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The best of both worlds
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NEARLY 20 years ago, I taught students at a school in China for four and a half years. As the saying goes, “distance brings about beauty.” Looking back on my time teaching at the school, I recall my positive experiences.
Following this, in 2000, I joined the teaching team at Yew Chung International School of Shanghai. During the past 15 years, I have also gained a wealth of experience. I have taught Chinese language to international students at the school throughout these years, as well as worked as a co-teacher with several international colleagues. I have even had the opportunity to edit the school’s textbooks, since we develop our own Chinese teaching materials at YCIS, and I have had the chance to participate in continuous teacher training.
There are benefits to both Western and Chinese teaching methods. For Chinese teaching methods, clear goal setting, firm skill practice, and direct teaching can see results, but students can sometimes be overburdened. With regard to the benefits of Western teaching methods, I like that as it lets children learn through feelings and play, and students can have a more enjoyable time learning a range of subjects and finding their interests, beyond the focus of just test results.
Nonetheless, a combination of Western and Chinese teaching methods, like the model found at YCIS, is an ideal way to educate today’s children. This model needs to hold to a very high standard. To effectively achieve this goal, both the Chinese and international teachers, like our co-teachers at YCIS, need to have very strong abilities and skills, and must be willing to discover each other’s strengths in order to broaden their own minds and achieve further personal development.
At YCIS, where the school provides this approach to education, students naturally grow and benefit in many ways. Also, I think every international school should incorporate the local culture of the country and region it’s located in to benefit the students. We have made Chinese studies lessons a key part of our “East meets West” curriculum.
In my opinion, we shouldn’t evaluate these two teaching approaches separately. We should think about the benefits of providing students with a range of experiences, especially by blending Eastern and Western teaching methods as we do at YCIS, so we can provide the greatest learning opportunities for all students.
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