express their analytical thinking.
Embodied Learning focus on two nature’s abilities of the students. Creativity and Expression of
knowledge.
With the combination of these two important elements, students are able to gain more out of the
daily knowledge which has been passed to them through their interactions in class.
Sixth is Multiliteracies and Discussing-Based Learning.
This type of learning, embodied the competency level of different languages learnt, integrating the
world politics issues and different cultures of countries. This will in turn build up the student’s life
towards their interests in learning, the place they are residing now and affecting their views towards
the history of their country. All this place a very important part towards a more meaningful
discussion towards their learning.
For the above pedagogies to work effectively there are few pointers to bear in mind
1) Educators need to understand the student’s life and interest or where their passion lies
2) Educators need to understand the life of a student, the society which the students live-in
and the history of the country which the student resides
3) Educators need to support the students to lay the correct foundation to handle complex
issues and reflect about it
4) Allowing foreign language to be taught in classroom and be integrated in the student’s life
posed threat but this is a good route for a more diversified learning experience for the
students and the educators need to embrace such a change.
5) Educators need to collaborate with the experts to solve the student’s abilities in
communication and the obstacles face. At the same time, educators need to constantly
upgrade themselves to better equipped themselves to impart new and relevant learning
techniques to the students.
In summary, beside the above-mentioned six pathways of learning, schools need to adopt three
important directions for the students
1) School-based Physical Culture
Emphasis on physical education improves the quality of the students in terms of the enhancement of
the physical well-being and the ability to analyse complex issues
2) Arts-Integrated Learning
Combining academic subjects with arts to enhance student’s active participation and to enhance
learning at a deeper and more meaningful experience. This will in also prepare students for their
creativity, physical abilities to handle sports, confidence level in making a good decision for
themselves which hones their decision-making abilities in different types of scenarios
3) Maker Culture
This “Maker Culture” happens mostly in laboratory sessions especially during science practical
lessons. They are being exposed to the equipment during science sessions, they are tasked to
experiment and create. Under appropriate support and mutual learning from each other to go into
in-depth-learning to create a personal interest towards the lesson by themselves.
This is a big shift from the traditional type of learning (rote-learning) towards a learning which
embodied daily interaction, emotional and physical contact to enhance their individual learning
experience and to gain a deeper connection for themselves.
Today is the 6 th of April 2019 (Saturday).
It was actually a public holiday yesterday and I could get some rest and recharge after falling really
sick on 29th of March 2019.
It was also my first experience falling sick in a foreign land, where I am not familiar with my usual
surroundings where I was being raised and brought up which is Singapore.
I was down with a throat infection, probably due to the harsh cold weather coupled with the strong
wind.
In the northern part of China, the wind can get really strong and partly because, it is close to the sea
and Dalian is considered very close to the coastal areas.
Strong wind is definitely having its pros and cons. One of the pros is the wind can blow the air
pollution away really fast due to the neighbouring provinces having the industrial pollution through
air. However, China is such a huge place that one can imagine and just between province to
province, they can be miles apart.
Coming back to my medical experience, I was being brought to a clinic known as VITUP Dalian. I was impressed with the medical facilities and the professionalism of the doctors. This is where I was
being brought to an attention of the types of billing when the patient has to pay after the medical
treatment.
Most of the time, when one purchase the travel insurance to go abroad and if there is medical
treatment needed due to an unforeseen circumstance, we have to pay upfront of the treatment
however, if we can choose the types of billing after our treatment, it would be better as sometimes
the medical treatment can be of a substantial amount.
Henceforth, I would really recommend travellers to any countries to pay a slightly more premium to
enjoy the direct billing benefits for a less hassle travelling in the event of a medical treatment.
In today’s blog, I would like to mention two of my colleagues and share with you all what are my
learning experience as well as to end of today’s blog with my daughter, Rachel scoring full-marks for
her English spelling test and she called me over the phone to share with me her happy moments..
Let me begin with this colleague, his nickname is Mr Moon. Little did I know that he actually left
Dalian 6 years ago and went to the US to teach for 5 years before returning back.
Out of the 6 years, the first year he spend alone and the second year, he brought his only son to the
US school to learn English and then now they are back to Dalian and his son is studying at our school.
Throughout his six years abroad, his wife did not follow him but visited him and the son during
vacations. I was like blown away by the living conditions that people went through just to experience
life and stepping out of their comfort zone in pursuit of life.
Another colleague is Mr Vincent. Initially he was working in Harbin. 2 years ago, he decided to leave
Harbin and went to Dalian to pursue a better living environment and living conditions in Harbin is
harsh with minus 40 degree Celsius and yet amazingly, people still survive in such drastic conditions.
He came here, found his dream girl, married and now have his newborn baby. As I shared with him
of my story and how I came to China, he can also relate to me as he also left his hometown, a place
where everything is so familiar to a place where everything is so unfamiliar to him. He encouraged
me that life is worthless if we dare not step out of our comfort zone and experience new challenges.
Being a Singaporean for the last 40 years, I have learnt to be very careful in my approach in a lot of
things, my way of thinking, my decisions are all so calculated moves. I am driven by fear not to try
anything out of Singapore. I am deemed as convinced that everything in Singapore is safe and well-
protected.
As I stepped out of Singapore, my only constant worry is my family. Since the birth of my two
daughters, I have never left them alone in Singapore, be it small family vacations, they are always
close to my wife and me. This short phase of life in China marks an important milestone in my life.
Dare to be different and dare to step out of my comfort zone. I am not sure what holds ahead of us as a family but I am sure this short separation is good and beneficial for us as a family at least for me. I have been a pampered boy with a domestic helper helping with the chores and cooking. Now at the very least, I am starting to learn how to be independent and start to learn and appreciate cooking for a
survival point of view
Yesterday while I was at a shopping mall, I received a call from my elder daughter, Rachel , currently
in Primary Two. She called to share with me that her English has obtained full marks and I was
delighted and happy that I received a call from her. I asked her what she wanted for obtaining full
marks, her first reaction was “ Daddy, I do not want anything and if it is too expensive, I do not want
you not to have money” I was very touched when I heard this and almost in tears because this
daughter of mine has slowly matured.
While in overseas, I would not imagine this words coming from her to tell me not to spend money. In
my heart, i felt more reassured that she is getting on well in her life without me in Singapore.
In May 2019, she would be coming for a week’s trial at my school and I am not sure whether she will
like it or get adjusted to the new environment or are we making the right decision to send her over
to study in Dalian. To be honest, I just want to say we will take baby steps progressively for any
major transition to be introduced to the family.
Secondly, I would like to personally thank my wife for coming down to spend her 40th birthday with
me and settling my home though initially I was very reluctant to do that. Nevertheless, just want to
thank her for always having my best interests at heart and always inspiring me to do great things in
life and believing in me. Thank you so much my dear wife, I will love you.
Before I penned off, I just remembered to share my experience of opening of a bank account in
China.
Especially for a foreigner, it is really a hazzle of opening up a bank account in China. This is because
of the strict and tight banking regulations. For money to be remitted out of China, it is highly
regulated because inflow of funds is preferred rather than outflow. This is very important when the
economy wants to expand aggressively and to keep exchange rate favourable to the Chinese dollars.
The reason why I want to open a bank account so that I can link my Wechat Pay to this bank
account.
Wechat Pay is a daily necessity when it comes to payment because almost everyone uses this for
their daily transactions and hardly anyone uses cash these days. I must say that China is the leading
country for mobile payment as compared to the rest of the countries I have travelled so far.
In my next blog, I will share more of my experience in their enrichment programmes. The types of
enrichment programmes offered and is there a demand for such program offered in China.
Today is 2nd of May 2019, (Thursday), yesterday was also a public holiday in China, it is known as
Labour Day,
It was a long holiday for me from yesterday ( Wednesday till Saturday) and Sunday is actually a
working day.
Been here for the last two months and I must say that whatever starts out with excitement slowly
turned into reality.
The reality is I thought I could be away from the family, I was slowly been proven wrong, every night.
I started to miss my family. Used to having my children surrounding me when sleeping every single
night to sleeping alone in the cold bed.
Spring is starting and weather is getting warmer and warmer and leading towards Summer and of
course the much-anticipated summer vacation from 15 th of July to 25 th of August.
I have already listed a few important things which I need to personally follow-up in Singapore.
I came here at end of February, and it seems like winter stretches from October to April. ( 7 months
of cold weather) and from April to September, it will be Spring and Summer and Autumn will be
short period followed by the harsh winter and the strong wind.
At the very least, when I started out to come here, I will stay for a full cycle of 4 seasons to
experience what I been waiting for since I was a child, to touch snow and I believe my dream will
come true very soon.
Till today, every night when I close my eyes to sleep, I still wonder in my mind, did I make a right
decision to come China alone to work while my wife and both children are at Singapore.
Though my working contract is 2.5 years, I will finish till 2020 September, 1.5 years.
I enjoyed the pace of working life in Dalian, however what dreads me the most is when weekend is
approaching.
Back in Singapore, I used to bring my two daughters out on every weekend. However, in China, I just
lost to motivation to explore new places because I will tell myself, what is the point of having money
and time when your loved ones are not around by your side.
I have to numb myself that I am working towards a family, to save money to pursue my further
studies in Masters in Education in the UK or in Singapore next time when I am back.
Initially when I came here, because I am a full-time teacher in a international school, tuition fees are
being waived, yearly flight allowance, accommodation and meals.
To be honest, I can really save a big portion of my savings because cost of living in a Tier 2/3 cities
within China is very low. I do not get chance to spend money on weekdays and on weekend, I am at
home most if not all the times. The opportunities to spend money is very low and henceforth,
savings is very achievable.
To share about enrichment programmes in China, beside English, parents are willing to spend money
on robotics, coding, music, sports and activities that can enhance their child’s fullest potential.
However, all these enrichment programmes are only accessible to the wealthy and more affluent
families.
The school which I am working now is a private school for the wealthy students. I will share more
details about my school.
This school is known as Jiahui Foeign Language School. It has curriculum for kindergarten till high
school.
Within this structure, there is the national curriculum and the international curriculum, however
from my two months of stay in Dalian, Liaoning Province, there is still a scope of work for
international route. Their international route is mainly IGCSE and A levels.
Students are exposed to the IGCSE route when they reach middle school age. This is considered a
barrier or hurdle as students were primarily exposed to the national curriculum with Chinese as their
first language and when they hit the middle years, they have to switch to the textbooks with English
wordings. This poses a huge challenge as well as disruptive to their learning.
English is a language and the younger a child is exposed to different languages, they will pickup
naturally and at a faster attainment rate as compared to adults.
Henceforth, when the middle school students are being exposed to a new English-based curriculum,
they take a longer time to adjust as well as to absorb the content of the curriculum.
This is considered the biggest challenge for both the educator and the students on the international
curriculum route
To overcome this, different pathways are designed to suit to the needs of different students.
China, though has progressed economically and has been the limelight of international platform in
terms of growth. China still advocate the Chinese curriculum to be administered at middle school.
Students on middle school has to take the national curriculum exam at Grade 9 and take the IGCSE
exam if they are on the international route.
Students on the national curriculum route only has to the national curriculum examinations at Grade 9. During Grade 7 to Grade 9, students will be automatically promoted to the next level even if their
academic requirements did not meet the stipulated requirements.
This resulted in students not putting their best efforts as they know that they will get promoted to
the next level even their results did not meet the school requirements for their promotion to the
next level.
International Route students have the options not take the pathways designed by the school and
during their middle school, they can actually take a junior TOEFT to gain admission to US high school and then pursue their University degree.
Basically, students from International route has more options when it comes to choosing their
pathways.
To have the option to choose literally means that they have a better family in terms of financial
ability to support their overseas pursuit for tertiary education as compared to the local students
whereby they have to face stiff competition for a local position in the local university.
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