Reflection on the Familiar versus the Formal in

 Chinese Culture

 by Kate Knapp

(The name of the school in which I am teaching)

            The teaching profession is old and respected in Chinese culture. To be a teacher is to embody wisdom, with careful consideration for the world around you. With the way in which schools are set up in modern China, teachers have also become akin to parents as they spend the vast majority of the day with the students. Hearing about teaching in China and about the respect the students give the teachers I expected the teachers to be far more formal than teachers in Canada, however I have found that this is not always the case.

            Teachers in China are a jarring mix of incredibly strict and playfully informal. The teacher when teaching is strict and demanding of their students, often putting them on the spot to answer questions. When the bell rings the teacher leaves abruptly. However, when not teaching the teacher often becomes very playful with the students. The students gather around getting very physically close to the teacher grabbing her hands and arms and sharing jokes and laughter. I find this switch very jarring. I say jarring because they quickly turn back into the teacher figure when a student steps out of line or goes just that bit too far. As a student, I would imagine that it would be hard to know exactly whether you were dealing with the kind playful figure or the strict. This results in students having to navigate this complex relationship often in a place of emotional uncertainty. To me this negates the trust and respect that I would want to foster with my own students. I would expect a teacher to be trying to create an environment in which they should be considered a constant.

(The courtyard with the grade 7 classrooms on the right)

            A fundamental difference I see that seems to influence this student-teacher dynamic is the different understandings of respect. In Canada, respect is something that is shared mutually and has to be given often before it can be received. Though, like in China, Canadian teachers are thought to be deserving of respect from their students but only as long as they behave in a manner that supports and honours that trusting relationship.  In China, however, I have observed that teachers demand respect from their students but that respect does not always flow in the other direction. It appears that many students pay attention not because they are interested or engaged, but because they will get in trouble or embarrassed if they do not.

            I see the issue of mutual respect and the jarring transition between when the teacher is teaching versus when they are not as creating an atmosphere that makes classroom management difficult. In a globalized teaching setting, it is important to acknowledge and understand what drives the teacher/student interactions in that country. A clear understanding of this would enable me to create a classroom environment that understands the tradition that the students are coming from and through understanding create a more positive classroom environment. 

(The students doing their mid-morning run! On Monday there is a flag raising ceremony instead.)

Jiaotong Middle School

This blog entry has been composed collaboratively by Reid Clark, Sabrina Jahn, and Debra Evans. We are all Canadian high school student teachers, but here in Xi'an, China, we have been fortunate to work at a fantastic school called Jiaotong Middle School. The first few weeks we have taught English Immersion at the grade seven level. We will have experience at the grade eight level in our last week. Here is our story!

When we walk through the hallways as classes finish at Jiaotong Middle School, situated in the heart of Xi’an, a rush of students approach us. The students are extremely keen to engage in conversations with native English speakers like us. For many, this may be the only way or time for them to converse naturally in the English language. When it comes to teaching a class on Monday morning, there are no weary faces, but rather engaged faces that are keen to learn from us. This was noticeable from the first moments we walked into the classrooms here and received an overwhelming applause from the students and teachers. Here, we normally begin a class by stating, “Class begins,” which is followed by the students rising to their feet and proclaiming, “Hello Mr. Clark,” or “Miss Jahn,” or “Mrs. Evans.” Class also ends in the same manner. It is certainly different than what we are accustomed to in a B.C. classroom.

Teachers at Jiaotong are always looking to us in more ways than one. They want to know how they can develop their own curriculum similar to ours, and incorporate metacognitive reading strategies from such educational reading resources as Reading Power by Adrienne Gear. They want access to our lesson plans and PowerPoints, with the desire to learn all they can from us before we leave. They want us to attend their department meetings so as to learn about our reading comprehension methods. We must admit it feels like we are being treated as professional-educators rather than as student teachers. Unquestionably, and sometimes uncomfortably, we are venerated by many here.

We have already been complimented about some of the pedagogical strategies we have used thus far. The teachers have told us they have already tried using these strategies in their own classrooms, and happily report they have been successful.  In turn, our teaching has also been impacted as our cooperating teachers have guided us to address student-specific examples with an emphasis on the development of conversational English for English Language Learners (ELL).

We will never forget the people we have met, how they have welcomed us, and so seamlessly accommodated us into their school and classrooms. It is vividly apparent that students and teachers alike have a thirst to learn English, and believe that it is one way to advance in their competitive world. As growing professional educators, our daily experience within the teacher-centered classroom forces us to put our best selves forward. As we return to Canada we will bring with us the invaluable experience of this grand adventure. We now feel that we are becoming global educators.

 This has been very common. Students want to take pictures with us!

 Miss Jahn delivering one of her first lessons. We were required to teach the students about ourselves. Miss Jahn had a lot of fun discussing Justin Bieber and action movies!

 Every Tuesday we join the students on a basketball for English Corner. We play English language games. The court is a English only zone. They love it and so do we!

Mr. Clark got to deliver a presentation to the English Department. The topic was Readers Theater. He focused on articulation and expression of words. We had lots of fun. But this is also an example of how the teachers here think that we are professional educators. We are already delivering workshops!

Mrs. Evans, is always good at getting the students to sing. Here is her way of telling the students how she got to Xi'an. Can you guess how?

Thanks for reading!

The Presence of Art in China

Throughout our time in Beijing, we have noticed an emphasis on art within the communities and culture. From the first moments of our arrival we saw the first signs of this. The Beijing International Airport had a fascinating curved roof made to make a statement. It curved over an immense area and looked like it was created from sheets of brass; an artistic addition to what would typically be a boring arrivals terminal. As we continued our journey to the hotel at the heart of the city, we passed a building known as the CCTV building or the "Pants Building". This building was constructed by two towers leaning together and connecting at the top to create an image resembling a pair of pants. This is the only building in the world to be built in this way. Once we arrived at our hotel we were greeted with the sound of the violin and piano playing a duet in the lobby; it came from live musicians.  

The next morning we began our adventures exploring culturally and historically significant areas of the city including the emperors’ palace, also known as the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, and a pottery factory we visited after we hiked the Great Wall, which is artistic in itself. What was common between both the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven was the abundance of detail and immense quantity of the art presented. Entire rooms were often covered floor to ceiling with painted patterns and symbols. Additionally, the attention to stonework and the construction of certain buildings, for example the main building in the Temple of Heaven, displayed an equally vast array of detail and quantity. Finally, we visited a pottery factory that created a variety of artistic works such as vases, animal figurines, and jewelry. This factory, producing the tradition art, was funded by the government to ensure its’ survival. All of these experiences, from the past and into our present helped to show us how art is important to the Chinese culture. 

This is the "Pants building."
(We couldn't get our own good picture, so this one is taken off of the internet.)

This is an example of some of the fascinating stonework found within the Forbidden City. 

Artwork found within the Temple of Heaven.

Stonework at the Great Wall of China.

An example of a vase that is not quite finished. 

Submitted by: Tessy Smith and Minke Bosma

"An Innate Respect Despite the Chaos"

by Kyrsten Cunliffe and Sabrina Jahn

            When you think of the stereotypes of the Chinese often the idea that they are rude and inconsiderate is at the top of the list. However, after spending five days interacting with the Chinese we can safely say that these stereotypes are wrong. Not are they incredibly polite, but they are respectful of others, especially foreigners. They are always accommodating, almost to a fault. During our time in Beijing we have seen people demonstrate these qualities on several occasions. Two of which are how they interact in traffic and how they interact with us.

To start, when you are on the road in Beijing to outsiders it would seem like complete chaos but as you take a closer look you can see an order to that chaos. They seem to trust in their fellow drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists. When an outsider would fear that they would be hit locals seem to have assurance that that won’t happen. We have yet to see an angry face or rude gesture when they cut each other off or go in the wrong direction. On one occasion we even observed a driver laugh as he waved a cyclist by after slamming on the brakes to avoid hitting her.

Secondly, our tour guide Oliver had previously suggested that if there were time in the day we would go to see the Olympic site. However, as the day went by it was apparent that there would be no time to spare yet he was not going to suggest cancelling that decision. The decision was left to us. He was going to respect his suggestion despite his personal opinion that it would not be feasible; reneging on a previous promise or suggestion is not acceptable to their culture. Respect is a fundamental aspect in Chinese culture and interactions. It has been a pleasant surprise to see how important respect and the accommodation of others, local or foreigner, is here in Beijing particularly in contrast to our lifetime experience in Vancouver.

Red Armband - Heather & Kate

Red is a distinct symbolic colour in Chinese culture and during our first few days in Beijing nowhere was this more prominent than on the armbands worn by some of the people.  Through talking to our guide, we learned that these bands denote individuals who form a type of “block watch” and report suspicious or wrongful behavior to the Communist Party.  These individuals are present in all communities, worn primarily by middle aged to older men who are able to observe the community. Very prominent, these red armbands can been seen worn by police, military police, vendors, in Snack Street, and even operating the luge at the Great Wall of China.

The red armbands evoke a strong sense of national pride, community, and adherence to norms that are explicit in Chinese culture and more implicit (if present) in Canadian culture. We have observed the Chinese flag prominently displayed in public and private places. The North American idea of privacy is complicated especially in the era of computer technology. Privacy in China is somewhat relative to the needs of the greater society. The red armbands symbolize to us the societal understanding that adherence to the Communist Party is vital to the survival of the society as a whole.

While we do not know how comfortable we would be living with the reality of a red armbanded individual observing our moves, we understand the cultural reality of being in a communist country. 

Reid, Bryan, and Eric: Our Glimpse into China's Spirituality

This blog entry is a collaborative effort as we are all reflecting on our experience so far in Beijing. We are required to find a common theme. This is ours:

Upon reflection, we have all noticed the immense spirituality in this country that dates back several centuries. Everything is grandiose and very fast paced. We are pretty tired by 9pm. Although this may not be news to you, this is certainly a significant aspect of the Chinese culture that we have noticed in our brief time here. This is much different than what we are accustomed to in Canada, as we believe that Canada is a melting pot of different religions and cultures. For these reasons, the purpose of this blog entry is to describe China's spirituality through our lenses, literally and figuratively!

Were we aware of this immense spirituality in modern China? We aren't quite sure. One thing is for sure, spirituality has been associated in every place we have been to. We find that there is a trend that spirituality is usually located in the name of the place.  For example, "The Temple of Heaven."

Let's name off the places we have been to and tell you how spirituality plays a role.

Tiananmen Square: The square is named after the gate which resides inside. It is called the "Gate of Heavenly Peace." Monuments have also been erected over the years to commemorate the sacrifices of the people lost during war and occupation. Finally, a Mausoleum for Mao is also situated inside where those who choose to line up in large numbers can see Mao himself. Here are a few photos. It was difficult to get a closeup as the government was beginning its first day in session and we couldn't get any closer to the street.

Forbidden City: There are Taoist shrines located within the city itself. Religion and spirituality played roles in the Ming and Qing dynasties. There are Buddhist statues scattered throughout the city. These are all things that we saw while walking through this extensive portion of Beijing. Here are a few photos!

Temple of Heaven: Emperors throughout the Ming and Qian dynasties would visit the shrines in this area to pray to heaven for good harvest, health, prosperity and luck. The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests has four inner, twelve middle and twelve outer pillars, representing the four seasons, twelve months and twelve traditional Chinese hours respectively. Combined together, the twelve middle and twelve outer pillars represent the traditional solar term. All the buildings within the Temple have special dark blue roof tiles, representing the Heaven. The temple also included a part whereby animals were sacrificed to the gods so they would have good crops. Here are just a few photos.

In conclusion, spirituality is everywhere in Beijing. Everywhere you go there is an aspect that demonstrates to us that China has a deep connection to spirituality, which has existed for centuries. Despite political tensions in the last century, it is clear that China has not lost it's spiritual roots.

This blog was written by Reid Clark, Bryan McPherson, and Eric Joel.

Top (left to right): Bryan, Jocelyn, Kate, Sabrina, Eric, Lisa, Heather, Tas, Reid, Tessy, Minke

Bottom (left to right): Debra, Mika, Kyrsten, Jessica, Shelby, Winnie

It is important that people notice the fun we are having. Here are some photos and videos!

 These are pictures of us playing featherball in the park. I saw this in an episode of "The Amazing Race" so I was keen on trying it. Some of us bought one to bring home! I think we need to practice. GAME ON!

 A local lady is demonstrating the correct motions. Look at our form!

 I think they are better than us!

Live from YVR!

We are all here at Vancouver International Airport about to embark on our journey to China.

If I was to provide you with one word to describe the feeling we have, I would probably say excited with a hint of anxiety. Ok that's two words.

Right now we are all competing for the same internet connection, trying to get our "virtual protection networks (VPN's) on our computers and cell phones. We are about to get on to Air Canada flight 29 to Beijing. While there we will have a day or so to get acclimatized to the time and to the air. We all have masks if we need them.

Next time you hear from us we will be in Beijing. 

We'll be posting many pictures on this blog for you to read! This is a collaborative effort by all of us. On several occasions there will be groups of us sharing our own personal stories.

Time to go for a jog around this airport and get some coffee before we get stuck on a plane for half a day!

Live from YVR, this is ITEM China 2014!

This post was written by Reid Clark