Sharing the Shanghai experience with Hong Kong
educators
Given the recent interest in policies and practice
related to small class teaching among the educational community in Hong
Kong, the Department of Educational Policy and Administration and the
Office of Planning and Academic Implementation co-organised a seminar
entitled "From Shanghai to Hong Kong: Policy and Implementation of
Small Class Teaching" on 19 November 2002. Two experienced educators
from Shanghai, Mr Mao Fang, Deputy Director of the Basic Education Office,
Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, and Mr Zhang Zhi, Principal of
Shanghai Yang Pu Primary School, were invited to share with over a hundred
local educators their experiences in implementing small class teaching
in Shanghai.
In his presentation, Mr Mao pointed out that the purpose of implementing small class teaching in Shanghai was to provide high standard, high quality universal basic education, to meet the increasing desire of the community for quality education, and to keep pace with educational developments worldwide. He explained that when small class teaching was first introduced they had encountered resistance. Many teachers, school principals and government officials still adhered to traditional pedagogies and even cast doubt on the effectiveness and feasibility of small class teaching. The lack of a curriculum specifically designed for small class teaching was another major obstacle. Having experienced such difficulties, Mr Mao remarked that the key to successful and effective implementation of this policy depends very much on changing the attitudes of educators, government officials and even parents.
Mr Zhang, who has been the Principal of Shanghai Yang Pu Primary School for more than eight years, spoke on his experience of implementing small class teaching. He emphasised that teachers who were to perform small class teaching must receive relevant training in advance. Upon receiving proper training, teachers would be able to better grasp the rationale and skills of small class teaching. To him, the key pre-requisites for its successful and effective implementation hinged not only on the number of students, but more importantly on the changes in classroom organisation, pedagogies and teaching materials which effective small class teaching requires. Since 1999, his school has practised small class teaching and experienced improvements at many levels as a result. Obvious benefits include the optimum utilisation of resources and teaching time, enhanced self-confidence and motivation among students and greater student-teacher interaction.
