As parents and the school travel together on the path of educational exploration, cooperation
and communication is a valuable tool in inspiring new thinking and approaches to learning.
Last year, the Primary School began sharing different educational concepts to parents through
the principal's letter. Through this, the school hopes that parents can develop their thinking
when facing problems such as children's growth and education. In tandem, the process of
responding to the doubts of parents is also an opportunity for educators to reflect and learn.
This week, Siobhain Allum, Primary School Principal, will reflect on this topic
and share some words on the importance of character education.
From Principal Siobhain:
Before I moved to China, I had often heard phrases like ‘tiger mothers’ and of course about the dedication and studiousness of Chinese students, as well as the impressive PISA scores for Shanghai Maths students and so on, whenever Chinese education was mentioned. I had worked for many years in a bilingual environment, with a fairly diverse student population, so I felt that I knew parents and students quite well. Somewhat naively, I also felt that it would be a fairly straightforward exercise to apply what I knew about education in one context to this one and in some, in fact, many ways, this has proved to be true. There have however been some fundamentally different aspects to how education is viewed which I believe are truly unique to China. Add to this the context of a school like ours which offers a bilingual, bi-cultural, often global approach to local and international students, within the regulations of local schools, blending Eastern and Western pedagogies and curriculums and there have been some very unique takeaways indeed.
Parents often seem to feel that they should be involved in their children’s learning to the extent of knowing exactly what is being taught and how. They also have high, sometimes unrealistically so, expectations of their children. This is a competitive environment and children are often openly compared to others by their parents as a way of attempting to motivate them. A lot of research has been written about how detrimental this is, but again historically, in a nation as immense as this one, fierce competition and the winner taking the spoils has often been the way to go, and as parents, we often revert to the ways we were raised and taught. Learning new ways based on more modern educational theories, psychology and neuroscience take time to embed and gain traction and this is the work I have been most challenged by, but conversely most enjoyed. We decided last year to start offering a variety of educational thoughts and perspectives from various staff members as a more informal and, we hope, thoughtful way of getting parents to think a bit differently about how their children are being educated, and what really matters in this endeavour. The journey is by no means over and the conversation always ongoing – we try to listen carefully to parents’ doubts and concerns and respond to these with research, facts and our collective experiences. My journey so far has been a fascinating one, and as an educator, lifelong learning is a given. I continue to develop my perspectives and beliefs on education and feel privileged to do so at YK Pao School.
Character is doing the right thing when nobody is looking. There are too many people who think that the only thing that is right is to get by, and the only thing that wrong is to get caught.
--J.C Watts
I wanted to talk a little about character and the many ways we can help your children to develop good character over time. As you know here at YK Pao School, we take our values very seriously and constant reference is made to the three core values: compassion, integrity and balance. Teachers refer to these often with students and we are constantly assessing what we do as a school, and how we do it, through the lenses of these values. Developing these virtues takes time and many obstacles to doing the right thing will often present themselves. For our students, it can be very challenging to see others cutting corners or thinking they are clever by being less than exemplary with regards to doing what is right, rather than what is easy, but encouraging them to focus on themselves and what they get in out of it, in the long run, is a valuable exercise in itself.
If I think back to my childhood (and believe me, this is now quite a long trip back down memory lane) I can clearly remember situations where my parents encouraged me to take a moral stance or to confront a challenging issue because it was the right thing to do, although it was not going to be an easy thing to do. This often involved me having to admit something that I had done that I was not especially (or at all) proud of. My father would nevertheless encourage me to ‘own up’ and would promise (and keep his word) that there would be a discount for my honesty, but that he would be incredibly disappointed and let down if I lied to him or failed to take responsibility for my actions. I was not an especially well-behaved child so there were quite a few times when an admission of guilt was required. Painful passages but, at each turn, I was encouraged to be honest and to reflect on why and to try and avoid repeating the same mistakes. I can very clearly see today how these lessons and challenges have helped to shape who I am as a person and whilst I do not profess perfection or anything close to it for a minute, I do believe that I am a person who is able to take responsibility for my actions and I am guided by a strong moral compass in my decisions and attitudes.
Research shows us that youngsters who are able to clearly recognise right from wrong, reflect on their behaviour and take a strong stance amongst their peers are much less likely to be the victims of bullying, depression or drug abuse- all very real threats to children in an increasingly complex world. At my house, I was allowed and encouraged to state my opinions and to respectfully disagree with my parents’ point of views and this is again something that has helped me become more self-assured and confident over the course of my life. Academic excellence is something every parent wants for their child, but we should not for one moment forget how important good character (or the pursuit of it) is. In the end, your children will be happier and more successful if they have strong values and have developed the ability to reflect on their actions and be honest and true to themselves. The greatest dissonance occurs when these areas are not in sync and this can lead to anxiety, depression and great self-doubt.
Being a parent is not easy at all, but it is immensely gratifying when we can see the fruits of our efforts begin to appear in our children. Take the time to have deep discussions with your children about right and wrong and the struggle to work things out and do the ‘right’ thing. Remind them that mistakes are our path to excellence – not allowing your children space and permission to fail or make a mistake is a dangerous proposition. Justifying or covering up bad behaviour or telling children it is clever to cut corners or trick others or get away with things is not the way to help develop the best in them. Looking at all of the hatred and confusion around the world today I would hope that you all agree with me that we have to do all we can to educate our students, your children, to be good people who will indeed make a positive difference. This is the real challenge of education today.
