Observing and Being Observed Teaching

In Bailey et al. 2001, the writers set out the following Code of Behaviour for the observer and the observee in a lesson observation:

When I am observing thee thou shalt:

• let me know your needs of me as an observer and tell me the rules, if there are any.
• explain any extraordinary circumstances that may be affecting you or your students.
• introduce me; mention who I am, but thou shalt not keep alluding to “our guest. “
  
• offer suggestions on how I can best collect my data without making your students feel uncomfortable or insecure;
• tell your students that they are not being evaluated.
• refrain from calling on me to participate unless you ask or tell me before class.
• not alter your behavior on my behalf; behave as usual; thou shalt act naturally.
• try not to get flustered about being observed.
• not ask my opinion or feedback of your teaching in front of the class.

When thou art observing me thou shalt:

• arrive early for class and introduce yourself to everyone at the beginning.
  
• not tell me what you are looking for until you are done, if you have a preset agenda.
  
• sit behind the students, out of their direct view.
  
• observe and obey the same rules the students follow, and Chou shalt respect the opinions and ideas of the students.
  
• interact with the students only when requested to do so; thou shalt not disrupt the class or detract from the students’ learning.
  
• not use my materials without permission and not take up my break time.
• observe with an open mind; thou shalt not get hung up on petty mistakes or gaps.
• share feedback with me in response to specific questions 1 ask but thou shalt not talk to me about what 1 should or should not have done (unless I ask).

Artificial Intelligence and the role of teachers

In a webinar on the use of chatbot in education, Principal Chu maintained that Artificial Intelligence will never be able to replace teachers. But if the use of Artificial Intelligence in teaching and learning stays on the one-way communication level and mainly for imparting knowledge, which very often is not even knowledge but just information, then that’s not capitalizing on the power of artificial intelligence. With all these advances in technology, teachers should strengthen their role as A guide on the Side, and not continue to remain the Stage on the stage.

I guess that is why today, every time I see a teacher, while teaching grammar, still relies on one-way regurgitation of often unreliable grammar rules in the textbook, I would still so discouraged.

A dilemma faced by many dedicated and capable teachers

The other day, a former PGDE and MA student, K (pseudonym), suddenly texted me with the following question:

“If you would give me only one piece of advice of being a good teacher/ a good member working for the field of education in Hong Kong, what would it be?”

Well, for one thing, this is an impossible task – to give someone one piece of advice so that they can become a good teacher. And then, I myself is still looking for an answer.

But from experience, rather than really seeking for advice, K was probably going through a difficult time. She was likely looking for emotional support. Hence, I texted back:

“Wow, not an easy question to answer. Teaching is a multi-faceted endeavour. You’re dealing with colleagues, students, policies, subject knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, ….

If you could give me a bit more context, then maybe I could attempt to answer the question. In fact, did something happen that led to your feeling lost?”

As I had guessed, K then poured out her feelings:

“To be more consise, I would describe the situation as having a lot of admin and teaching duties which I enjoyed and had learnt a lot, but at the same time, a bit of fatigue and learned helplessness.

Doing admin duties is a joy for me as I treat them as challenges and opportunities (unlike most teachers who don’t like admin duties)

At the same time, my teaching quality declines inevitably. I feel indebted to my students and their parents.

Moreover, I don’t think I have made significant improvement in teaching which is the biggest threat as education should be up-to-date and equip Ss with the skills needed in the future.”

=====

In a way, this scenario is quite familiar to me. The dedicated, capable, teachers are entrusted with more and more admin duties. This eats more and more into the time which they find more meaning in: planning effective lessons, creating interesting learning resources, connecting with students to see if they need help.

After a while, you either turn yourself into an unfeeling robot, or like K, you live each day with frustrations.

I’m not a trained counsellor, and in any case, it’s not my habit to dish out superficial advice. And there are real, actual, difficulties involved that even a skilled consellor cannot rid K of.

So, in the end what did I do?

I invited K out to lunch, so that she could share her frustrations more fully with someone.

今早開會的賽馬會翻轉教學project school, 正是當年初出茅廬任教的第一間學校，它確立了我日後對教育工作的commitment 。今早開會後我又想起當年難忘的一幕。

初初教書時，沒有甚麼sense of mission, 只是穩定，人工不錯，學生和家長也尊重教師。但很快地，發覺教書並不單是一份職業，我的一舉一動，一句說話，都在影響別人的生命，於是不多久，我便很努力和盡心的去教。

但愈努力去教，我便愈期望學生以相同或更多的努力去回報我， 忘記了七零年代，社會已逐漸進入universal education 階段，不像我考升中試時，四個小六學生只有一個可以升讀中一，其餘三個都開始在工厰打工。於是我愈努力教學，便愈覺得挫折，大概五年後的一天，我覺得我的學生不再值得我的心血，突然想到要做更「有意義」的工作，就是轉到特殊學校任教，覺得這些「不幸」的青少年，更值得我的時間和心機。

我其實從沒接受過特殊教育的訓練，但那時候政府開始發展特殊教育，特殊學校極缺教師。我申請其中一間，很快便得到interview, 過程很順利，學校有意思聘請我了，但最後關頭，校長問了我這個問題：

「你覺得你真的準備好從事特殊教育嗎?」

校長這一問，真是當頭棒喝;我立即明白我其實在專業訓練和心理上，都沒有準備，我只是基於一時的自我偉大心理，作出這個舉動。這一刻的epiphany 一夜之間改變了我的mindset, 第二天回到學校，我好像變了另一個人，當遇到學生表現不理想時，我不再想我的學生應該怎樣怎樣，而是我可以做甚麼，使學生可以學得更好。

而更奇妙的，是此後的數十年，我在不同的教學崗位，遇到甚麼問題，都不再有挫折的感覺。愈從心出發，愈努力的教師，愈容易有挫敗感;希望我的故事，對他們有一點啟發。

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

連續兩天，有舊學生和我分享她們製作的教學影片。她們不約而同的說，這過程竟然重新燃點起對教學的興趣！

兩位教師都說，平日有大量的批改及非教學工作要處理，根本沒有多少時間剩下來可以設計教學，或製作教材，只是不停的趕;這陣子反而有時間真正做一些教學的設計功夫，令她們重拾教學的滿足感。

這種滿足感我當然不會陌生， Dan Pink 指出工作的motivation 的三個元素，是autonomy, mastery, 和meaning; 設計教學和製作教材，正正满足了這三個元素呢。

既然停課無可避免，就讓我們尋找方法利用好這段日子。 When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

On the eve of a new academic year

“What is the meaning of life?”

Alfred Adler began his 1931 book “What Life Should Mean to You” with the ultimate question that every human being can’t avoid asking. The act of asking this question is indication that we all long for a life that has meaning, though sometimes the answer to the question may elude us. (Alfred Adler is the Austrian psychologist of the early 20th century who has inspired Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga to write the 2 bestsellers “The Courage to be Disliked” and  “The Courage to Be Happy”, and 温美玉 to write 教室裏的阿德勒 )

In our field, we often talk of teaching as a meaningful job. But is teaching intrinsically meaningful, or are we simply romanticising it to please our ego?

As a psychologist, Adler answers the question by emphasising the existence of other human beings on Earth as the essential condition for how we make meaning out of life. He asserts: if we were the only human being on Earth, life would have no meaning. In fact, the notion of meaningfulness wouldn’t even exist.

It is the connections we have with other people that provide the opportunities for creating meaning out of life.

To go back to teaching, if I teach a lesson in an empty classroom, I may still enjoy the act. Yet, it will not be possible for me to create much meaning out of this act.

Adler did not delve into meaning in teaching, but he identified CONTRIBUTION as the single most important trigger to finding meaning in life. “Only the individual who understands that life means contribution will be able to meet his difficulties with courage and with a good chance of success” (p. 23).

Which immediately reminds me of the work of teaching. For Adler, every job in society has the potential of making a contribution to humanity, although for some jobs, this contribution may be so indirect that it cannot be recognised easily. But I still think that it is easier for teachers, doctors, nurses, social workers, etc., whose work is directly concerned with helping others, to be cognizant of the contribution that they are making, and as a result, to be able to find meaning in life.

I have always considered myself lucky that I have been able to serve as a teacher (in a broader sense). This is not to say that teaching is an easy job; quite the contrary, a teacher’s job today is full of colossal challenges. Oftentimes, we will be discouraged, disheartened, and disappointed. Yet, the opportunities for making a contribution are always there. And according to Adler, that’s how we find meaning in life.

We can only live once.

Teachers’ long working hours

(Originally written on Feb 22, 2019)

剛過去連續八個weekday, 因為一個project, 每天六時起牀，六時半出發，然後連續工作12小時，中間只有午飯一小時休息，不可謂不辛苦。

但每天要六時起牀的教師，大有人在;教小學的，午飯還要在班房看管學生用膳;大部分的教師晚上仍要工作。不少教師，其實是長期睡眠不足的。

當然行外人會指出教師假期多，但一方面在長假中教師也經常要回校工作，再者，如果將整年實際的工作時數加起來，這些長假也未必完全補償得到平日超長的工作時數。

若干年前，我一位舊學生由教師轉職做政府EO，假期日數大減，我問她如果單單比較工作時數和假期，她會選擇那份工作，她不需要一秒鐘便答: 「當然選EO。」

老師的喜悦

(Originally written on July 13, 2019)

這幾天看到很多老師分享他們的喜悦，喜悅來自學期末，收到學生的感謝咭和感謝語句，和能夠和共同經歷一年苦樂的學生拍照; 這些精神上的回報，就是促使不少教師繼續作戰的原因之一。

當然我們知道教學生涯不是每一天都是這樣快樂，更多的是日復一日的作戰，追功課，改功課，出考試測驗卷，處理學生問題，帶活動，和家長聯络，開永遠開不完的會，更不用說如何在課堂上出盡板斧去维持學生的學習興趣。

做一個好教師就是無盡的犧牲，像這幾天能夠收到學生的道謝的日子其實不多; 就讓教師把收到的學生的心意咭，和與學生快樂的合照好好收藏起來，在未來那些極度疲憊、或心灰意冷的日子中，拿出來看看，喚回自己的初心，也許可以從中重拾力量。

A teacher chooses to teach at-risk students

(originally written on July 19, 2019)

一個舊學生，在一間收了很多弱勢學生的學校任教，要花大量精力處理學生的學習動機和困難，學生的情緒，和家長溝通或週旋;同時間要應付的教學改簿以及非教學工作，一件也不會少;而又要擔心殺校，工作不保……她不是沒有動摇的一刻 ，也不是沒有機會轉校，但起碼在這一刻，她仍選擇繼續在這環境工作，是什麼的信念，使她有這樣的堅持？

Let’s face it, 我們有誰不想有較悠閒的工作; Let’s face it, 我們誰不會有不同程度的勢利，只會羨慕名校教師的身份，那會關心弱勢學校及其教師的處境！

能夠勇敢地在這環境工作下去，不嫌棄這樣背景的學生，不計較個人名利的得失，背後一定有超乎常人的勇氣，獨特的價值觀，和對生命意義的昇華體會。

易地而處，我有足夠的決心，做她相同的選擇嗎？

下星期敍舊時，從她的述說中，一定會令我對教師的使命、甚或生命的意義，有更深的領悟。

Workplace politics in schools

(Originally written on Aug 4, 2019)

Picture below From 幾米的童話城堡

間中聽到舊學生訴說學校的workplace politics如何令他們困擾， 我是有慨嘆的， 他們的初心只是教好書，關心學生，但料不到……;作為工作機構，學校已經是較有空間容許我們以真誠相待，可惜……

活着已經夠艱苦了，為何我們還要製造更多和更複雜的人事糾紛?都21世紀了，為何我們還未懂得處理人際間的衝突和利害關係？

你看: 幾米的世界是多麼簡單，和美麗！