1. In the summer of 2017, I volunteered at the EF, an English learning center in China. I worked with kids in kindergarten then. Chinese teachers and parents had a strong belief of a child cannot lose at the starting line. Therefore, kids were taught beyond their years in kindergartens. As a result, many students will hate studying in the future. In the EF center, everything was different. Kids had the opportunity to play and interact with teachers who are from English-speaking countries and practice their oral English skills during the process. This style of teaching and learning resonated with me. Education is not preparation for the next stage in life. Instead, it was a part of life. Playing was important to children’s development. Kids need freedom and happiness. Children are not adults who have not yet grown up. Childhood has its own intrinsic value. Each stage of life has its own irreplaceable value and no stage is merely a preparation for another. Especially childhood, which is the most important stage of physical and mental growth, should also be the happiest time in life. The greatest virtue that education can achieve is to give children a happy and meaningful childhood, so as to create a good foundation for their happy and meaningful life. Therefore, I want to become a teacher who can offer kids enough time to learn from playing.
  2. In the summer of 2018, I volunteered at Star Education, an English learning center in China. I found that in some classes, each student was assigned a mini-iPad. They were asked to log into the organization’s account and complete online activities as part of their learning process. Many students spent their time surfing the internet and playing online games instead. This made of think of the pros and the cons of using technology in a classroom. Students can type on a computer instead of printing on the paper with a pen or pencil. This can be used as a method of accommodating students’ needs. Typing on a computer allows students to find their spelling and grammar mistakes immediately. Therefore, it can help them proofread. Using technology to create and produce has become a trend in the modern society so it can be beneficial for students to get familiar with technology early in their life. Moreover, technology can attract students’ attention and make them feel passionate about learning. However, students and teachers may become too dependent on using technology. For instance, reading/writing/math programs can be overly used in a classroom which can deprive students of the opportunity to learn from and interact with real teachers. It is important for teachers to remember that technology should be used as a tool but not the whole program. Moreover, having students use technology during class time can be time consuming (e.g. it may take a long time for students to line up, go to the computer lab, login to the computer and etc.). The other disadvantage for students to use technology is that they might get distracted from the information appearing on their screen or others’ screens (e.g. advertisements, unrelated apps, online games and etc.). Thus, I want to become a teacher who can balance the pros and cons of using technology in the classroom.
  3. I volunteered at Beattie Elementary School in Kamloops for 106 hours in 2019. I worked in three classrooms with students in grades 1, 4/5 and 7. I observed that most of the class time was for students to communicate with their peers, participate in group works and etc. During this experience, I realized the importance of shifting from the traditional style of teaching (i.e. teacher-centered teaching) to student-centered teaching and learning. I started to understand that offering students the opportunity to take ownership of their learning was much more efficient than imparting knowledge to students like filling a container. Teachers should incorporate fun and engaging activities to lead students to observe, think, explore and investigate actively. In this way, students can have more autonomy and be more motivated. Their communication and collaboration abilities can be improved and their creative and critical thinking skills can be developed. Moreover, having more hands-on experiences allows students to learn from trial and error, form a deeper memory of their learning and apply what they learned into practices. I was inspired by this student-centered teaching and learning and I would like to become a teacher who can ensure that students are able to gain some real learning.